Office of Accessibility Resources & Services

Distance Learning

POLICY

As with all University programs, distance learning requires effective accommodations to ensure student accessibility. For accommodations in distance learning, OARS adheres to the overarching policies and procedures outlined in the “Policy and Procedures” section of the website. Students must be registered with OARS to be approved for accommodations. Web-based courses may or may not warrant the same accommodations as traditionally taught courses.

PROCEDURE

Students requesting accommodations for Web-based courses must follow the same registration process as all students. Upon registration with the office, students should follow these steps in accordance with whether they are on or off campus, if requesting accommodations.

For on-campus students:

• After registering for an online course, schedule an appointment with an OARS counselor to discuss accommodations.
• Bring the syllabi and course documents from the online course to the appointment at OARS. Letters to faculty will be written by a professional staff member and the student. Letters will only be written with student input and signature.
• As always, it is the student’s responsibility to deliver faculty notification letters to those faculty members to whom they wish to disclose their disability and need for accommodations.
• For online courses, the faculty letter will be emailed to the instructor by the Office of Disability Services.

For off-campus students:

• Once all documentation has been submitted, arrange a phone meeting with a professional staff member by calling the office at (336) 334-5440.
• The student should then email the syllabi and course documents to OARS.
• Letters to faculty will be written by the professional staff member and the student.
• In an online setting, it remains the student’s responsibility to disclose their disability.
• Faculty letters will be emailed to the online instructors by the Office of Accessibility Resources and Services.
• For blind/visually impaired students, textbooks should be sent to ODS via mail. Please follow the text conversion policy (http://ods.dept.uncg.edu/policies/textbook/).