Accommodations and Support Services
Providing an accessible and inclusive learning environment is a core priority at WSU Vancouver. To ensure every student has an equal opportunity to succeed, Student Accommodations and Disability Resources offers a wide range of services tailored to individual needs. These supports are designed to remove barriers in the classroom, during testing, and within digital spaces.
The following sections provide a comprehensive directory of available accommodations. Please click on each category to explore the specific tools, technologies, and adjustments we provide to support your academic journey.
Alternative formats: These are materials presented in a way other than a traditional paper, book, or multimedia format and are adapted to be accessible for students with various disabilities. This may include large print, digital, audio, and braille. Some students need textbooks, class materials or exams in an “alternative format” to what is provided, for example, in a digital format so that they can enlarge the text on their screen to a readable size, or have the textbook or exam read to them using text-to-speech software. Below is a list of some of the alternative formats Student Accommodations and Disability Resources provides to students.
E-text: This refers to digital versions of a printed document. Popular digital formats include simple text (TXT), Adobe’s Portable Document Format (PDF), Microsoft Word (DOC or DOCX), the open electronic book format called EPUB, Kindle, HTML, and others. When viewed on an electronic screen, the text and imagery in these files can be enlarged, adjusted for color and font style, etc. In addition, the text in these files can be read with text-to-speech software or a screen reader to produce audio output.
Enlarged Print: A reformatted version of a document or exam in which the text, images, line-spacing and other content have been enlarged to improve readability. Tables, technical diagrams, equations, or complex layouts are generally converted to lists, and images are enlarged. Working with the original source electronic publishing files and modifying the layout and images will ensure all information is kept in a sensible reading order, and the integrity of all graphics is maintained.
Braille: Braille is a writing system that uses patterns of raised dots that readers feel with their fingertips. Braille can be embossed from a computer connected to a device known as a braille embosser. Tactile graphics are also a vital accompaniment in braille text materials, enabling readers who need this accommodation to understand maps, tables, diagrams, flowcharts, floorplans and other illustrations. Put simply, tactile graphics are pictures you can feel.
Assistive technology: Assistive or adaptive devices, hardware, software, or equipment that provides equal access to physical and online environments. Assistive technology can increase a person’s function, independence, participation, and productivity. Examples can include, but are not limited to, text-to-speech software, speech-to-text software, digital voice recorders, Smartpens or assistive listening devices.
- Text-to-speech: Reads digital text aloud.
- Speech-to-text: Converts spoken words into text.
- Screen Reader: Software for blind or low vision students to read computer screens.
- Assistive Listening Device (ALD): Technology that amplifies sound while reducing background noise.
- Captioning (CART/ASR): Displaying text for audio content in live or recorded media.
ASL Interpreting: Facilitates communication via American Sign Language in person or remotely.
Flexible Attendance/Deadlines: Provides adjustments for chronic, episodic, or temporary disability-related impacts on course requirements.
Classroom Relocation: Assistance through the Registrar’s office for students who cannot travel long distances between classes.
Alternatives To Presentations: Options to present in ways other than in front of a live class while meeting learning outcomes.
Extended time: Typically 1.5x or 2.0x time added to exams, applicable to both in-person and Canvas-based tests.
Distraction-reduced environment: Testing in locations with minimal noise and visual stimuli, separate from the main classroom.
Memory aids: Instructor-approved reference sheets like unlabeled formulas or multiplication tables to trigger memory.
Scribe/Reader: Human assistance for students unable to use assistive software to read or write exam responses.