Accomodations: With You Every Step of the Way

More Information about Accommodations

• SCC follows a common sense approach when granting accommodations. Generally, any individual who is requesting accommodations should provide documentation unless the need for the accommodation is apparent without documentation. For example, a student in a wheelchair does not need to provide supporting documentation to request an accessible classroom. However, a student with a learning disability generally would have to provide acceptable documentation to support an accommodation request. SDS publishes documentation guidelines that are available on the SDS website and in the SDS office. 

• Each student is encouraged to talk with his or her instructor about their approved accommodation plan before the term begins, if possible. This will ensure that the instructor understands the accommodation plan, and it will give SDS time to make adjustments based on instructor feedback. Please remember that your accommodations are designed to make the course accessible to you, but they will not ensure your success. You will still have to meet the instructor’s expectations for course performance.

• Students who need additional time to complete their quizzes, tests, and exams and provide supporting disability documentation for their request can be granted a minimum of 50% additional testing time to be provided during a test.

• Qualifying students can schedule tests with SDS and test in limited distraction testing rooms inside of SDS or at designated locations on other campuses. These testing facilities will provide limited auditory and visual distractions as well as provide other amenities like earplugs as needed.

• SDS can provide a tape recorder or note-taking assistance for qualifying students. Students are responsible for operating and managing recordings of their courses. Recordings are not to be used for any other purpose other than studying and cannot be distributed or uploaded to any other person or platform. Learn more about Note Takers Role and Expectations

• Students that provide documentation can be approved to use software to read tests and other materials aloud to them in our testing rooms. This software is also available to students in the library.

• Students with limited mobility, wheelchair users, and students that need to exit the classroom easily for breaks may be approved for priority seating or furniture accessibility.

• Students with visual impairments may be approved for large print materials, raised graphics, or braille documents. Faculty and students that need documents converted to these formats can send them to SDS.

• Students with visual impairments or students with limited mobility in their hands may need to work with a professional reader/scribe. This person will read aloud material that has not or cannot be converted to an accessible format for the student and scribe the student's answers as they dictate their response. The reader/scribe would attend classes with the student to make materials written on the board accessible as well as facilitate tests in SDS with the student.

• Students with certain disabilities may find that specific courses are not accessible to them by nature and need an alternate course to satisfy the program requirements. For example, deaf and hard of hearing students may not be able to speak Spanish during oral exams, which is a course requirement, and will need the alternative to take American Sign Language to satisfy their language course.

• Students with various disabilities may need and be approved for alternate test design so that they can access the materials and demonstrate mastery of them. For example, some question formats may need to be adjusted so the student can understand what is being asked. Questions containing images or graphs would need to be converted to text descriptions so that blind students can hear and understand what is being asked. Tests that have listening components would need to be captioned so that deaf and hard of hearing students can access and answer the question.

• Students with disabilities preventing them from being able to do complex calculations without the use of a calculator can be approved, with proper documentation, the use a four function calculator. A four function calculator does not have a fraction key and can only perform addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Students are still responsible for learning and understanding the concepts taught in math, such as the order of operations and various formulas. Scientific calculators cannot be approved for transitional studies math.

• Deaf and hard of hearing students may request the use of sign language interpreters while taking courses. Typically, a team of ASL interpreters would attend class and provide a real time interpretation for the student during instruction. ASL interpreters are a part of the educational team and SDS encourages instructors and students to discuss course materials and expectations together so that the most effective interpretation can be provided. Language needs and access are unique to each student and each course and a professional interpreter can ensure that needs are met with proper communication.

• Students with various disabilities may have a need to complete work via a word processor so that their answers, notes, or other materials are typed and legible. Use of a word processor does not circumnavigate the requirement to demonstrate proper grammar and spelling. Word processors used during testing that is evaluating for these abilities will have these features turned off.

• Deaf and hard of hearing students will need to be able to access videos that are not interpreted via captions. Internally made videos can be sent to SDS for captioning with a one-week turnaround time. Instructors are encouraged to check their course materials and ensure that captions are both available and accurate. Instructors wanting to include videos and instructional materials from outside sources that are not captioned should send links to SDS so that they can be converted. Any material can be captioned by SDS. All videos should have captions no matter if there is a student currently needed captions or not.

• Students with various abilities and disabilities may need and be approved for visual media at their desk. Instructors should provide these students with copies of PowerPoints, transparencies, and any other visual media displayed during instruction. Instructors can either provide these documents to students directly or they can make the materials available to the student via a course site or email.

• Students with visual impairments may qualify for alternative formats of their textbooks. SDS will coordinate with the student and the publisher to acquire these materials. Many publishers require proof of purchase before they release a PDF or audio version of a textbook. Requests for audiobooks and PDF textbooks need to be received as early as possible to allow time for publishers to create the files. This process takes several weeks if not months.

  Note: This list of accommodations is not finite. Students and faculty are encouraged to discuss their specific course and needs with SDS so that more specific accommodations can be crafted to provide more equitable access.