Is the Trinity Disability Service open?

The Disability Service Team will continue to offer student appointments via Microsoft Teams/Skype, phone or email. Bookings can be made with Disability Officers and Occupational Therapists as normal. Staff contact details and booking links are available here. Check the dedicated Trinity Coronavirus webpage for up-to-date information relating to online teaching and assessment.

Disability Contact information: (video)

How will remote appointments work?

Appointments can take place by MS Teams/Skype, phone or email. We can share any documents/assignments on screen using MS Teams/Skype, or we can share via email if meeting over the phone. Within meetings, please note that while our conversation is confidential, if you indicate that you are a risk to yourself or others, we will be required to break confidentiality to ensure your safety and the safety of others.

One difference with remote meetings is that as part of the Disability Service remote working procedure and in line with international guidelines on remote meetings, in advance of the meeting, we need you to provide the following information:

• Address where you are staying at the moment.
• Name and contact details of next of kin/emergency contact.

How are my classes being delivered since College closed?

Classes are being delivered via Blackboard from the week beginning Monday 16 March. Blackboard Learn is Trinity’s Learning Management System (LMS). It is a virtual classroom where students and instructors can interact and share information. To access Blackboard Learn, visit www.tcd.blackboard.com. You will see a list of the modules you are registered for when you log in. More information on using blackboard can be found here.

Do my reasonable accommodations remain active?

Yes, however, for some or all of your classes you may find that some of your accommodations are no longer needed, some may need to change, and/or you may need additional or new accommodations. If you think the accommodations you currently have will not work with the changed format of examinations, please contact your Disability Officer.

Will I be able to modify or add new reasonable accommodations, due to barriers I might experience learning in the online environment?

Since you will not know how the switch to online teaching, learning and assessment will impact you in each of your modules, you are encouraged to contact your Disability Officer to explore possible changes to accommodations, if necessary. Changes to your reasonable accommodations will then be made via your LENS report and your Lecturers will be informed accordingly.

Will my exam accommodations apply for alternative assessments?

College is preparing to convert all planned in-person examinations to alternate modes of assessment that can be delivered online. Module Coordinators are being asked to provide alternative assessments instead of in-person examinations. The Exam options that are being considered are explained here:

*Students with dyslexia and students who are deaf or have a hearing impairment may opt to disclose their disability on their examination scripts in any of the examination modalities listed above. It is the students responsibility to copy the link to the disclosure of disability linked here https://www.tcd.ie/disability/services/exam-accommodations.php#id  The Disability Service will provide this link to all students with this accommodation and will guide on its use.

The Disability Service can be contacted with any queries in relation to the provision of exam accommodations for timed, online or take home exams: askds@tcd.ie

Until College makes a final decision on Semester 2 assessments and the details are published, the Disability Service will not be able to advise on the format of your examinations. Once you know the exam types, if you have any issues relating to them contact your Disability Officer to discuss.

How do I use the disclosure of disability sticker?

Students with dyslexia and students who are deaf or have a hearing impairment may opt to disclose their disability on their examination scripts in any of the examination modalities listed above. It is the students responsibility to copy the link to the disclosure of disability linked here https://www.tcd.ie/disability/services/exam-accommodations.php#id  The Disability Service will provide this link to all students with this accommodation and will guide on its use.

How do I set up a Low Distraction Study/Exam Venue at home? (video)

Check out Harry's video below on the Dos and Don't of setting up a low distraction study/exam venue at home:

Can I use text to speech tools during an exam to read back text and to enable me proof my work? (video)

As exams will be preformed remotely your exam paper will be provided in an electronic format. This will enable you to use the read aloud function within Microsoft Word 365 to have text read aloud to you. For a short video on this functionality please view the below video:

If you require further support on this topic please email Andrew Costello from the Disability Service Service at acostel@tcd.ie

How do I install Microsoft Word 365 if I do not have it on my computer?

