AODA Customer Service Standards
for Faculty

3.10 Essential Learning Outcomes

Academic accommodations are designed to level the playing field so that students with disabilities can perform in a way that best reflects their potential. It is important to note that students with disabilities must meet the same learning outcomes as all students. Academic accommodations are not intended to provide an unfair advantage. They are a right, not a privilege.

Essential learning outcomes represent the knowledge a student must master in order to successfully complete a course. Academic accommodations can be made for students with disabilities as long as the accommodation does not alter these learning requirements.

Each situation is different and must be individually evaluated. Here are two examples:

Example 1: A student with significant vision loss wants to enrol in a program to become a medical lab technician.
Because this field requires excellent vision, there may not be a way to adequately accommodate the student’s vision loss. As a result, the student may not meet the essential learning outcomes of the program.

Example 2: A student who has a physical disability wants to enrol in a course requiring excellent keyboard skills.
At first glance, a student who has a physical disability may not seem to be able to meet the keyboarding requirement. However, if the student is able to meet the requirement using assistive technology (such as speech recognition software), the assistive technology would be seen as an appropriate accommodation that does not alter the essential learning requirements.