Accommodating Students with disabilities

Faculty are essential to the process of implementing appropriate accommodations for their courses. The implementation of accommodations should be a collaborative process between the faculty member, the student, and the Office of Accessibility when needed. The Office of Accessibility website has provided several resources to assist faculty with accommodating Auburn University students with disabilities. While we were not able to address every scenario faced by faculty, we included some of the most requested information about working with students with disabilities.

University Policies

Auburn University complies with Titles I and II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Sections 503 and 504 of the Rehabilitation Act by ensuring that its campus and related activities are accessible to all employees and students. As the University strives to make its physical and virtual campuses universally accessible, it is University policy to make reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities.


Under the ADA and Section 503, a qualified individual with a disability is defined as an individual with a disability who meets the skills, experience, education, and other job-related requirements of a position held or desired and who, with or without reasonable accommodations, can perform the essential functions of a job. Similarly, under the ADA and Section 504, a qualified student must meet the general admission criteria of the University and upon admission, must be offered an accessible academic environment.


The ADA recognizes that unnecessary visible and invisible barriers may discriminate against qualified individuals with disabilities just as much as overt exclusionary practices. Reasonable accommodations in the academic environment, the employment setting, and the interview process are key nondiscrimination requirements of the ADA because of the special nature of discrimination faced by persons with disabilities. Refusing to make reasonable accommodations for a qualified student, applicant, or employee with a disability, unless the accommodations would pose an undue hardship on the organization, is a violation of University policy and the ADA. For this reason, the ADA requires reasonable accommodations as a means of overcoming unnecessary barriers that prevent or restrict participation in academic activities or employment opportunities for otherwise qualified individuals with disabilities.


A reasonable accommodation is a modification or adjustment to a job, the work or educational environment, a policy or practice, or the manner in which work is usually done that enables a qualified individual with a disability to enjoy equal employment or educational opportunity. A reasonable accommodation should reduce or eliminate unnecessary barriers, both visible and invisible, between the individual’s abilities and the requirements for performing essential job functions or meeting academic requirements.


Auburn University recognizes that an accessible and equitable environment requires commitment from all University faculty, staff, and students; therefore, there are two support offices on campus tasked with ensuring accessibility and compliance across campus. The Office of Affirmative Action/Equal Employment Opportunity (Office of AA/EEO) and the Office of Accessibility provide support for Auburn University employees and students, both with and without disabilities. These offices provide assistance for applicants, employees, and students in need of reasonable accommodations, as well as guidance for supervisors, faculty, and staff on how to provide these accommodations.


Employees and supervisors with questions regarding job-related accommodations should contact the Office of AA/EEO at (334) 844-4794. Faculty, staff, or students with questions about academic accommodations should contact the Office of Accessibility at (334) 844-2096.

Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Policy

Facilitating Accommodations

Students who need accommodations should submit their approved accommodations through the AIM Student Portal on AU Access and follow up with the instructor about an appointment. It is important for the student to complete these steps as soon as possible; accommodations are not retroactive. Students who have not established accommodations through the Office of Accessibility but need accommodations should contact the Office of Accessibility at ACCESSIBILITY@auburn.edu or (334) 844-2096 (V/TT). The Office of Accessibility is located in Haley Center 1228.

Information concerning a student's disability should be disclosed only to those with a legitimate "need to know." Sharing of information with other faculty and staff to facilitate a student's accommodations needs to be balanced with the student's interest while maintaining their privacy. Further disclosure should only be made with the express permission of the student or in consultation with appropriate Office of Accessibility staff. Please do not discuss a student's disability or need for accommodations in front of other students.

  1. Login to the AU Access.

  2. Click on AIM Faculty Portal under Academic Accessibility header.

  3. Agree to the Access Policy.

  4. A student list will be at the bottom of the page. Click VIEW next to the student's name.

  5. The next page will show the student's list of accommodations with descriptions.

  6. If you have not communicated with the student, Click on Return to Previous Page. 

  7. Once you have communicated (email, phone, in-person meeting, etc.) with the student about their accommodations, you can acknowledge it by clicking the Submit Acknowledgement Electronically button.

