Q&A with Accessibility Resources

Amber Bagwell, Accessibility Resources Counselor

Q. Accessibility Resources does a lot of things for students. Could you tell me a little bit about what you do?

Accessibility Resources exists to create a more equitable learning environment for students who may have some type of condition or illness that creates a barrier to learning. Students can register with Accessibility Resources for accommodations, which are essentially put in place to help remove the barriers that may exist for a student due to their documented condition. We can provide a variety of accommodations – a few examples are extended test time and distraction reduced testing environments, interpreting services, e-books, and adaptive equipment.

In addition, we also have an Instructional Specialist, Alex Farrow, who provides tutoring and academic support for students registered with Accessibility Resources.

Q. Could you tell me a little bit about how Accessibility Resources offers resources for faculty and staff?

Each campus has a counselor that faculty or staff can reach out to if they need advice on implementing accommodations or helping students who may not yet be registered with Accessibility Resources. Often, we speak with faculty about how to apply accommodations in different class settings. With our transition to remote learning, we can help faculty adjust accommodations to our new learning environment.

In addition, we have a Faculty Student Success Liaison, Kathy Daily. Kathy, who is also a faculty member, is better able to assist faculty in implementing accommodations in their class format or provide suggestions for creating a more accessible learning environment.

Q. During this time, what is the most important message you want to provide students, faculty and staff?

First and foremost, the Accessibility Resources staff want to remind everyone to take care of themselves! We are living in the middle of an unknown time, and it feels like things are changing every hour. We can’t hold ourselves to the same standards we had for ourselves prior to this pandemic – our lives have shifted suddenly, and we need to be patient with ourselves and those around us.

Secondly, we think it’s more important than ever to ensure the content that is provided is accessible. This transition can easily create barriers for our students, and we need to ensure we are communicating effectively with all students. Images should have alt-text captions, emails should be sent using the accessibility checker, videos need to be captioned. The list goes on! It can seem overwhelming but Accessibility Resources is here to help you!

Amber can be reached at amber.bagwell@tulsacc.edu if you have any questions.