Accessibility Services for Faculty and Staff

Working with Students with Disabilities

Faculty Guide to Accommodations

The new Faculty Guide to Accommodations for 2025-26 has been released.

SAS Faculty Guide to Student Accommodations 2025-26

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact Student Accessibility Services.  We look forward to working together in order to build a more inclusive, equitable, and accessible campus.

 

AIM (Accommodation Management): AIM Instructor Portal Link

Instructor Portal and Accommodation Letter Updates.pdf

 

Related Faculty Resource Links:

Genio Faculty FAQs

Online Class Recordings

Class Recordings Decision Tree, ADA & FERPA

Recording & Transcription Agreement

 

 

Test Accommodation for QCC Students with Disabilities

Accessible Testing Services - Now using AIM

Student Accessibility Services offers Exam Coordination as a resource to assist with scheduling students using approved testing accommodations. As of July 2025, coordination of accommodated exams will be done using the new AIM portal. Please review the overview and FAQs below for more information about the updated process.  The Steps are a sequential list of instructions, while the Visual Guide has screen shots.

Steps to Submit the SAS Exam Checklist - Instructions to Administer Your Exam

A Visual Guide for Faculty Instructions for Alternative Testing Module.pdf

SAS Alternative Testing Accommodations Flowchart

 

 

General Process 

  1. Students will use the AIM portal to select which accommodations they would like to use in each course. If a student chooses to use an accommodation in your course, you will receive an email notification with the student’s name and which accommodations they will be using. 

  1. If a student has selected a testing accommodation for your class, the email notification will contain a link to the SAS Exam Checklist in AIM, which must be filled out prior to the administration of any accommodated exam. At the top of the agreement, you will also have the option to indicate if your class does not have exams or if you will be administering exams with accommodations on your own. 

  1. At least five (5) days before an exam, students will log into the AIM portal to schedule a time to take their exam with accommodations. You will receive an email notification when an exam has been scheduled by the student and another when it has been approved by Student Accessibility Services. If you have not yet filled out the SAS Exam Checklist, you will be prompted in the email notifications to do so. Additionally, the confirmation email from the AIM portal will contain a link that you can use to upload your exam. 

  1. Two days before the exam, you will receive an email reminder with a note reminding you of the scheduled exam and to upload your exam if you have not already done so.  

  1. Once a student completes an exam, you may pick up the exam, or, if you have elected to have electronic copies sent to you, that will be done shortly after the exam is finished.  

Frequently Asked Questions 

Can I come to SAS and fill out the Exam Checklist? 

No, at this time, all exam requests are administered through the AIM portal. Your instructions to administer the exam will be entered using the Exam Checklist.   

Do exams have to be uploaded through the AIM portal? 

While faculty are encouraged to use the portal to upload their exams, it might be easier to email SAS rather than uploading to AIM. We also recognize that you may have physical materials to drop off with our office or may prefer to drop off your own printed copies of your exam. Please reach out to us at sas@qcc.mass.edu if you have any questions about the best way to deliver your exams. 

What if a student schedules an exam at an alternative date/time that I have not approved?

Students are directed to schedule their exam at roughly the same time as the class unless they have an academic conflict. For example, if a student has an extended time accommodation that would prevent them from attending another class, or if they have an accommodation for staggered exams, it may not be feasible for them to take the exam at the scheduled class time. In this case, students should reach out to you to determine an appropriate alternative time to complete the exam before scheduling on AIM. If the email notification indicates that a student has scheduled an exam at a different time than originally planned and they have not consulted with you, please connect with the student to correct any confusion and reach out to Student Accessibility Services to communicate approved times. 

 

Helpful Links

Blackboard Tests-Best Practice Tips

Using Test Exceptions to Modify Testing Options for Individual Students

 

Please contact us if you have any questions.  Thank you.

 

Invisible Disabilities - Good To Know

Most disabilities are invisible: learning disabilities, medical conditions, psychological impairments, and Autism Spectrum Disorder.  Many times you may not know whether you are working with a student with a disability unless they disclose their disability to you.

 

 

Students will typically disclose their disability in one of two ways:

 
  • You receive  from the student an accommodation  letter prepared by our office; or
  • The student will inform you directly that s/he has a disability. 

Students are not required to tell you what their disability is and they are not required to show you any documentation of their disability.  What they need to provide you is an accommodation form from our office detailing the student’s accommodations.

 

 

The University of Washington’s Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology (DO-IT) center has also put together a great list of faculty resources for working with students with disabilities including:

 
  • Resources from DO-IT  - Web-based publications to be printed and video presentations from DO-IT that are useful to postsecondary educators
  • Specific Disability Resources - resources related to teaching students with specific disabilities.
  • Specific Academic Activity Resources - resources for helping instructors accommodate students with disabilities in specific academic activities.
  • Knowledge Base - search the Knowledge Base for question and answers, case studies, and promising practices regarding the education and employment of students with disabilities.

In reference to Universal Design and creating access for all, California State University's Universal Design Center has created a valuable website with guides on making instructional materials accessible, web accessibility, creating math content for the web and more.  To access this resource click here.