  8. You will receive an email for your records, and the student status will be marked Acknowledged.

If a student with a disability submits accommodations electronically from our office and is requesting a meeting to discuss his/her accommodations, we recommend that you meet with the student in your office or another confidential location to discuss the requested accommodations. Discuss each accommodation and establish a plan for how the accommodations will be facilitated in your class. After meeting with the student, document through our system that the meeting occurred and/or address any questions or concerns.

It is also important that faculty do not:

  • Ask the student to disclose the nature of their disability. Most disabilities are invisible and while the student has been instructed to self-advocate and clearly state their needs, they do not have to discuss the disability.

  • Deny a student’s accommodation request. If there is concern that an accommodation would fundamentally change the nature of a course, contact the Office of Accessibility immediately either by phone (334-844-2096) or email (accessibility@auburn.edu). It is important that you provide the accommodation until the concern has been resolved. An accommodation cannot be denied without due process; therefore, all cases will be reviewed individually.

  • Tell the student that he/she requested the accommodations too late in the semester. While students with disabilities are encouraged to meet with faculty during the first week of class, there are many legitimate reasons why this may not be possible. Accommodations must be provided at any point in a semester; however, they do not need to be provided retroactively.

  1. Login to the Faculty Portal with your AU credentials

  2. Agree to the Confidentiality Statement

  3. Click VIEW next to the student's name

  4. Once you have met with the student and discussed their accommodations, you can acknowledge the meeting by clicking the Submit Acknowledgement button.

  5. You will receive an email from accessibility@auburn.edu for your records. The student’s status will be marked Confirmed. If you would like to document your communication with OA, you can respond to the email from accessiblity@auburn.edu. The email will be added to the student's file, and you will have a copy in your sent folder.

Faculty can dispute an accommodation if it is felt the accommodation would fundamentally alter the nature of the academic course. If there is a dispute regarding the appropriateness of a particular student accommodation, the concern should be raised with Office of Accessibility promptly, preferably before the semester begins or by the next business day after receiving an accommodation request. During the time that the accommodation is under review, the Office of Accessibility recommendation for accommodation should remain in effect.

More Guidance on Accommodations

This accommodation is intended to give the student access to materials displayed during lecture for the purpose of supporting the students’ learning — an example might be a PowerPoint presentation. If the class as a whole is already provided this information through Canvas or by some other means, it is possible no further material would need to be provided to the student with this accommodation.

For most students, providing the copies of materials after class is sufficient. Students who require material in an alternate format — i.e. the visually impaired — will need the materials in advance. Having the material in advance will allow our office to convert it to an accessible format. Additionally, depending on a student’s needs, this allows the student to familiarize him/herself with the information since he/she will not have the advantage of the visual reference during class of his/her peers.

If you do not need your materials converted for a student, often times the best way to deliver copies of materials to students is via email or by posting on Canvas. If this does not work due to file size or complexity of materials, please arrange with the student a plan for picking up the documents.

When a student requests to use testing accommodations in your class, they can be provided either by you or by our office.

The preferable method is for you or your GTA to administer the test with the given accommodations. This allows the student the same access to you or your GTA that his/her peers have when questions pertaining to the test arise. This also allows you immediate access to the test for grading purposes. You and your student would simply agree on a place and time to take the exam that allows for all requested accommodations to be adequately provided. If you have any questions about how to provide a certain accommodation, please do not hesitate to contact us at 334-844-2096. If your student’s accommodations list the need for specialized technology for tests, our office would probably be better suited to provide the proctoring.

If you have determined that you are not able to provide the proctoring due to scheduling issues or the student’s specific accommodations requested, our office will be glad to proctor the exam. Once you have made the student aware of his/her need to have a test proctored in our office, the student will initiate the request using our online proctor request system. The system will notify you that a request for your test has been submitted and prompt you to fill out an Office of Accessibility Testing Information Form. Once the Testing Information Form is complete, our Proctor Coordinator will schedule the test and get back in touch with you to secure a copy of the exam. The student will need to make this request at least 5 business days prior to the test. If you have any questions, our proctor coordinator can be reached at 334-844-2096.

