Accessibility

Faculty

In support of Lehman College’s mission, the Office of Online Education supports faculty member efforts to make their content accessible to all students. It’s not just best educational practice, it’s also federal and state law.

Designing course materials and content with accessibility in mind helps ensure that students have equitable access to all educational materials. It’s important to understand your role and responsibilities prior to a student needing and/or requesting accommodations for your online course. 

Laws and Standards

Federal and state laws require colleges and universities to meet certain standards for student accessibility. The follow are laws and standards you should familiarize yourself with as you start to prepare your online course. 

• Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
• Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 
• WCAG Standards
• New York State Human Rights Law
• New York City Human Rights Law

Guidelines, Tools, and Processes

Review some of the resources available at Lehman College. Be sure to review the processes in place, tools available, and other exciting technologies as you plan for your courses. 

• Online Teaching
• Educational Tools
• Student Disability Services and Online Accommodations

Resources

This section contains additional information and resources from CUNY and/or other institutions. Please feel free to review these materials and further enhance your understanding of online accessibility. 

• Campus and Community Resource
• CUNY Assistive Technology Services (CATS)
• CUNY’s Reasonable Accommodations Guide

Students

Students with disabilities are entitled to certain rights and accommodations at universities under federal law. This includes the right to:

• Equal access to academic programs and facilities
• Reasonable accommodations to ensure equal access
• Confidentiality regarding their disability and accommodations
• File a complaint if they believe their rights have been violated

In order to receive accommodations, students with disabilities are also responsible for:

• Providing documentation of their disability to the university's disability services office
• Requesting accommodations in a timely manner
• Communicating with their professors and disability services office about their needs and any necessary accommodations

Many resources exist at Lehman to help you on your academic journey, but you must advocate for yourself in order to use those resources. Below you will find a summary of some of the accessibility features of online technologies you may encounter at Lehman, as well as general guides on how to enable some accessibility features, such as those on your personal computer. We have also included some information about the process with Student Disability Services and information on programs to help improve your online learning skills.

Student Disability Services (SDS) Application Process

Student Disabilities Services can help you obtain and accessible technologies and accommodations.

You can contact Student Disability Services at disability.services@lehman.cuny.edu

• The application for disability services can be found on the Lehman 360 app. Once your application is received, you’ll meet with Student Disability Services to discuss your accessibility needs and what Lehman SDS has to offer. If you receive assistive technology, you’ll have a second meeting to discuss how to use it.
• In the event that you do not yet have disability documentation, you can still submit an application for disability services, and Gabriella will assist you in acquiring proper documentation.
• You are not required to list any medications you are taking for your condition.
• If you are approved for accommodations, an evaluation letter explaining your accommodations will be sent to your instructors. The nature of your disability is not A copy of the letter will be sent to you.
• You only need to register with the SDS once during your time at Lehman.
• However, you do need to submit an accommodation request each semester. About two weeks before the semester starts a reminder email will be sent to you, asking you to list which accommodations you’re requesting for the upcoming semester.
• If you are not registered with SDS and something happens at any time while at Lehman, causing the need for accommodations, SDS will still advocate for you.

Additional Technologies

• Assistive Technology Services has various hardware and software technologies and capabilities available to help you learn.

• Testing Accommodations are available after submitting a Testing Accommodation Request form.

Onsight Proctoring: Proctoring for in-person students with private testing accommodations is held in Shuster 238 or Library 146. Proctors are not in the testing room; they watch via cameras.

Online Proctoring: Online proctoring occurs via the computer video camera.

• You can request to have a Notetakers.
• Dragon software is only available on Lehman campus computers and cannot be downloaded to student computers.

Programs & Tools for Online Learning Skills

The Instructional Support Services Program provides some Excel sheets for task prioritization & time management, including versions for daily/weekly and semester.