Students with disabilities attend NCF for the same reasons as all students do and bring with them diverse experiences and interests. The ALC encourages you to partner with us and become change agents as we strive to empower students in need of accommodations. When academic requirements present barriers to students with disabilities, reasonable accommodations may be necessary. Accommodations are determined on an individual basis and should not reduce academic standards. The ALC’s role is to ensure equal access for students with disabilities as outlined by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and other relevant state and federal legislation policies.
Your Role
As an NCF instructor you share a very important role in promoting and providing an accessible learning environment for students with disabilities. When students request disability-related accommodations, instructors should refer them to the ALC so the ALC can provide the student with the necessary steps to request accommodations. During the process of accommodation approval, ALC students are strongly encouraged to collaborate with their instructors to discuss their specific accommodations once approved as an additional form of collaboration between the student, instructor, and the ALC. If faculty need assistance in creating access or providing accommodations or have concerns that they interfere with the essential requirements of the course, they should contact the ALC to collaborate about how to best serve the student. In no circumstances should faculty deny an accommodation without communicating with the ALC first. ALC staff members encourage instructors to contact us for consultation and presentations on disability related topics. For questions regarding a specific student’s accommodations, please contact the ALC by phone 941-487-4844 or by email [email protected].
ALC Eligibility Letter
The ALC utilizes Accessible Information Management (AIM) for distribution of all accommodation related information. This allows instructors to be reassured that the email and accommodation information is accurate and comes directly from our office. AIM allows us to track accommodations, and facilitate a more streamlined communication between our office, NCF students, and instructors. Once a student has been approved for accommodations they will be provided with an eligibility letter. ALC students are responsible for requesting accommodations for each contracted course within the AIM system on a semesterly basis. Once that step has been completed a request is sent to ALC staff to approve the accommodation requests and once approved instructors are provided with email notifications identifying the individual student, and all approved accommodations. As always, please do not hesitate to contact our office if you have any questions or concerns at [email protected] or 941-487-4844.
Confidentiality
Confidentiality is very important to maintain for students with disabilities. Not all students will want to disclose their disability, although some may choose to share this information with you. Please be mindful and respectful of the students’ decision regarding self-disclosure because they are not required to disclose the nature of their disability or any medical documentation with instructors. A students’ disability and/or the fact that they use accommodations should not be announced in class. Individual conversations about students’ accommodations should be held in a respectful and private setting. Governmental mandates, including Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) all support the protection of privacy.
Concerns About Accommodations
Occasionally, a student’s accommodation may cause confusion or concern for instructors either in understanding how to provide it or how it will work within the essential functions of the course. If you are concerned that the accommodation may constitute a fundamental alteration to the course, then that accommodation may not be considered reasonable and appropriate in that course. Faculty should immediately contact the ALC. ALC will respond promptly with support, suggestions, or reasonable alternative accommodations if deemed necessary. For additional information please follow these links to the NCF intranet.
PDF accessibility ensures that documents are usable by everyone, including people with disabilities. Accessible PDFs allow screen readers and other assistive technologies to interpret the content correctly, ensuring that all users can access the information. Also, we are legally obligated to make all PDFs accessible.
These resources assume you have access to adobe acrobat pro, which should be provided by NCF by default.
Helpful Resources:
- Harvard has a basic guide for pdf accessibility that is easy to understand. But, this guide does not include enough information about tables. If your PDF does not have tables, then this guide should be enough. https://accessibility.huit.harvard.edu/pdf
- Here is an in depth guide from the University of Oregon on Accessible PDF Tables. They have a multitude of helpful, step-by-step guide videos on PDF accessibility, but this video is the easiest to digest resource for making your tables accessible on your pdf. Check out their other videos for help with other pdf accessibility needs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ea1Xu0iLYdU
If you’re struggling to find the tools mentioned in the above guides, you may need to add them to your adobe acrobat. Recommended tools are the Action Wizard, Accessibility, and Prepare Form toolbars.
To add these tools:
- Open Adobe Acrobat Pro
- On the far right-hand side click on “More Tools”
- Each tool can be found in a category:
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- Forms & Signatures has Prepare Form
- Protect & Standardize has Accessibility
- Customize has the Action Wizard
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- Once the tool is located, click “Add.” This will create a shortcut to the tool in your toolbar.
