Resources: accessibility

As colleges, universities, and training programs get ready for the fall semester, it’s time to check in with deaf students about their accommodations.

Accommodations are not one-size-fits-all, and are as varied as deaf people themselves. But that doesn’t mean that finding the right combination of accommodations needs to be difficult or confusing.

"She's not paying attention; she's not trying!"

A college professor in California recently sparked a national controversy with these words, shouted at a hard of hearing student in their class when the student failed to respond in what the professor believed was an appropriate amount of time.

With the rapid shift to online learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is more essential than ever to expand your teaching toolbox to make online classes fully accessible — especially for students who are deaf or have diverse educational needs.

Recently, Harvard University settled a class action lawsuit filed in 2015 by the National Association of the Deaf (NAD). The case revolved around the lack of captioning for Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). NAD also sued the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for similar reasons and that case is still being litigated.