Access and Accommodations

While creating and revising teaching materials for online or face-to-face learning, ensuring that materials are appropriately accessible for all students is both required by law and important to creating an inclusive classroom environment. This page provides tips for reviewing materials (such as written documents and videos) and seeks to help faculty understand the distinction between accessibility and accommodations. 

For more information about accessibility and accommodations at ECC, contact the Student Access & Disability Service Office

The Student Access & Disability Service Office has created a concise guide, titled "Fostering an Accessible and Equitable Learning Environment at Elgin Community College." 

Defining Accessibility and Accommodations

A primary way to distinguish between accessibility and accommodation is that accessibility is proactive and accommodations are reactive. 

NOTE:  Being proactive about making materials accessible does not mean that students will no longer need accommodations. Making course materials and practices accessible instead means a greater chance of supporting students who do not request accommodations for a documented disability but will nonetheless benefit from accessible materials. Additionally, making materials accessible, as this page will describe later on, provides potential benefits to all students. 

Guides for Document, Video, and Zoom Accessibility

ECC's website has a guide to creating accessible content. The page features ways to strive towards accessibility, such as using headings and lists, when creating written documents and also when recording videos. 

ECC Accessible Content Guides

Additional instructions for making synchronous sessions over Zoom and videos uploaded to YouTube more accessible can be accessed by clicking the links below. 

Microsoft Word Accessibility Checklist 

Verify that your Word document is accessible by checking these features:

1.    Built-In Headings and Styles

a.    Are the built-in headings and styles used correctly?

2.    Lists

a.    Are the built-in ordered (numbered) and unordered (bulleted) lists used correctly?

3.    Hyperlinks

a.    Are hyperlinks meaningful?

4.    Alternative Text

a.    Is Alternative Text added for each image, graph, and table?

5.    Tables

a.    Is the table simple? Simple tables do not have nested or merged rows or columns. 

b.    Does the top row repeat at the top of each page of the table?

c.     The rows should not break across pages.

Further Resources:

Understanding the Accessibility Checker’s Error Messages

Video Explaining Why Creating Accessible Word and PDF Documents is Important

MS Office Accessibility—PowerPoint and Word

Microsoft PowerPoint Accessibility Checklist 

Verify that your PowerPoint presentation is accessible by checking these features:

1.    Built-In Slide Templates

a.    Are built-in slide templates being used?

2.    Unique Slide Titles

a.    Does each slide have a unique slide title?

3.    Hyperlinks

a.    Are hyperlinks meaningful?

4.    Reading Order of Slide Contents

a.    Is the reading order for each slide accurate?

5.    Alternative Text

a.    Is Alternative Text added for each image, graph, and table?

6.    Videos

a.    If videos are shown, are the captions included and accurate?

7.    Color Contrast

a.    Is there a strong color contrast between the text and background?

8.    Font 

a.    Is the font size at least 24 point or higher?

b.    Is the font readable (e.g., Arial or Verdana)?

Further Resources:

Understanding the Accessibility Checker’s Error Messages

7 Steps to Creating an Accessible PowerPoint Slideshow

MS Office Accessibility—PowerPoint and Word

Accessibility Before and After Quiz

The below teaching materials, a course syllabus and a lecture slideshow, provide a Before and After example for revising materials for greater accessibility. The Inaccessible Syllabus examples include 19 barriers and the Inaccessible Slideshow includes 8 barriers to accessibility from those listed at the ECC Student Access & Disability Services Office's Accessible Documents webpage. The Accessible examples demonstrate how the materials have been revised and annotate the changes made. 

After reading the ECC Disability Services Office's Accessible Documents web page, read and follow the directions below. Then, click on the Inaccessible Syllabus and the Inaccessible Slideshow and try to identify the accessibility barriers present. Finally, look at the Accessible Syllabus and Accessible Slideshow to see if you found all of the barriers and how to make the corrections.  

Instructions for Reviewing the Inaccessible Syllabus Document

Instructions for Reviewing the Inaccessible PowerPoint Slides 

ECC Webinar on Accessibility

The below video is webinar on accessibility, led by Pietrina Probst, Director of ADA and Student Disability Services, and Tammy Ray, Instructional Technology & Distance Learning Coordinator IV and Adjunct Faculty in Digital Technologies. The webinar was led on May 26, 2020 with faculty in ABEC. 

Accessible Textbook Publishers

As you search for textbooks for your course, please consider selecting a book from this list of publishers. These publishers have made a commitment to providing e-texts to the ECC Student Disabilities Services office for qualified students with print-related disabilities. Furthermore, when collaborating with the sales representative for the book publisher to select a textbook for your course, please consider inquiring about the accessibility of the book publisher's e-books. 

Faculty FAQs on Accommodations

Accessibility Statement for Syllabi

Elgin Community College (ECC) views disability as an important aspect of diversity and is committed to providing an equitable and accessible learning environment for all students. The Student Access & Disability Services office collaborates with students who have disabilities to provide and arrange reasonable accommodations to foster full participation in courses and campus experiences.

If you have a disability (e.g., vision, hearing, speech, psychological, ADHD, TBI, health, intellectual, autism, learning, physical, etc.), please visit www.elgin.edu/ada, complete the “Registration Form” under “New to Student Disabilities Services,” gather documentation on your disability, and schedule an intake appointment.

If you have received accommodations in the past at ECC and need accommodation letters for your courses this semester, please visit www.elgin.edu/ada and complete the “Request Form” under “Returning Student” as soon as possible.

While ECC will not compromise or waive essential skill requirements in any course or degree, students with disabilities may be supported with reasonable accommodations to help meet these requirements. The laws state that students do not need to disclose a disability, but if reasonable accommodations are needed, the students must disclose a disability to the Student Access & Disability Services office and provide documentation on the disability during the intake appointment. If students do not follow the intake process through the Student Access & Disability Services office, ECC does not need to provide reasonable accommodations to standard procedures.

If you have any questions, please email sds@elgin.edu or call 847-214-7717. 


Your Before and After Document

To put the instructions for accessibility into practice, faculty are encouraged to choose one of their teaching documents (such as an Assignment Description or slideshow) and to submit the unedited version that may contain barriers to accessibility as well as the revised accessible version. Use the dropbox below to submit both an "Inaccessible" and "Accessible" version for one of your course materials. You will be prompted to sign in using your faculty1234@student.elgin.edu account.