10 Classroom Accommodations

Classroom accommodations are additional support services and resources that allow students with disabilities to equally access and benefit from instructional activities in the classroom. Examples may include having ASL interpreters present in class, captions on live or pre-recorded videos, audio recordings of lectures, receiving materials in advance of class, extensions on assignments of up to 7-calendar days, and alternate participation in group work, amongst others

Common Classroom Accommodations

Attendance

You may see the following accommodations on Ventus:

• Occasional absences from class
• May arrive late to or leave early from class

How to implement this accommodation:

Please note that disabled students who have an “occasional absences from class” accommodation must notify the instructor of lectures, tutorials or other class missed due to “accommodated reasons.” They must quote “accommodated reasons” (or something to that effect) in their notice so that it is understood that it is covered under their accommodation. The timeline to provide notice of missed academic activities is subject to the teaching team’s discretion.

As part of the teaching team, it is your responsibility to ensure an inclusive learning environment. Here are some tips for proactive measures you can take for attendance accommodations:

• For in-person classes, you can provide lecture slides online (e.g., in onQ) ahead of time.
• You may also hold office hours so that the teaching team can clarify course content that was not on the lecture slides.
• You can also direct the student to their QSAS advisor to obtain a peer note-taking accommodation if they do not already have one.
• If the student misses an assessment, you can grant an extension, defer it, or reweight it according to the reweighting policy that is published in your course syllabus.

Why might a student need this accommodation? (Please note, this is not an exhaustive list)

• The student may require space and time to self-regulate due to impacts from a disability.
• The student may need to spontaneously manage pain (i.e., flare-ups) associated with an injury or disability.

For more information, see QSAS/Academic Accommodations.

Assignment Extensions

You may see the following accommodations on Ventus:

• up to 7-calendar day extension on assignments
• extensions on assignments beyond 7 calendar days

Please note that this accommodation does not apply to timed quizzes or tests.

How to implement this accommodation:

• According to QSAS, it is the student’s responsibility to reach out to the teaching team and request this accommodation before the assignment’s deadline.
• This accommodation does not need to apply to all assignments, but you may grant this upon request from the student.
• You can introduce a grace period on all assignments for all students.
• If a 7-day extension on an assignment (e.g., an answer key is released to the class within 7 days or less of an assessment being submitted), QSAS will support an instructor if they choose not to provide this full accommodation if this rationale can be provided.

Why might a student need this accommodation? (Please note, this is not an exhaustive list)

• The student may have a learning disability which requires more time on assessments to be successful.

For more information, see QSAS/Academic Accommodations.

Group Work

You may see the following accommodations on Ventus:

• Option to complete group work individually
• Graded on individual contribution to group assignments

How to implement this accommodation:

• If group work is an Essential Requirement of the course, it should be stated as such in the Essential Requirement section in the course Syllabus. See the Essential Requirements section for more information.
• If group work is not an Essential Requirement, modifying the assessment for an individual student should be done.
• If a student does not participate in a synchronous group presentation due to their accommodation, a modified rubric (omitting group dynamics) can be used to assess the student individually. Feel free to consult Queen’s Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL) for support with onQ gradebook adjustments, if needed.
• If the course uses an integrated educational technology tool for peer evaluation and a student needs an extension, a common workaround is to grant the extension for the whole group, as individual extensions are often not supported by the platforms used for peer evaluation (including FeedbackFruits and the onQ discussion forums). For this scenario, you have three main avenues of support: consult the Queen’s Ed Tech Toolkit for more information on educational technology, reach out to IT Support for assistance with educational technology, or the CTL for assistance with onQ.
• If team-building skills were not explicitly taught in the course, an alternative method for facilitating collaboration could be an asynchronous collaboration with peers (via text, email, or videoconference) to complete a project in which various tasks have been divided among the team members.

Why might a student need this accommodation? (Please note, this is not an exhaustive list)

• The student may have a learning disability that requires extra support to manage group assessments.

For more information, see QSAS/Academic Accommodations.

