FAQs for Faculty

Frequently Asked Questions for Faculty

Find answers to frequently asked questions about:

• Testing
• Note taking

Testing

• What is Section 504 and the American's with Disabilities Act and why are we legally required to provide accommodations?

  Please visit the U.S. Department of Education to read about protecting students with disabilities as mandated bySection 504 and the American's with Disabilities Act

• Extended Time for an online quiz/exam and do students need to request it through the Testing Center:  

  For the online environment, once a student requests their accommodations through DSS you will receive an email containing the students approved accommodations for the quarter. The student will not need to make an appointment through DSS and the initial email sent containing the Letter of Accommodation will be considered the request to adjust the testing time.

  Extended time is a frequently approved accommodation, and instructors should be prepared to explore strategies for providing this. (Note that an extended time accommodation is not the same as providing more time for all students; it means that the accommodated student should get an additional percentage of time above whatever other students are getting. For example, the standard test time might be one hour and an approved student gets time-and-a-half, or 1.5 hours. If the test is expanded to two hours, the accommodated student would then get three hours.) o Guidance on how to do this in Canvas is provided at https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-13053-4152276279

  *Time extensions are provided for the time allowed to complete the test, not for the time frame to turn it in.   IE, if teacher allows a 2 day time frame to turn in a test, but only allows  1hr to complete once they start, the extension is only for the 1hr, not the 2 days.   So time extension would 2 hours for double time and 1.5 hours for 1.5x. 

• What do I do if a student has 'Breaks' as an approved accommodation?

  "Breaks” is an accommodation that may have online, timed implications. A student may have extended time or they may have extended time plus “breaks”. If your student has breaks during exams, add in their total break time to their exam. for example, if the student is approved for a 5 minute break for every hour of testing and after adjusting for extended time, the exam will last 2 hours, you will need to add 10 minutes to the testing time. 

• How do I know what accommodations to provide to students?    

  Students who are in the DSS program will meet with their DSS Counselor or LD Specialist and request accommodations usually at the beginning of the quarter, but this can occur at any time of the quarter.  Nonetheless, once a student requests services, you will receive a Letter of Accommodation from the students DSS Counselor/LD Specialist, which will detail the students approved accommodations for your course.   

• How do I make sure my exams accessible online?    

  Accessible Content in Canvas

  Whether moving from a face-to-face course to temporary remote teaching for the first time or teaching an established online course, posting course content and materials in an accessible manner offers students access to the content they need to be successful. The following accessibility criteria identify best practices for faculty to address accessibility issues when moving course content into the online environment.

  Content Formatting

  • Content is organized into meaningful sections using heading styles.

  • Heading styles are nested in a logical and sequential order.

  • Link text is meaningful, descriptive, and in context.

  • Underlining is not used for emphasis.

  • Color and contrast are sufficient. Color is not used alone to convey meaning.

  • Lists are formatted using the embedded list tool.

  • Tables are for data with identifiable headers. have header rows identified.

  Media

  • Images have appropriate alt text descriptions; images unrelated to page content are designated as decorative.

  • Videos have accurate captions (not auto-generated) with proper punctuation. Review DCMP Captioning Key for guidance.

  • Audios have accurate transcripts.

  • Videos/audios are not set to auto-play.

  Along with the following information, we would highly suggest contacting your department to discuss training with Canvas to assist. 

• If a student is stating they receive accommodations, but I have not received an Letter of Accommodation (LOA), what should I do?  

  There are a few ways you can double check this:

  1. You can log into your "MyPortal" and check for your students LOA via the Clockwork Portlet. 

     How to Access Clockwork 

     1. Log into myportal.fhda.edu
     2. Click Apps
     3. Scroll to locate the "Clockwork" App
     4. Click on "Clockwork De Anza"

     ClockWork Faculty Help Guide

  2. See if you received anything in your fhda.edu email. 

  If you are certain that you have not received any LOA for your student, please refer them back to their DSS Counselor so they can set up their accommodations and you will subsequently get sent a Letter of Accommodation thereafter. (add dss informaiton email – see how they are scheduling )

• Who do I contact if I have a question or concern about a student's accommodations?     

  If you have general questions about testing accommodations, then you can contact dsstestproctor@fhda.edu.  If we cannot answer the question we will refer you to the appropriate staff or faculty.  

Note Taking

• If a student in my class requests note taking services, how do I provide this?    

  Once a student makes a request for note taking services, you will get an email from DSS Instructional Associates with further information.   You will need to make an announcement via email to your class roster so that we can help locate a note taker for this class.  

• Do note takers get paid?  

  Yes, note takers do get paid an hourly wage and get paid once a month.  Usually on the 15th of each month.  The current hourly wage is $13.00/hr. 

• Once a note taker has come forward, what happens next?     

  Once a note taker is located, please have them follow up with DSS Instructional Associates at dsstestproctor@fhda.edu they will provide the note taker with their contract and next steps to get on payroll.   

• How will notes be delivered?    

  Notes will be delivered electronically via email.   Note Takes will send an email with notes within 24hrs once the lecture material has been posted.  This is to ensure that services are provided in a timely/effective manner.   

• Notes and Tips for Note Taking    

  A quick note about Note Taking-for most teaching styles-PowerPoint, Word docs, Canvas discussion boards, those with a written record—note taking might not be necessary.  For those courses that simulate a classroom, such as videos or zoom meetings, a transcript or recording will be necessary.  Instructors may also post their own lecture notes, if they prefer. 

  
  Provide any lecture, PowerPoint, handout materials to all students so they can have them ready to take notes alongside any live or recorded lectures.  (This will help them not have to focus on writing everything down, but will help them focus on  additional notes or interpretation that the instructor notes during lectures.)

  Record your lectures so that students can easily access material in case they need to review after class to supplement their notes with anything they might have missed during lecture. 

• Accessibility Tips  

  Accessible Content in Canvas

  Whether moving from a face-to-face course to temporary remote teaching for the first time or teaching an established online course, posting course content and materials in an accessible manner offers students access to the content they need to be successful. The following accessibility criteria identify best practices for faculty to address accessibility issues when moving course content into the online environment.

  Content Formatting

  • Content is organized into meaningful sections using heading styles.

  • Heading styles are nested in a logical and sequential order.

  • Link text is meaningful, descriptive, and in context.

  • Underlining is not used for emphasis.

  • Color and contrast are sufficient. Color is not used alone to convey meaning.

  • Lists are formatted using the embedded list tool.

  • Tables are for data with identifiable headers. have header rows identified.

  Media

  • Images have appropriate alt text descriptions; images unrelated to page content are designated as decorative.

  • Videos have accurate captions (not auto-generated) with proper punctuation. Review DCMP Captioning Key for guidance.

  • Audios have accurate transcripts.

  • Videos/audios are not set to auto-play.

  Resource Websites that might be handy to have for online teaching/accessibility: 

  https://cccaccessibility.org/web/canvas-accessibility/accessible-content-in-canvas

  https://cvc.edu/about-the-oei/resources/

  Canvas Layouts - https://lor.instructure.com/resources/a3a5fec6058b49d0974ebf01ac4e7ad6

• Zoom Resources  

  Anecdotally considered to be the most accessible videoconferencing system currently available.  

  https://zoom.us/accessibility

  Zoom: Accessibility § Getting Started with Closed Captioning 

  https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/207279736-Getting-started-with-closed-captioning#h_5ae2ddf1-fca4-40ac-9776-3d8a483d9df9