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Teaching at BYU

Remote Accommodations for Students

Remote Accommodations for Students

Student Access to Online Content

Please be aware that students will likely have differing levels of internet service, especially as they relocate to different areas of the country. Please work with students who may not have access to the information and content you provide.

Students with Disabilities

The University Accessibility Center (UAC) can help students with disabilities access online content, including closed captioning transcription services for Zoom presentations. Please direct students as appropriate to the UAC (2-2767 or uacfrontdesk@byu.edu) to schedule necessary services.

How to Handle Requests for Accommodations

The university will provide reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities, and the UAC will work with both professors and students in coming up with the appropriate accommodation to help ameliorate the effects of the student’s disability. During this time of remote instruction it is difficult to cover the spectrum of disability-related needs. Some UAC clients may no longer need the accommodations they’ve been granted because the new learning and testing environment will affect them differently than the normal classroom/testing center environments. On the other hand, many other UAC clients and students who haven’t needed to use UAC accommodations may need new or different accommodations.

Please keep in mind that not every mental, emotional, learning, or physical problem will be severe enough to rise to the level of a disability, so simply because a student has anxiety does not necessarily mean that he or she is disabled. Each accommodation request must be made after an individualized assessment. This is both good practice and what disability laws require. If professors can accommodate the student’s request (i.e., if the professor finds that the request is reasonable), then the professor can simply provide the accommodation without going through the UAC. In such cases, the UAC asks that the professor document:

  1. the request;
  2. the professor’s response;
  3. the accommodation granted; and
  4. any follow-up that was required by either the professor or the student.

The professor should then send the documentation to the UAC for record-keeping. Professors or students with specific accommodation questions or complicated issues should contact the UAC to begin the university’s interactive process. Professors who believe that a requested accommodation is unreasonable should also contact the UAC for further guidance.

Students with disabilities generally fall into six categories: emotional disabilities, learning disabilities, ADHD, physical disabilities, visual impairment, and deaf and hard of hearing. Students with visual impairment and hearing impairment represent a small population of students who have very specific accommodative needs, and many of them have already been in close contact with the UAC.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • The UAC preference continues to be referring students with disabilities to the UAC for services and accommodations. However, faculty may choose to grant reasonable accommodations to students throughout this time.

  • UAC staff are available by phone and email during this time. Please email the UAC front desk at uacfrontdesk@byu.edu or call 801-422-2767 and leave a message. If a student already has a UAC coordinator, the student or their instructor may email or call the coordinator directly. Faculty may also visit the “Faculty” tab on the UAC website for other information.

  • Faculty are always encouraged to contact the UAC to discuss issues. Students may also contact UAC staff to discuss their accommodation needs or requests.

  • Faculty may choose at their discretion to assess all needs to help students. With new challenges where students may be experiencing new concerns, faculty may refer students to the UAC for accommodations and services.

  • For general questions, faculty should contact the UAC. For technical questions regarding how to implement accommodations (e.g., extra time on tests) on Learning Suite or Canvas, faculty can visit https://teachanywhere.byu.edu/assessments-exams/accommodating-students, ​and they can also contact their college's teaching and learning consultant.