Yes, the LRC is open virtually Monday – Friday, 9:00am-5:00pm. The LRC director is available to consult via Google Hangouts, phone, or email. The LRC will not be proctoring exams while virtual instruction is in place at MICA.
Extended time on exams as an accommodations generally only applies to traditions, time-limited exams. If you decide to offer alternative means of assessment (e.g. essays, non-timed exams, project work), then a student's extended time may no longer be applicable.
The LRC will not be proctoring exams while MICA's instruction remains online only. All exams should be administered online or through other remote assessment methods by faculty. Within Canvas, you can extend the time for an individual student's exam in Canvas. If you have questions, email lrc@mica.edu. The LRC will coordinate support through MICA's Teaching Technology Center.
See this Tutorial regarding How to Provide a Student Extra Time on a Canvas Quiz/Test.
Students should continue to contact instructors and the LRC to request leniency in attendance or assignment deadlines on a case-by-case basis. Students should consult with the LRC to discuss any barriers presented by changes to the course format and should let the LRC know right away if they anticipate needing any different accommodations.
Upload accessible documents. Documents provided on Canvas should be accessible to students with disabilities. For documents created using the Microsoft Office Suite, the built-in accessibility checkers will provide feedback on errors and guidance on how to fix them. Scanned PDFs are not accessible. Whenever possible, provide a digital version of the resource. Decker Library may be able to help locate digital versions. Also see this Tutorial regarding Converting a PDF to Text.
Create companion text for audio and video. For audio and video recordings, companion text will increase accessibility for learners with wide-ranging backgrounds. Companion text may be in the form of a transcript or captions. The best way to create a text equivalent is to write a script and record from that, or work in reverse. However, if that is not an option, you can use auto-generated captioning tools in YouTube. You will need to edit the file to be accurate; auto-generated transcripts are typically only about 60%-70% accurate, which will interfere with your students' understanding. For captioning in synchronous instruction, you can Assign a Participant to caption in Zoom or participants can enable the automatic closed-captioning feature in Google Hangouts. See Canvas, YouTube, and Zoom Tutorials.
Create companion text for images. Any images included in your course site should include a text description. In MicroSoft Word, the accessibility checker will advise on how to add a text description. In Canvas, the image uploader has a field for alt text, which is where you can add a brief description of the image. See the Resource for Writing Effective Alt Text.
For more information, see Resource: 10 Tips for Creating Accessible Online Course Content (PDF).
Resource: 10 Tips for Creating Accessible Online Course Content (PDF)
Tutorial: Converting a PDF to Text and Checking Accessibility using Adobe Acrobat Pro
Tutorial: Adding Closed Captions in Canvas
Tutorial: Adding Closed Captions in YouTube
Tutorial: Adding Closed Captions in Zoom
Resource: Writing Effective Alt Text
Tutorial: How to Provide a Student Extra Time on a Canvas Quiz/Test