Providing accommodations for quizzes — both announced and unannounced — may require some advanced planning and adjustments. Recommendations for how to properly accommodate a quiz will require consideration of how you administer quizzes, how students respond/record answers, what you are attempting to evaluate, the student’s accommodations and whether the quiz is announced or unannounced.

When a student meets with you to discuss his/her accommodations, we recommend that you talk with the student about the nature of your quizzes. The student may feel that accommodations are not needed on your quizzes and will tell you so at this point—he/she does reserve the right to request accommodations on any future quiz. However, there will be instances where accommodations are necessary and the student may be the best source of information for how to best go about this. If at this point, you are unsure of how to facilitate accommodations on a quiz, please contact our office as soon as possible. This will allow us to make proper arrangements in advance of the first quiz.

Once you have made a student aware you will not be able to provide testing accommodations yourself and that proctoring needs to be arranged through our office, the student will initiate the process through our AIM system.

The student will complete an exam request form, and an automatic email will be sent to you. The email will ask that you complete an OA Testing Information Form. The form will ask the following items:

  • Required materials for exam (ex. Scantron, blue book, etc.)

  • Preference for delivery of exam to OA - drop off physical copy to 1244 Haley Center or email to oaexams@auburn.edu

  • Pickup method - OA scan and return via email or instructor pickup from 1244 Haley Center

  • A contact number that can be used to contact you in the event of questions or emergencies during the exam.

For more information on this process, please view this PDF on how to fill out the Office of Accessibility Testing Information form.

We ask that you complete your portion of the request form as soon as possible after receiving the notification so that we can schedule the test properly and efficiently.

Once the exam has been scheduled, you will receive an email with the scheduled date and time, as well as a reminder about delivering the exam to our office. We ask that you deliver a copy of the exam (email or hard copy) to our office at least 24 hours before the test is scheduled to be taken in our office. If the test must be converted to an alternative format, please deliver it at least 48 hours in advance.

While every effort will be made for each test to be scheduled at the same time as the class is taking it, this is not always possible due to the student’s schedule, the availability of proctors, and the availability of testing space.

How to Provide Extended Time on Canvas

For directions on how to provide extended time on a quick in Canvas, please view these instructions.

The extension on assignments accommodation is a very individualized accommodation. The parameters of which are determined by each student’s disability, the nature of the assignment and the structure of the course.

If the student requests this accommodation on a specific assignment and you feel further guidance and assistance is needed in the facilitation, please contact our office. We will work with both you and the student to ensure the accommodation is provided effectively.

If a student presents an accommodation plan with the phrase “Possibility of medical emergency. See students for details.” the student and faculty should engage in dialogue at the presentation of the accommodation plan. The following points provide some guidelines for the discussion.

Of course, students do not have to disclose the exact nature of their disability, but sometimes, accommodation specialists encourage students to share information so that instructors can be better prepared to assist in the event of an emergency or distress.

It is good to get some idea of illness or episode frequency – how often students anticipate a potential problem. It may have been some time since the student has had a serious episode, but the doctor has documented the ongoing potential for a problem – syncope, diabetic coma, etc.

Faculty should be aware of student distress signs. Although it is clear when a student is not responsive or requests assistance, students should be able to describe specific signs and symptoms that indicate they need immediate assistance.

Faculty should follow Auburn University emergency management procedures, but they may also discuss important instructions students offer (for example: what to do in the time period while waiting for help to arrive). With seizures, diabetes, and other conditions, there may be particular actions that should or should NOT be taken while a student waits for a seizure to resolve or awaits medical assistance.

For any perceived emergency, if you are uncomfortable or distressed by a student’s condition, the first step is to contact 911.

