In Case You Missed It...

The end of the year is often a time of reflection and looking back on the things that impacted us the most. In 2021, many of us were challenged to find ways to adapt to life after a year of lockdown, disconnection, and isolation. During this time, many people turned to NDC to help them navigate a variety of issues that act as barriers to #deafsuccess.

In case you missed it, below are the most common questions for the top 6 content areas we received this past year and a list of resources we provided in response.

Online Accessibility

Questions

1. What are best practices when integrating interpreters and speech-to-text services in videoconferencing platforms?

2. What’s the difference between CART and auto-captioning features on a platform?

3. How do I make an online course or event accessible to deaf students?

Resources

• Auto Captions and Deaf Students: Why Automatic Speech Recognition Technology Is Not the Answer (Yet)

• Making Online Learning Accessible for Deaf Students: A Guide for Disability Services

• Accessible Trainings and Engagements With Deaf Audiences

  • Remote Services FAQs

Face Masks

Questions

1. What if an instructor refuses to wear a clear face mask with a deaf student present?

2. How do we create an equitable masking policy to include clear face masks?

3. Where can I find clear masks to distribute to students and staff?

Resources

• Communicating with a Face Mask: What Colleges Need to Know for Deaf Students (and Everyone)

• Face Masks FAQs

• Deaf Student Access: Tips & Resources for Reopening Campus

Legal Responsibility and Policies

Questions

1. Is my institution responsible for providing access to outside class activities like tutoring, campus events, off-campus internships, etc.?

2. How do we manage interpreting and speech-to-text services if a deaf student consistently cancels their classes?

Resources

• Equitable Access Guide: Understanding Legal Responsibilities for Institutions

• Policies and Procedures: Excessive Student Absences

• Centralized Systems that Promote #DeafSuccess at Colleges and Universities

Deaf Medical Students and Healthcare Majors

Questions

1. How do we accommodate a deaf student doing clinical internships?

2. What types of stethoscopes are available to accommodate deaf students?

3. How do accommodations impact patient confidentiality or HIPAA requirements?

Resources

• Deaf Medical Students and Healthcare Majors

• Navigating Accommodations in Medical or Clinical Internship Settings

• Deaf Medical Students FAQs

Self-Advocacy

Questions

1. How do I advocate to receive appropriate accommodations?

2. What kind of accommodations can I ask for?

3. How do I file a complaint with my college due to accessibility concerns?

Resources

• Student Advocacy Toolkit

• Self Advocacy: The Basics

Accommodations 101: Interpreting, STTS, Captioned Media, and ALD

Questions

1. What accommodations are commonly used by deaf students?

2. Where can I find service providers?

3. What strategies can create accessible foreign language courses, music courses, and internships?

Resources

• Accommodations 101

• Foundations of Effective Communication (Online Course)

Have any of these resources been of service to you this year?

Send us an email at help@nationaldeafcenter.org or tag us on a post with a link to your favorite resource from NDC on social media.