My name is Jan and I am a sophomore working on a biology degree. I have Tourette's syndrome and a psychiatric disability. I am currently taking a biochemistry course that is a requirement for my major and meets in a large lecture hall.
My name is Shirley. I am a graduate student in psychology and I'm blind.
My name is Imke and I am blind. As a first-year graduate student in atmospheric sciences at the University of Washington, I was required to enroll in a quarter-long credit/no credit synoptic meteorology lab. Most of the lab time was spent plotting meteorological data on weather maps, and drawing contours in the process of learning about the development and structure of mid-latitude weather systems.
I needed to find a way to participate in the class and learn the necessary material without having to draw and contour weather maps.
I'm Joe, an undergraduate majoring in psychology. I have learning disabilities in the areas of reading and writing.
I wanted to use computer software that highlights words while it reads them out loud for my exams, as well as for reading and writing assignments. My professor was concerned that this accommodation gave me an unfair advantage over the other students in the class and was reluctant to allow me to use the computer for exams.
My name is Sheryl Burgstahler and I work at the University of Washington in Seattle. I wanted to develop an Internet-based course offered through the Department of Education and the Department of Rehabilitative Medicine. I wanted to coteach the course with a colleague who is blind and who was a professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York. I wanted to know how we could efficiently collaborate and share the workload. We had delivered similar content many times in on-site courses and presentations.
My name is Scott. I am a 19-year-old engineering student with muscular dystrophy. I use a powered wheelchair for mobility. An important part of the first year of my engineering program involves work on computer-aided design programs in the engineering computer lab.
I'm Ken, a sophomore studying child psychology. I have an expressive language disability and I'm also a very poor speller.
This semester, two of my psychology courses require written exams. Even though I do all right with multiple choice and short answer tests, I have a hard time completing written exams that are timed. For my assignments I use a word processor with the grammar and spell checker options rather successfully. However, a computer will not be available for my exams.
My name is Robbie and I am blind. I have been using computers for several years and consider myself "computer-proficient". I access the computer via a combination of speech output (Jaws for Windows™) and a dynamic Braille display. I am presently enrolled in the Computer Programming program at the local community college. One of the courses required in the program is Database Concepts. The Database Application used in this course is Microsoft Access, an application that is run under Microsoft Windows™, a point-and-click environment.
The exam must be accessible to the student with a disability. If the exam in its existing format is not accessible (e.g., a printed exam is not accessible to a blind student) you are required to work with the student and disabled student services staff to provide appropriate accommodations (e.g., a reader or scribe, a Braille or electronic version of the test).