When reporting the emergency, it is important to indicate specific evacuation needs that you and the student discussed during the beginning of the semester. These may include use of a wheelchair or other aids, vision impairment issues, use of a respirator, breathing and stamina difficulties, etc. Students are encouraged to develop an emergency plan or strategy in advance and discuss this with you.

For further information, please consult the AU Medical Emergency Management guidelines.

Like tape recording and copies of materials, note-takers assist students with a variety of disabilities to participate in class by focusing on faculty lectures. If a student requests this accommodation, they may choose to obtain a note-taker independently. However, in most cases, assistance in locating a note-taker will be needed. The Office of Accessibility relies on students in the course to provide note-taking services and depends on Faculty to help with this process. It is important to note that a note-taker is in no way intended to lessen the student’s academic responsibilities and is not a means of absolving students from unexcused absences from class. The student’s Accommodation Specialist is always available for consultation should questions, problems, or concerns arise during any stage of this process.

If a student asks for assistance in locating a note-taker, you should:

  • Announce the need for a volunteer note-taker to share notes. Due to confidentiality laws, the student requesting a note-taker has the right not to have his/her name disclosed.

  • If no one agrees to take notes, you may identify a student and ask him/her to participate.

  • Contact the Office of Accessibility if several class periods have passed without identifying a note-taker in the course.

  • Once a student agrees to take notes, you should facilitate the process for the exchange of notes.

  • If the student receiving the notes is comfortable disclosing his/her identity, you can simply introduce the two students and allow them to make plans for the note exchange.

  • If the student with a disability wants to maintain confidentiality, arrangements need to be made so the student’s identity is kept confidential. You can provide assistance with this process by separately arranging drop off of notes with the student note-taker and pick up of notes with the student needing notes. Some faculty members facilitate this process through their department’s administrative assistant. Another option is Notetake. It is a website allowing for electronic submission of notes. It provides a fast, easy way for all parties to facilitate the accommodation. The note taker simply uploads typed notes to the site and the student with the accommodation retrieves them at his/her convenience. To establish the note taker and student in Notetake, please contact our office.

  • Note-takers should attend class regularly, thoroughly cover class material, make legible notes, and be willing to find a substitute should the need arise.

  • The Office of Accessibility will provide NCR (blank, carbonless) paper for the note-taker or will copy the notes depending upon the note-taker’s preference.

  • The Office of Accessibility will also provide verification of service and/or a letter of recommendation as requested by the note-taker.

  • The student with a disability is always encouraged to take his/her own notes.

  • In the event the student is absent from class, notes need only be provided for those days at your discretion.

  • It is the student with a disability who is responsible for informing you that a note-taker is not taking adequate notes or is absent repeatedly. If this occurs, please work collaboratively with the student to find an alternate replacement note-taker if one is needed.

Tape recording a lecture to supplement notes taken in class is a reasonable accommodation and useful tool for students whose disability limits their ability to take adequate notes in a traditional lecture classroom. Often times, the preferential seating accommodation accompanies this accommodation to ensure a clearly audible recording of the class. Faculty can request a student who uses a tape recorder to sign an agreement for recording privileges. By signing this form, the student agrees to use the tape recorder solely to assist and enhance his/her personal educational learning, to not reproduce the audio recordings in any way and for any reason, and to not disrupt your ability to obtain a copyright on anything recorded in the specific course. You may also specify on this form how you wish the recordings to be disposed of at the end of the course.

Students with and without disabilities will use a variety of ways to record your lectures. Some will use a standard digital recorder, some will you their phones or other mobile devices, and some will be using a Livescribe pen to capture your lecture.

Live captioning in your classroom will either be done remotely through the students laptop or a trained Captionist/Stenographer will attend class with the student. In most instances, students will be using a remote Captionist/Stenographer to provide a live transcription of your lecture. The bullet points below describe what to expect, and how to assist the student and the Captionist so the accommodation is effective.

