Disability accommodation

At the University of Washington, it is the policy and practice to create inclusive and accessible learning environments consistent with federal and state law.  In the College of the Environment, all students have the right to an environment that maximizes their learning.  To the extent possible, it is crucial that all students have access to the full range of learning experiences.  If students are not able to fully participate due to a disability, specific accommodations to provide alternate and equal experiences should be the goal.

Roles and responsibilities of instructional team

Instructors and graduate teaching assistants of all courses taught in the College are strongly encouraged to disclose all physical and attention-related requirements of their course so that all students are aware of the demands of full participation. Even obvious components, such as attending a large lecture, or taking written notes, can be challenging-to-impossible for students with particular types of disabilities. To assist in this process, the College of the Environment has assembled a list of course components that may require accommodation depending on the type and severity of a student’s disability (see below). The college encourages instructors to copy the relevant components directly into course syllabi to ensure all students are fully aware of the full participation requirements.

Instructors are also encouraged to be aware of the full range of disabilities students in their classroom may have that would limit full participation. Disabilities may include but not be limited to: mental health, attention-related, learning, vision, hearing, physical or health impacts. More information on particular disabilities can be found at Student Disability Services at Johns Hopkins University. 

All course personnel, including but not limited to: instructors, graduate and peer teaching assistants, and laboratory coordinators, are required to maintain strict confidence of any disabilities disclosed to them by students.

In the event that a student has not already contacted Disability Resources for Students (DRS) to establish accommodation, the instructor may suggest this to the student, and may require the student to work with DRS if the requested accommodation is beyond the ability of the instructor to provide.

Roles and responsibilities of students

All students are encouraged to make their instructors aware that they need disability accommodation and also to work with DRS to establish reasonable accommodations for course work. Possible accommodations include accessible furniture in classrooms, alternative print formats, alternative testing services, assistive listening devices, classroom relocations, early/priority registration, note-taking services, real-time captioning, and sign language interpreters.   More information on DRS services and accommodations can be found at UW DRS.

Students who have already established accommodations with DRS should provide their letter of accommodation to each instructor in the first week of the course if not before, to assist the instructor(s) in creating accommodations, and to inform and guide a discussion of options if needed.

Students who have not established accommodations with DRS and feel that they have a disability that will interfere with full participation should contact DRS to discuss accommodation options and consider discussing the need for accommodation with the instructor as soon as possible.

Course components that may require accommodation

Sample Syllabus Disability Statement

C ENV 202: Ecology of the Pacific Northwest (fictional course)

It is the policy and practice of the University of Washington to create accessible learning environments consistent with federal and state law, including establishing reasonable accommodations for all students. If you have already established accommodations with Disability Resources for Students (DRS), please activate your accommodations via myDRS so that we can discuss how they will be implemented in this course.

If you have not yet established services through DRS, and you have a temporary health condition or permanent disability that requires accommodations, contact DRS directly (disability.uw.edu) to set up an Access Plan. DRS facilitates the interactive process that establishes reasonable accommodations.  Conditions requiring accommodation include but are not limited to: mental health, attention-related, learning, vision, hearing, physical or health impacts.

In assessing whether you require reasonable accommodations through DRS, please note that full participation in this course requires the following types of engagement:

Last modified: April 2018