The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires that you respond reasonably to disability-related requests. Although you should provide access to the content the patron requests (in this case Braille), it may be acceptable to provide the materials in a comparable format, such as in audiotaped or electronic formats. Discuss options with the patron.
There are multiple ways individuals with low vision can access printed text within a library setting. Some libraries provide a special closed-circuit television (CCTV) that can magnify the text of any document. If the library provides a scanner with optical character recognition, along with screen-reading software and a voice synthesizer on a computer, text can be scanned electronically and then read aloud to the patron. The content of some printed materials may also be available as an audio recording.
You can create a more accessible campus tour by incorporating the following suggestions into your tour plans:
Although each situation is different and the student is the best source of information regarding useful accommodations, the following accommodations are typical for a student with blindness:
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires that public programs and services, including educational institutions and opportunities, be accessible to people with disabilities. For example, with captions, the content of a videotape shown in a course might be made accessible to a person who is deaf. If the product is not captioned, access to the content would need to be provided in another way, perhaps with a sign language interpreter.
Although each situation is different and the student is the best source of information regarding useful accommodations, the following accommodations are typical for a student who is deaf or hard of hearing:
The World Wide Web has rapidly become the dominant Internet tool, combining hypertext and multimedia to provide a network of educational, governmental, and commercial resources. Much of its power comes from the fact that it presents information in a variety of formats and also organizes that information through hypertext links. Because of the multimedia nature of the web, combined with the poor design of some websites, many Internet surfers cannot access the full range of resources this revolutionary tool provides. Some visitors experience the following:
Although each situation is different and the student is the best source of information regarding useful accommodations, the following accommodations are typical for a student with a learning disability:
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires that U.S. programs and services be accessible to individuals with disabilities. The ADA accessibility requirements apply to Internet resources.
For more information about designing web pages, consult the University of Washington's Designing Accessible Websites webpage.
Although each situation is different and the student is the best source of information regarding useful accommodations, the following accommodations are typical for a student with low vision: