Bitmoji of facilitator waving hello

A few times, I have been unsure how to accommodate a student during a specific activity in my class. Contacting DRES has always been so helpful, as they’ve given me lots of ideas and have also been clear regarding things I do not need to change.

4.7 WORKING WITH STUDENTS WITH ACCOMMODATIONS

CSUN students can register with either the National Center on Deafness: Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services (NCOD) or the Disability Resources and Educational Services (DRES) office in order to receive academic accommodations.

Students and the two departments use the Student Access and Accommodation System (SAAS) to share the approved accommodations in your course(s).

DRES also has a Faculty Guide to Accommodating Students with Disabilities.

Please note: All electronic information and technology provided or required for a class (Canvas pages, PDFs, videos, lab software, etc.) must be accessible and made available to students at least 8 weeks prior to the start of the course. Delaying students access to course materials is not permissible per CSU policy and federal law; with over 80 students now needing alternate forms of textbooks (e-text or Braille), the early, eight-week notification of the required physical textbooks ensures that students needing these materials are not left behind their classmates (see Faculty Senate Resolution 08-1 2/28/2008 Timely Adoption of Textbooks/Instructional Materials for Accessibility.

The Universal Design Center (UDC) can assist you to ensure that your students can navigate and engage with course materials. The UDC website offers tips for captioning videos, entering descriptions for images, making PDFs accessible, and other key strategies for ensuring universal access. They also offer training in universal design and accessibility techniques through their workshops and through self-paced Canvas modules, and they offer resources to help find and fix accessibility issues.

Faculty are invited to contact DRES with any questions or concerns regarding these instructional guidelines or if they want more information about accommodating students with disabilities in the learning environment.

Your Syllabus

Including a statement about accommodations for students with disabilities is considered a best practice. For a sample, please review the Syllabus webpage from our Teaching Toolkit, as well as the sample statement below which you can include in your syllabus:

"If you have a disability and need accommodations, please register with the Disability Resources and Educational Services (DRES) office or the National Center on Deafness: Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services (NCOD). The DRES office is located in Bayramian Hall, room 110 and can be reached at (818) 677-2684. NCOD is located on Bertrand Street in Jeanne Chisholm Hall and can be reached at (818) 677-2054. If you would like to discuss your need for accommodations with me, please contact me to set up an appointment."

Test Taking

There are two options to ensure students receive approved testing accommodations:

You provide the student’s approved testing accommodations in the classroom environment, online, or an alternate facility
DRES will proctor exams per your instructions once you have completed the following:

Create the Course Exam Profile in SAAS (only if a student will take exams at DRES)
Review and “Approve” or “Deny” exam dates and times requested in SAAS by the student
Provide the exam to DRES per the Course Exam Profile

How do I know if a Student Needs Accommodations?

A student may communicate with you directly or you will receive an automated SAAS email regarding the need for accommodations. You may log-in to SAAS to review the student and their approved accommodations for your course.

Check out the video below on how to navigate SAAS.

What are Common Accommodations?

understanding SAAS accommodations
extra time on quizzes/exams
note-taking services
media captioning
accommodations for deaf/hard of hearing students

✔️ To Do:

📌 When you receive email notifications from SAAS, log in and acknowledge accommodations.

Next, you will learn more about how to facilitate learning experiences that are inclusive to students who are deaf and hard of hearing.