COPE Resources

How do I support students with disabilities and/or accommodations?

In order to ensure that all of our students have a successful learning experience, it is important to provide accessible instructional accessible and apply the principles of universal design wherever possible. In their guide "Accessibility at Lone Star College", VTAC provides several resources for ensuring accessibility in your online course: vtac.lonestar.edu/help/a017.

Steps for making resources accessible will differ depending on the resource type and format. Click the VTAC link above or view the following quick guides for step-by-step instructions for popular formats. Also, check out the Additional Resources tab in this section for faculty recommended resources.

• Accessibility Quick Reference Guide
• Accessibility: Access for all
• Ten Steps Towards Universal Design of Online Courses

For additional support, contact LSC Disability Service: lonestar.edu/disability-services.htm

LSC-M Faculty Tips

• TechSmith Relay software is user friendly and already integrated into D2L. VTAC has developed a guide to "Record Directly in D2L Using TechSmith Relay": https://vtac.lonestar.edu/help/b113
• Handouts and other materials should be accessible to students with visual impairments and students that use text-to-speech software (such as dyslexic students).​ 
  • All handouts and materials should be created and uploaded in an accessible format. Generally, this means an accessible PDF or a Word Document (not a scan that was saved as a picture only).
• Videos should be captioned, particularly for deaf and hard of hearing students. 
  • For videos that you as the professor create, such as lecture videos, most online platforms will allow you to create captions within the software. This includes platforms such as D2L, Camtasia, YouTube, and more. Most also have helpful step-by-step video guides that will help you create the captions. If you are unsure if the platform you are using supports the use of captions, contact VTAC for assistance: https://vtac.lonestar.edu/help/vtac-assistance 
  • For movies and longer items, outsourcing might be needed. While not a comprehensive list, here are a few well known captioning vendors: 
    • Rev.com
    • Cielo24.com
    • Automaticsync.com
  • Videos should also be accessible to students with visual impairments.
    • This means that if you have video content, be sure that you don't say something like "as you can see on the screen," but rather describe what is on the screen. Don't assume all students can see the screen.