[music]
Dan: Hi I’m Dan Comden.
I’m manager of the Access Technology Center.
And in this space in the basement of Mary Gates Hall,
we provide consulting services for accessible design
of web pages and online applications.
We also do accommodations for students, faculty and staff who have disabilities
who need some help using computing technology.
We’ve got a showroom behind me that has all kinds of technology
that can help people with various disabilities have access to computers.
Also located in the basement is the Disability Resources for Students office.
They provide academic accommodations for students with disabilities.
They provide accessible academic materials in alternate digital format,
they provide for extended exam times
and they actually have a testing center that’s located here as well –
very active during finals and mid-terms.
This is the counseling part of Disability Resources for Students
where the counselors who meet with individual students
to discuss accommodations are located.
And in here we have Jon McGough,
who’s the associate director of Disability Resources for Students.
Hi Jon!
Jon: Hey Dan!
We work with over 2,000 students a year
ensuring that they have equal access to university programs and classes.
In DRS, we work with students in every program across the university.
That's undergraduate students, graduate students,
students in professional programs like medicine or law.
In working with our counseling staff, our counseling staff works to ensure
that the students can access the classroom.
That means that lectures are accessible to them.
This could include sign language interpreters or closed-captioned videos.
We worked to ensure that their books are accessible to them.
This could be textbooks in Braille or audio or many other digital formats.
We work to ensure that clinical experiences and field trips are also accessible.
Krista: These accommodations are designed to level the playing field,
not to give preferential access.
Leveling the playing field means that a student with a disability
has the same right to succeed or fail as any other student.
Jon: One important thing to keep in mind is
that the term disability is really broad under the law.
Many people may hear the term disability and think of individuals
who are blind, low vision, or in a wheelchair.
That actually makes up probably less than 10%
of the students our office works with.
Common diagnoses that students have in working with our office
can be things like anxiety or depression,
attention deficit disorder, chronic health conditions.
Dan: Here we have the D Center, the disability and deaf culture center.
This is a student-run organization that provides a space
for students to hang out, study or meet.
Lesley: My name is Lesley Ellis.
I’m the adviser here at the D Center.
<v Lesley to student: Hey, how’s it going with the website?
Student: Um, well, good.
Lesley: We feel really strongly there should be a center for disabled students
to come together and be able to share space,
to maybe unwind from the day, maybe take a break between classes.
<v Lesley to student: Are you applying for new jobs now?
Dan: The transition from the K-12 system into higher education
can be a bit of a shock for some students.
They come from a very supportive environment to an environment that is supportive but
requires that the student really be their own best advocate.
They have to seek out the services.
So it's really nice to have these different units
co-located in the same building.
Lesley: See you soon!