Office for Disability and Access

Academic Accommodations

Many resources are available to all Oberlin College students. However, students who request accommodations based on a diagnosed disability must register with the Office for Disability & Access.

Registering with the Office for Disability & Access (ODA)

Appropriate and reasonable accommodations are best determined through an interactive process that includes the student, ODA staff, course instructors, and other faculty or staff members as appropriate. Students are expected to make accommodation requests in a timely fashion as accommodations cannot be applied retroactively.

New to ODA?

  1. Get Started: Register with ODA.
  2. A staff member will reach out to you with the next steps. 

Returning Student?

  1. If you have already been working with ODA, please log into ODA Online . Login using your ObieID and password.
  2. The first time you sign into the portal, you will be asked to complete a Confidentiality Agreement regardless if you signed a paper copy in the past. This is a one time process, and you may add or retract permissions at will.
  3. If you want to give permission to speak with your parents (or anyone other than yourself),  select Information Release Consent, then Family Release. To add another person to your release, complete a second Family Release.
  4. Update your profile.

If this is your first time ever registering with ODA, complete the Student Application to request accommodations. If you want to modify or request additional accommodations, select Additional Documentations and complete the form.

In order to receive accommodations, the student must register and request accommodations in a timely fashion. For example, faculty need typically at least a week’s notice in order to arrange for alternate testing locations and extended time.

We encourage students needing alternative texts to present their requests as soon as possible before or during the semester.

STUDENTS! Don't forget that you need to request your academic accommodations every semester. 

To receive testing accommodations such as extended time, distraction reduced testing environment, use of a computer, or use of a 4-function calculator:

  1. Register with ODA and request accommodations. Once eligibility is determined, you are ready for step 2.
  2. Notify your course instructors of the testing accommodations you request for each class, along with accommodation letter from ODA.
  3. Negotiate with each course instructor the terms of your testing accommodations for their class and every exam. That is, if additional time is warranted, will you start early or finish late? If an alternate test location is appropriate, where will that be? ODA staff are available to assist with the negotiations as needed.
  4. If your testing accommodations require assistance from ODA —for example, if we need to provide an exam in an alternate format such as electronic, Braille or enlarged text—you must notify our office at least two work days in advance of the scheduled exam. The Office for Disability & Access is typically not involved in finding alternative testing locations; arrangements are made directly between the student and instructor.
  5. Final exams must be taken at the regularly scheduled time and cannot be given at alternate times without special permission from staff in the Academic Advising Resource Center (AARC) for courses in the College of Arts and Sciences, or from the Office of the Dean for courses in the Conservatory of Music. Refer to AARC for more information about requesting a change in your final exam time.

Final Exam Time Change

It is the student’s responsibility to follow the above guidelines. Failure to do so will result in an inability to coordinate appropriate accommodations.

Textbooks and other course materials can be made available in alternate formats (electronic, Braille, enlarged text, etc.) with due notice (three weeks minimum). Students will be asked to fill out a form with their request. Students can stop in the office any time during business hours to fill out the request form.

The Office for Disability & Access has access to a high-speed scanner and text-conversion system. Single-page scanners are available for student use in the Adaptive Technology Laboratory (Mudd Center 306).

Due to copyright laws, students must provide proof of purchase for all textbooks required.

In the event that the book is hard to find, students should note that they must purchase the book as ODA will need to cut off the binding of the book and scan the text. Although the book is generally rebound, it will not be in a condition that it can be sold back.

Students requesting accessible technologies (such as for reading and writing) based on disability should contact ODA. The determination of need and the appropriateness of specific software programs and other accessible technologies is made on an individual basis in consultation with ODA staff.

Training on certain accessible technologies is available for qualified students on the basis of need.

Note-taking services are coordinated through the ODA and are available only to students who are registered with our office and have a demonstrated need for such services.

If you are a student with a diagnosed disability and believe that note-taking services may be appropriate to your needs, contact ODA as soon as possible.

Students with disabilities may request an appointment with ODA staff at any time. These meetings may be used to discuss accommodations, to address specific questions or concerns, or to help connect the student to other resources within Oberlin College and Conservatory.

The Executive Functioning Program is provided by the Office for Disability & Access and is available to all students. Email eftutor@oberlin.edu for more details.