Supporting students with disabilities

UBC is committed to providing access for students with disabilities while maintaining academic standards. The Centre for Accessibility (CfA) determines a student’s eligibility for, and assigns, accommodations on disability grounds, as is required by Human Rights legislation.

All university staff and faculty are responsible for implementing the accommodations determined by the CfA, and communicating with the student’s Accessibility Advisor to discuss any questions or concerns about the accommodations.

What is an accommodation

An accommodation is a reasonable adjustment to existing services, processes, physical spaces and sometimes policies that reduces or removes disability-related barriers.

Accommodations are:

  • Individually assessed;
  • Based on functional impacts, not diagnosis alone; and
  • Designed to support access while maintaining academic standards and essential learning outcomes.

Requesting and managing accommodations

Students must be registered with the Centre for Accessibility to receive accommodations.

As an instructor, you can:

Your role in supporting students

As an instructor, you play an important role in ensuring students with disabilities can fully participate in their academic experience.

When a student provides a Letter of Accommodation from the Centre for Accessibility, you are responsible for:

  • Reviewing the Letter of Accommodation and implementing the approved accommodations in your course
  • Maintain student privacy by treating all information about a student’s disability as confidential (in accordance with FIPPA)
  • Following university policies, including the University’s Policy on Academic Accommodation for Students with Disabilities
  • Consult with the Centre for Accessibility to ensure that your courses or programs are accessible to students with disabilities.

Letters of Accommodation are issued through the Centre for Accessibility and outline the academic accommodations a student is eligible for, along with contact information for their Accessibility Advisor.

Students are not required to share details about their disability or provide documentation directly to instructors. If you need clarification or support, contact the Centre for Accessibility rather than requesting additional information from the student.

Exams

The Centre for Accessibility currently oversees the implementation of exam accommodations.

Instructors are responsible for:

  • Reviewing all communication from CfA
  • Meeting required deadlines to ensure accommodations are implemented

If deadlines are missed, instructors are responsible for implementing and arranging accommodations.

Resources to support exam accommodations: