Online Course Policies and Procedures

The Rehabilitation Act of 1973, reaffirmed by the 1992 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), was created to protect the rights of people with disabilities. Section 504 of the Act specifically applies to colleges and universities. As well as requiring reasonable accommodations such as alternative testing methods and extended testing time, these Acts have a direct impact on the use of materials, media and technologies for online learning courses, particularly with respect to our deaf and hard-of-hearing students.

1. All online course materials and media with an audio component must be either captioned or transcribed before they are assigned (usually before the start of classes) to provide reasonable accommodation for deaf and hard-of-hearing students. Since you may not know whether you have a deaf or hard-of-hearing student enrolled in your class until the end of the Drop/Add period, you should select and develop accessible materials when you design your course.

2. Reasonable accommodations for deaf and hard-of-hearing students do not currently exist when synchronous audio communication technologies are used within a course. Online Learning telephone conferencing systems, for example, must not be used when deaf and hard-of-hearing students are registered in a course, even when student participation is not required. In addition, internet live audio systems (e.g. Second Life and Adobe Connect) cannot be used in courses with deaf or hard-of-hearing students unless arrangements for accessibility are made with the Online Learning department. These systems usually include a text- based chat component that does provide equal access for all students. The staff in Online Learning can assist you in exploring this and other accessible alternatives (call 585-475-5089 for more information).

Jeremy Haefner
Provost & Senior Vice President, Academic Affairs

Download Provost Letter

Student Rights & Responsibilities

An excerpt pertaining to RIT's Accessibility Policies

It is the responsibility of the student with a disability to identify himself/herself to the Disability Services Office after they are admitted to RIT. Students with a disability, which has been verified and documented by a qualified professional, are entitled to receive accommodations approved by the coordinator of Disability Services.
It is the students' responsibility to discuss their accommodation needs with the appropriate faculty and personnel after they have signed a Notice of Accommodation letter with the coordinator of Disability Services.
Faculty members do not have the right to question the nature of a student's disability. All disability information is kept in the Disability Services Office and is not available to anyone unless authorized by a signed release form from the student.
All students are expected to work to their full potential and students with disabilities are not excluded from this expectation. Students are expected to commit themselves to professional excellence, personal integrity, and ethical behavior and demonstrate this commitment in their academic and professional conduct.
To see the full listing go to the RIT Student Rights and Responsibilities page.

For further information contact:

Susan Ackerman
E-mail: smacst@rit.edu
Phone: 585.475.6988 V/TTY
Fax: 585.475.2215