  • Student will use a laptop, iPad, or iPhone to capture the audio of lecture and to view the live captioning. The student will connect remotely to a Captionist using Auburn University's wireless network and transmit your lecture to a remote location to be transcribed.

  • Typically, a microphone and FM System will be used to capture and transmit your lecture to the student's laptop. The microphone may need to sit on your desk, the student's desk, or be worn by you. Each setting is different, so if you have any concerns, please contact our office at 334-844-2096.

  • If you are in a classroom with an existing amplification system and have concerns about wearing two microphones or a conflict with an existing audio system, please contact our office.

  • If you require your students to break up into small groups for discussion, the student may need to place an omnidirectional microphone in the center of the group to better pick up the discussion.

  • If field trips are required for your course, the student may need to bring a digital recorder on the trip to have transcribed later.

  • It is good practice to not start the lecture until the student is clearly connected to the Captionist. Discuss with the student how he or she will communicate a successful connection. It is the student's responsibility to arrive to class in a sufficient time, so your class is not delayed from beginning.

  • Live captioning will have a slight delay, so the student may need more time to respond to questions.

  • It is also a good practice to repeat any questions asked by other students, so the Captionist will be able to transcribe the question.

  • Supplying the student or the Office of Accessibility with terminology that is unique or specific to your course helps to improve the captioning provided by the Captionist.

  • Personnel from the Office of Accessibility will contact you by email if a student will be using live captioning your course.

  • Technology Specialist are available to assist with any technical questions that might arise.

  • Captionist/stenographers are ethically required to capture everything that is spoken.

A captionist is a professional who follows a professional code of ethics. Auburn University hires captionists who will transcribe your lecture on-site and remotely. They use laptop computers to provide real-time communication access for deaf or hard of hearing individuals. When there is a student in the classroom using captioning, consider the following communication tips:

  • Communicate directly to the Deaf or hard of hearing student.

  • A captionist or a technology specialist will arrive early to the location in order to set up equipment. The equipment usually consists of one or two laptops, a computer stand and power cords.

  • The captionist may need to move a chair or table to be near an outlet.

  • Be aware, the captionist will transcribe everything that is said. If you do not want something transcribed, do not say it.

  • The transcription from the class is for the consumer only and the student has agreed that the transcripts will be used only for educational purposes. If you would like a copy of the transcript to provide to the entire class, contact the Office of Accessibility to arrange for a copy to be emailed to you.

  • Provide the captionist with any course information, including: PowerPoint slides, handouts, readings, etc. This allows the captionist a chance to survey the course content and develop a quality dictionary of terms and acronyms for the captioning.

  • Before showing a movie in class, please check to see if the movie is captioned and have the captions turned on for the showing. If captions are not available, please contact the Assistive Technology Center as soon as possible. For copyright reasons, a captionist may not transcribe a video without permission.

  • Remember, a captionist is a neutral communication facilitator and is unavailable to serve as student tutors, lab partners, or classroom participants.

  • Communicate directly to the deaf, hard of hearing, or deaf/blind person. Speak as if the interpreter was not present.

  • Maintain eye contact with the deaf, hard of hearing, or deaf/blind person, not the interpreter.

  • Speak at your normal pace using natural gestures and expressions.

  • Be aware that the interpreter will interpret everything that is said. If you do not want something interpreted, do not say it.

  • Maintain a clear line of visual contact between the interpreter, student, and presenter.

  • Make sure there is adequate lighting for the student to see the interpreter during presentations using technology, such as PowerPoint presentations, film/videos, or other web-based materials.

  • Provide the interpreter with necessary course information in advance such as lecture materials, PowerPoint slides, and supplemental reading to enhance course materials. This additional information will enable the interpreter to more effectively convey the course content.

  • If you are planning on using AV media in the classroom, ensure that videos shown are captioned. If no captioning is available, please contact the Office of Accessibility and speak with a technology specialist as soon as possible.

  • Remember, interpreters are neutral communication facilitators and are unavailable to serve as student tutors, lab partners, or classroom participants.

Last updated: 10/30/2024