Note Taking/Audio Recording

You may see the following accommodations on Ventus:

• Note taking/audio recording through Glean
• Access to audio of recorded lectures
• Peer note taking

Peer Note Taking

An announcement from QSAS will be posted in the course, such as the example below, asking for peer note takers. The instructor may be asked to inform students of the need for note takers and direct them to the announcement for how to sign up and where to drop their notes. Nothing else is required from the teaching team to implement this accommodation.

Announcement Example

Announcement Subject: Queen’s Student Accessibility Services (QSAS) Request for Note Sharing

Announcement Body: Queen’s Student Accessibility Services (QSAS) is seeking individuals who are willing share their notes for this class.

By sharing your class notes, you will be supporting the creation of an accessible learning experience at Queen’s University. Also, every time you share your notes, you will be entered into a monthly draw for a $25 Starbucks gift card (the more notes you share, the more chances to win).

Sharing your notes is easy – when you save your notes, it’s one quick step to upload those notes to the noteQ portal. Simply click on the noteQ link and follow the instructions in the portal to share your class notes.

Your shared notes will only be available to students in this class who have been provided access through QSAS. Your identity will not be shared with the student requesting notes.

Please consider sharing your notes and contributing to the creation of an accessible learning experience for Queen’s University students.

How to implement this accommodation:

• Grant permission to all students who want to record audio.
• Note that the instructor may only give their own permission to be audio recorded, but this does not provide student consent (e.g., a student asks a question during lecture). For more information and guidance, please reach out to QSAS.

Why might a student need this accommodation? (Please note, this is not an exhaustive list)

• The student may have a hearing or vision disability for which note-taking or audio recording supports the student in receiving 100% of the content.
• The student may have a learning disability (e.g., ADHD) that causes them to lose focus and miss important information during lectures.
• Audio-recording lessens listening fatigue.

For more information, see QSAS/Academic Accommodations.

Participation

You may see the following accommodations on Ventus:

• Alternative evaluation in lieu of participation/attendance marks
• Alternative methods of participation
• Not called upon in class unless volunteering

How to implement this accommodation:

• Discuss potential alternatives with the student (e.g., post in a chat, email responses).
• Reweight the attendance and/or participation marks to another course component.
• It is recommended to not use attendance marks in your courses. If you do use attendance marks for your class, you may wish to read through the “Leveraging Institutional Tools to Improve Attendance-Taking: Reducing Time and Resources While Increasing Physical Distance” paper by Meghan E. Norris, Devin, I. Fowlie, and Andrew D. W. Hall from Queen’s University for an attendance method developed at Queen’s.
• If the participation component is for a discussion, this can often be supplemented or replaced with other means of communication, including via:
• Videoconference,
• Online discussion forum,
• Social annotation,
• Response papers, or
• Peer review activities.

Why might a student need this accommodation? (Please note, this is not an exhaustive list)

• The student may be taking a medication that has negative side-effects and may cause them to miss class.
• The student may have a learning disability which causes loss of focus, which could lead to the student missing participation marks during class.

For more information, see QSAS/Academic Accommodations.

Presentations

You may see the following accommodations on Ventus:

• Alternative to delivering public, in-class presentations
• Access to cue cards/notes during presentations

How to implement this accommodation:

• Provide the option to record the presentation ahead of time instead, using voice over PowerPoint, or as an audio/video presentation.
• Provide the option to submit the presentation to the discussion forums for asynchronous interactions.
• For online courses specifically, you can leverage the Feedback Fruits tools for students to engage in peer review or discussion forums for recorded presentations.
• Provide the option of presenting to a smaller group or presenting only to the instructor.
• If the presentation is something such as a debate or moot court, you can give the option for the student to:
• Present written arguments to represent a stakeholder’s interests in a decision-making process,
• Write a formal essay that includes evidence to support the central thesis,
• Write an opinion article,
• Present an argument to a smaller group, or
• Record a voice-over PowerPoint presentation, podcast, or video.

Why might a student need this accommodation? (Please note, this is not an exhaustive list)

• The student may have anxiety caused by public speaking.
• The student may have a learning or physical disability which affects memory recall.

For more information, see QSAS/Academic Accommodations.

