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Academic Accommodations

Here are some of the most requested academic accommodations:

 

Extended-time and distraction reduced testing are accommodations for some students with disabilities. Students can schedule a quiz, test, or exam through the Accommodate portal. Instructions can be found on the Alternative Test Room Booking page under the Accommodate portal.

 

Students who have been approved for note-taking services as an accessibility accommodation can access copies of class notes digitally through the Accommodate portal.

Using the Note-Taker Network
  1. Login to Accommodate.
  2. Select the “Note-Taker Network” tab located at the top of the screen.
  3. Search through your notes by entering a keyword or using the Course drop-down menu (to the right) and clicking “Apply Search.”
  4. Select a document from the list to view that set of notes.

 

Students with certain disabilities requiring instructional materials, such as audio or digital books can request alternative versions of those materials. For instructions, please follow this link.
Students with qualifying disabilities may record class lectures for their personal study use only. The student will be asked to submit a Recorded Lecture Agreement, which must be submitted to the OAS prior to using this accommodation.

 

We have several types of assistive technologies available to students with disabilities while they are attending Washington College.

Read & Write Gold

Read&Write Gold Software is a flexible Read&Write literacy software solution to help with reading, writing, studying, and research on the Desktop, in the Cloud, or on an iPad.  

This software is available for use by all Washington College students, faculty, and staff. RWG is currently installed on all the computers on the first floor of Miller Library including the Newlin Room. Students can take their computer to the HelpDesk to have RWG installed.

Livescribe Echo® Smartpens

Smartpens record everything you hear and write. It lets you capture words, diagrams, scribbles, symbols, and audio - syncing everything you hear to what you wrote. We have a smartpen loaner program for students with disabilities who request this accommodation. 

JAWS (Job Access With Speech)

JAWS is screen reading software, developed for computer users whose vision loss prevents them from seeing screen content or navigating with a mouse. JAWS provides speech and Braille output for many PC computer applications. JAWS can be requested as an accommodation for students with vision loss.

Dragon® NaturallySpeaking

This speech-to-text software package has three primary areas of functionality: voice recognition in dictation with speech transcribed as written text, recognition of spoken commands, and text-to-speech: speaking text content of a document. Students with certain disabilities can request the use of Dragon® NaturallySpeaking software as an accommodation.


 

Some of the various types of auxiliary aids and services may include:

  • taped texts
  • notetakers
  • interpreters
  • readers
  • computers/laptops
  • smartpens
  • iPads/digital devices
  • videotext displays
  • television enlargers
  • talking calculators
  • electronic readers
  • Braille calculators, printers, or typewriters
  • telephone handset amplifiers
  • closed caption decoders
  • open and closed captioning
  • voice synthesizers
  • specialized gym equipment
  • calculators or keyboards with large buttons
  • reaching device for library use
  • raised-line drawing kits
  • assistive listening devices
  • assistive listening systems
  • telecommunications devices for deaf persons

 

  • PDF - retains the same layout as the print textbook and includes bookmarks for navigation, synchronized highlighting of text and audio.
  • MS Word Doc - This format is best for students who use screen reading software such as JAWS and also need alternative text descriptions added to images.
  • Audiobook format (Learning Ally) - audio only, plus headings for navigation.
  • Other specialized formats are available including MathML and DAISY.

 

Some students who have a language-based disability can qualify to substitute two courses to satisfy the foreign language requirement. Students who are approved for this accommodation must then meet with their Advisor to complete the form linked below.

Foreign Language Substitution Approval Form 

The list of possible substitution courses can be found on the above form. Once this form is complete, please submit it to the Registrar's Office.

If you need to request any documents on this webpage in an alternative accessible format (Braille, digital, audio, or large print) please contact the Office of Academic Skills at 410.778.7860 or [email protected].
 
If you have difficulty accessing any portions of this page with adaptive technology, please contact Evelyn Ebert at 410.810.5860 or [email protected].