Common Accommodations for College Students with Disabilities 

1. Removing physical barriers to provide access to buildings. Obstacles or other features in the building or school environment can impede students with disabilities from gaining full access to facilities, services, and programs. Colleges and universities can meet ADA accessibility requirements by removing these barriers and ensuring that all buildings, including residential facilities, are easily accessible.
2. Changing a classroom environment or task to allow a student with a disability to participate. Examples of such accommodations for college students with disabilities may include additional time or a distraction-free alternate setting for tests. Sign language interpreters, readers and alternative test formats are also common.
3. Modifying policies, practices, or procedures. All programs must be offered in an integrated setting. To ensure this, institutions may need to alter policies, practices, and methods to accommodate students, including allowing service animals in facilities or modifying a course attendance policy.
4. Providing auxiliary aids and services. Offering assistive technology, like screen readers, modified keyboards and mice, as well as aids, such as sing language interpreters and materials in Braille or electronic formats, may be necessary for effective communication.
5. Making other adaptations or modifications that enable a student to participate in the college’s programs, services, and activities.

ADA and Section 504 provide for individually designed accommodations and program modifications to meet the needs of the student with a disability.

*Adapted from: “5 most common accommodations for college students with disabilities: What the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act provide students” by UB Staff