Office 365 is free for all registered students in TCD, you can download it for free by going to http://office.tcd.ie>. For more information on this service please view the IT Services webpages at https://www.tcd.ie/itservices/internet/office-proplus.php

I've used voice recognition previously in exams, can I use it at home for any remote exams? (video)

As exams will be preformed remotely you will have full access to Dragon voice recognition on your personal machine or if needed the Dictate option within MS Word. You are free to use this methid when completing all exam work.For a short video on this functionality please view the below video:

If you require further support on this topic please email Andrew Costello from the Disability Service Service at acostel@tcd.ie

What learning supports are available to me whilst College is closed during the COVID-19 period? (video)

How do I access LENS reports in SITS?

Disability Liaison Officers (DLO), Directors of Teaching and Learning (DTL) and Module Owners/Co-ordinators can provide you with a list of students with active LENS reports studying your module. The DLO/DTL in your school can assign read-only access to LENS reports to academics who are not module co-ordinators as required. A list of DLOs and Disability Contacts by School is available here. More information regarding the sharing of LENS reports is available here.

What Disability Issues should I consider when setting online exams/alternative assessments for Semester 2 examinations:

*Students with dyslexia and students who are deaf or have a hearing impairment may opt to disclose their disability on their examination scripts in any of the examination modalities listed above. It is the students responsibility to copy the link to the disclosure of disability linked here https://www.tcd.ie/disability/services/exam-accommodations.php#id  The Disability Service will provide this link to all students with this accommodation and will guide on its use.

The Disability Service can be contacted with any queries in relation to the provision of exam accommodations for timed, online or take home exams: askds@tcd.ie

How will extra/extended time for exams work in an online format?

If a student has been granted extra time for exams, your online exam must be extended allow for these exam accommodations. Disability Liaison Officers (DLO), Directors of Teaching and Learning (DTL) and Module Co-ordinators can view lists of students with exam accommodations within SITS and share this information with academics as required. Information on how to do this can be found here. Guidance on how to extend time in Blackboard is provided here. Additionally the Test availability exceptions feature within Blackboard allows you to give additional time or change the availability of tests for students.

Who do I contact if I need assistance working out how to accommodate students with disabilities in Semester 2 examinations?

All Disability Service staff are aligned to certain Schools and a list of who your Disability School contact is is available here. Please feel free to contact us, we are here to help.

What are the Quick Fixes to make online academic content accessible?

• Structure documents using the inbuilt styles e.g. headings, bulleted lists.
• Use plain English and short sentences.
• Use sans serif fonts such as Arial, Calabri and Verdana.
• Avoid using italic text as it can be harder to read and use bold to emphasise words instead.
• Use left align and avoid justified text as this can create large uneven spaces between letters and words.
• Make web links descriptive so it is obvious what you are linking to e.g. 'contact us' instead of 'click here'.
• Add alternative text (or Alt text) to images to describe them for screen readers. If the image is purely decorative then alt text is not required as it doesn't provide important information.
• Use a good colour contrast.
• Add captions to vidoes and text descriptions for infographics.
• Avoid using merged cells in tables.
• Add page numbers.
• More information on making information accessible can be found here.

How do I make my online content accessible?

Social Media: Social Media posts can be made more accessible by including Alt text (alternative text) for images to allow screen readers to interpret graphics, by using ‘CamelCase’ for hastags (for example #ThisIsAccessible whereas #thisisnotaccessible), and by sharing videos through Youtube to allow for automatically generated closed captions. Visit our Social Media Accessibility webpage for further information and guidance. 

Media/video/audio: Videos should be produced and delivered in ways that ensure that all members of the audience can access their content. An accessible video includes captions and a transcript. Please see guidance below for more details about each of these features.

What are Captions?

Captions are text versions of the audio content, synchronized with the video. They are essential for ensuring your video is accessible to students, employees, and members of the public who are deaf or hard of hearing. They also help non-native English speakers to understand the video, make it possible to search for content within the video, help all students learn the spelling of technical terms spoken in the video, and make it possible to generate an interactive transcript where users can click anywhere in the transcript to watch the video where that text is spoken.

