The Access Centre

Accommodation Process

At the Access Centre, our objective is to assist in leveling the playing field for students with disabilities. One of the ways we do this is through facilitating academic accommodation, which can include extended time for test-writing or alternative exam formatting. The goal of providing accommodation is to allow students equal access to education. Through accommodation, our aim is to enable registrants to begin at a fair starting place.  

Accommodations are determined in careful consultation between student and facilitator, informed by a student's disability documentation. This is a highly individualized and thoughtful process. Academic accommodation by no means gives a student an advantage, just as eyeglasses do not advantage the information seen, processed or synthesized. Accommodation instead allows students to equitably demonstrate their skills and abilities.

For example, a student might have difficulty keeping up with readings for disability-related reasons. In such cases, we may facilitate the accommodation provision of list of readings prior to start of class in order to convert the texts to alternate formate and therefore 'level the playing field' for that student. With this barrier removed, the student's achievement would then be more reflective of his/her effort and capacity in the course.

If you have any questions about the accommodation process, feel free to contact us. Faculty, instructors, and staff may also wish to review the principles of Universal Instructional Design for ways to further course and classroom inclusivity and accessibility.