Slides/Handouts

You may see the following accommodations on Ventus:

• Copies of overheads/slides and classroom handouts in advance of class
• Electronic copy of printed resources distributed in class
• Permitted to take photographs of handwritten lecture material

How to implement this accommodation:

• Provide copies of slides ahead of lecture for all students in the class.
• Alternatively, you may provide copies of slides ahead of lecture in onQ and grant viewing permission only to those students that have this accommodation. For help with adding this restriction in onQ, please reach out to the Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL).

Why might a student need this accommodation? (Please note, this is not an exhaustive list)

• The student may have a learning disability which causes them to lose focus.
• The student may have a physical disability that makes it difficult to take notes.
• The student may have a learning disability and requires advance time or additional time to prepare for class.
• The student may use computer software to support their learning (e.g., Read&Write) and requires notes ahead of time to prepare using the computer program.

For more information, see QSAS/Academic Accommodations.

Other

You may see these additional classroom accommodations that do not fall into one of the categories listed above:

• Alternate format
• Alternative method of submitting assignments
• Ergonomic chair with arms
• Font – sans serif
• Frequent breaks
• Large print
• Not penalized for errors in spelling/grammar
• Priority seating – front/back of room
• Priority seating near instructor
• Priority seating – right/left side of room
• Reduced course load
• Videos to be closed captioned
• Instructors use assistive listening device provided by student

Why might a student need this accommodation? (Please note, this is not an exhaustive list)

• The student may have a vision or hearing disability and requires class materials in a different format than provided. For assistance in developing course materials in alternative formats, please contact the Adaptive Tech Centre.
• The student may have a physical disability and requires use of ergonomic furniture for comfort.
• The student may have a learning disability (e.g., dyslexia) that affects their spelling and grammar.
• The student may have a vision or hearing disability and sitting closer to the instructor helps the student absorb and engage with the information that much more easily.
• Having the instructor wear a microphone (e.g., a FM System) helps students with a hearing disability or audio processing disorder engage with the spoken lecture more easily.

For more information, see QSAS/Academic Accommodations.

Other Accommodations

Religious Observance

Accommodation for a religious observance can be requested by a student who has a religious observance that conflicts with the due date for an assessment. Additional FAQs and more information on requesting an accommodation for religious observance for an exam can be found on the Religious Accommodations site.

There are several notes on religious accommodations outlined below. These notes come out of a conversation the chaplain had with a course instructor in the Fall of 2023. Feel free to contact the chaplain at Chaplain@queensu.ca for clarification, guidance, or more information about religious accommodations.

The Religious Accommodations page incorrectly states that there is a “requirement” to notify the instructor of the need for a religious observance accommodation within a week of receiving the course syllabus. From the chaplain’s perspective, this is loose and is not considered a real requirement. Keep in mind the Ontario Human Rights Code specifies that we are to accommodate, regardless of when notified.

The Religious Accommodations page correctly states that students need to be flexible in terms of an alternate date/time to be scheduled for the missed assessment. The best strategy to support students that request religious accommodations is to group them with other students that have accommodations/considerations.

If students request a religious accommodation for an observed religious ceremony but do not specify what it is, you are allowed to ask the student to specify which religious ceremony/observance they require the accommodation for and what they think is a reasonable alternate arrangement for the work they will miss. Students requesting accommodations for religious reasons are supposed to state what the ceremony/observance is and a way in which they think they would be able to make up the work that they will miss (e.g., requesting an alternate writing time for a test/exam).

The Queen’s University Human Rights and Equity Office maintains a Multifaith Calendar which should be consulted when confirming dates of religious observance and setting dates for assessments/events. The Multifaith Calendar can be accessed via the link on the Multifaith Calendar site.

Request for Excused Absence for Significant Event (REASE)3

Students participating in a Queen’s Varsity Athletics event, invited as a distinguished guest or as a student reservist in a military sanctioned event, can submit a Significant Event request. These events can be at the provincial, national, or international level.

A minimum of two weeks before the sanctioned event, or as soon as the event is scheduled, students must complete and submit a Request for Excused Absence for Significant Event Form (see Extenuating Circumstances – Info for Students – Forms). This form is then submitted to the Academic Consideration portal so that the course instructor/manager can be notified of the student’s approved absence.

Students that submit a REASE approval should be accommodated as any other student with an accommodation and missed assessments should be supported however possible in consultation with the student.