How can I add captioning to my video?

There are two general approaches to captioning video:

• Outsourcing: There are many pay as you go providers (e.g. 3play media) that will caption a video quickly as required. Their services include seamless integration with YouTube, Panopto, and other platforms.
• Do it yourself: There are free tools available online that make it possible and easy to caption your own video. For specific instructions, select one of the following options:
  • Adding captions to You Tube videos
  • Adding captions to videos in Panopto
  • Adding captions to videos in Canvas
  • Adding captions to videos in MS Teams
  • Adding captions to videos in Facebook

How to captioning your own video for free:

The end product generated by captioning your own video is called a caption file. Most caption files are plain text files with time codes indicating the start and end times. Once you have a caption file, the final step is to add this file to your video. How you do this, and the types of caption file supported, depends on where your video is hosted. You can caption your own videos using one of several free online tools, including:

• Amara.org
• DotSub.com
• Subtitle Horse

The process for creating captions using these tools is approximately the same:

1. Upload the video to the web (most services can caption any video as long as it has a public URL, this includes videos on YouTube). To keep the video private during the captioning process, do not publish its URL (YouTube offers this as one of its privacy options).
2. Provide the video’s URL to the captioning service. Some services also support uploading a video directly to their site.
3. Use the service’s captioning tool to watch the video and transcribe it. Caption text is displayed in real time on the video as you type.
4. Review and edit the captions to be sure they’re accurate and easy to follow. The Described and Captioned Media Program (DCMP) provides a Captioning Key with guidelines for effective captioning.
5. Download the captions as a caption file in the appropriate format for your needs.

How do I create Accessible Documents?

When creating content, there are a few basic steps that should be followed in order to ensure that your content is accessible. The core steps needed for accessibility are the same regardless of whether your document is in HTML, Microsoft Word, Adobe PDF, or another document format:

• Use headings
• Use lists
• Use meaningful hyperlinks
• Add alternate text to images
• Identify document language
• Use tables wisely
• Understand how to export from one format to another

To gain a better understanding of these core issues, see our Trinity Inclusive Curriculum web pages. These webpages offer clear and concise guidelines on how to ensure your documents adhere to the Trinity Accessible Information Policy. To apply each of these concepts to a particular document format or authoring workflow, select one of the following topics:

• Creating accessible documents in Microsoft word
• Creating accessible presentations in Microsoft PowerPoint
• Creating accessible PDFs

How do I create High Quality Scanned Documents?

Sometimes it is necessary to scan a document for an instructional need. When documents are in electronic form, they are easier to distribute and can be more accessible than print documents for students with disabilities. However, in order to be fully accessible, certain steps must be followed to be sure the scanned document is of high quality. Even if a document is not needed for a person with a disability, a poor scan often negatively impacts the end user's experience. To improve the quality of scanned documents follow the steps below. Please note that it may be necessary to consult the manufacturer’s instructions for your scanner.

1. Check your results: It may seem too obvious to mention, but checking your scanned documents is a must. It's much better to repeat the scanning process rather than share a document that no one can read.
2. Increase your default resolution: If your scanner is set to a default resolution of 200dpi, bump that up to a minimum of 300dpi. Your final file size will be larger, but the resulting documents will be much better quality.
3. The image is distorted or blurred: Make sure the document or photo lies flat on the document table. Also make sure your document or photo is not wrinkled or warped. Make sure you do not move the document or your scanner while scanning. Make sure the scanner is placed on a flat stable surface.
4. The scanned image is too dark: It may be necessary to change the display setting to match the output device. Check the brightness and contrast settings of your computer monitor.
5. An image on the back of your original appears in your scanned image: If your original is printed on thin paper, images on the back may be visible to the scanner and appear in your scanned image. Try scanning the original with a piece of black paper placed on the back of it. Also make sure the document type and image type settings are correct for your original.