To best ensure access for all students in your course, it’s important to finalize course materials and the schedule prior to the start of the semester and make that information available to students as soon as possible. This allows students who may need alternative access to course materials due to a disability time to accurately determine what they need converted, and it helps us get an accurate sense of the volume of work required for the request. We understand that courses may be flexible and due dates may change; if this happens, we ask that you notify the student and [email protected] as soon as possible, and ideally at least two weeks before the student is expected to have completed the affected reading or assignment. 

Textbooks:

If your course uses textbooks, please select your books early, and at the latest two weeks prior to the beginning of the semester. Selecting textbooks early will give students time to assess the accessibility of the textbooks, procure an accessible version, or submit their request for an alternative format if necessary when the book is not in (or available in) an accessible format. 

Depending on the student’s requested alternative format, converted textbook materials may be delivered throughout the semester, two weeks prior to the date listed in the course syllabus/reading schedule by which the student is to have read the material or completed the assignment. Please note that we ask students to submit textbook requests early, at least two weeks before the semester starts, to be able to start receiving accessible materials at the start of the semester.

Non-textbook materials:

In addition to textbooks, some students may need other course materials in an alternative format. If this is the case, Document Conversion staff will reach out to notify you that a student in your course is using Document Conversion services and that we are requesting materials to ensure accessibility of course content. 

Some examples we may request often include Canvas materials, such as: 

• PDF readings
• Documents
• Slide decks
• Materials offered through third-party learning platforms

When sending materials to [email protected], be sure to include a reading schedule or syllabus with clearly marked due dates of when materials are being used. Due to the number of requests, DRC is not able to locate materials on your course Canvas site. Materials can only be converted if they are emailed or shared with us.

The document conversion process can take a considerable amount of time. Turnaround time is impacted by a number of factors including subject matter, complexity of the content, availability of an already accessible version/file type, and file quality, among others. Please send material two weeks in advance of when the class as a whole has access to the material. This will allow DRC to create an accessible version in time for the student receiving the accommodation. 

Once you have sent materials, please notify the student the materials have been shared with us.

Please note:

• The University’s Administrative Policy: Teaching and Learning: Instructor and Unit Responsibilities (Crookston, Morris, Rochester, Twin Cities) states that instructors must have complete syllabi available within the first week of classes. However, a student with a disability may require a syllabus, or reading schedule, at a minimum of 2 weeks in advance of the first day of class to facilitate accommodations.
• Requests are processed in the order they are received, but timing may also depend on various factors including publisher authorization time, and shipment delivery times if we need to create files from a paper version. 
• We recommend that all University instructors include the following statements on their course syllabi to inform students of the instructor’s willingness to provide reasonable accommodations:
  • The University of Minnesota is committed to creating learning environments that are inclusive and accessible to all students. If you are experiencing disability-related barriers to learning in your courses, the Disability Resource Center (DRC) is the office that collaborates with students to explore reasonable accommodations, tools, and resources.
  • If you are registered with the DRC and have a current accommodation letter please share your letter with me as soon as possible so that we can discuss how your accommodations will be implemented in this course. The sooner I know about your disability access-needs, the more equipped I can be to facilitate accommodations. You may reach out to me or your (access consultant/disability specialist) if you have any questions or concerns about your accommodations.
  • If you are not registered with the DRC and are experiencing or think you may be experiencing disability related to a mental health, attention, learning, chronic health, sensory, or physical condition, and would like to discuss accommodations and/or resources, please contact the DRC at [email protected] (email) or  612.626.1333 (phone).

We greatly appreciate your collaboration and support throughout this process to ensure access to your course materials for all students.

Tips on how to promote accessibility when creating course materials:

• Whenever possible, avoid using documents with these characteristics:
  • Image-based materials, highlighting marks, underlining, handwriting, background noise/pixelation, photocopied pages containing heavy shading in the margins, documents with skewed page orientation.
• Choose Word documents, Web pages, and HTML textbooks whenever possible. These formats are accessible or can be made accessible most easily.
• Use the “styles” menu to consistently identify Headings, Footers, hyperlinks etc. in Word documents. This ensures the document reading order and structure are preserved in conversion processes.
• When authoring new visual information, include an image description as a caption if possible. For example, if you create a pie chart showing group A representing 50%, group B representing 26%, and group C 24%, write this information out in text separate from the image.
• Try to avoid using colors such as red and green on documents/web sites. People who are colorblind cannot differentiate these colors. Colors in general should not be used as the only method to convey information.
• Use high contrast between text and its background when creating a presentation.
• When working in PowerPoint in particular, do not include too much data on one slide.
• Ask publishers if the book is available in an accessible electronic form.