Access for students with disabilities

Accessibility resources for an inclusive community

In keeping with the provisions and guidelines of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADAAA), UCSC Silicon Valley Extension provides reasonable accommodations for students with disability-related needs.

We are committed to promoting the full participation of students with disabilities in all aspects of their professional education and work with instructors and staff to create an inclusive and accessible campus environment.

Here you will find information about how to request accommodations for exams, assistance with note-taking, access to assistive technology, and other resources.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us, if you have any questions or need assistance. We are here to support you on your professional development journey at Extension.

   

How to Request an Accommodation

Roles, Rights, & Responsibilities

Grievance Process

   

What is a disability?

A disability is a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, according to the ADAAA. Examples of disability categories:

  • Vision disabilities
  • ADHD or ADD
  • Psychological (e.g. anxiety, depression, OCD)
  • Learning disabilities (e.g. dyslexia, dysgraphia, reading/audio processing)
  • Deaf or hard of hearing (HOH)
  • Brain injury (TBI)
  • Physical or mobility
  • Autism spectrum
  • Health (e.g. chronic migraines, seizures)
  • Temporary disabilities

What is reasonable accommodation?

Personalized accommodations

UCSC Extension provides personalized accommodation to meet the needs of each student based on information in their current medical documentation and ADA Accommodation Request Form.

  • Audiotaping of courses
  • Captioning services
  • Course registration assistance
  • Exam proctoring
  • Extended time for exams and quizzes

Reasonable accommodation is a modification or adjustment to a course, program, service, job, activity, or facility that enables a student with a disability to have an equal opportunity to enjoy the benefits, opportunities, and privileges that are available to all students with or without disabilities.

Reasonable accommodations are identified to mitigate the educational impact of disabilities. They should not lower the curriculum standards or allow changes that fundamentally alter essential course requirements.

Open Campus students who participate in courses taught at the main campus in Santa Cruz must contact the UCSC Disability Resource Center for services at opencmps@ucsc.edu.

Document Conversion

  • SensusAccess Document Converter Tool (Free for students)
    SensusAccess is a self-service solution that automates the conversion of documents into a range of alternative formats including Braille, mp3, Daisy, and e-books for the visually and reading impaired.

    This software requires a UCSC email address, <cruzid>@ucsc.edu. Please contact the ADA Coordinator if you do not have a UCSC email address. One can be created for you.

Text-to-Speech

Built-in Functions of Popular Services—We encourage students to use the software most already own, like Microsoft Word or Google Docs, to use “read aloud” and other text-to-speech (TTS) functions.

Forms Library

If you have any questions and would like more information, please contact the ADA Coordinator Beatrice Pina-Torres.

For assistance registering for a class, you may contact Student Services at extension@ucsc.edu or by calling (408) 861-3630.