Accessible Learning Services Best Practice Considerations - Supporting Students who are Deaf/Hard of Hearing

Enhancing Institutional EDI Knowledge of Disability and Academic Accessibility

  • Accessibility for students who are Deaf and hard of hearing involves addressing barriers related to spoken language. 

  • This can involve specialized supports such as those listed below (arranged by Accessible Learning Services), and/or exploring a shift in teaching practice to ensure anything spoken is understood. 

Computerized Note-taking (CNT)

  • Deaf and Hard of Hearing students may have a CNT present in class or connected remotely to provide live captioning for the specified student. The captioning via a separate platform will allow the student to follow the lecture in real-time.

  • The CNT(s) will reach out to faculty to confirm how they will be accessing the class.

  • To avoid any delays in providing accommodation, faculty will be asked to provide guest links to the assigned CNT(s) until they have Blackboard access established.

American Sign Language (ASL) Interpreters

  • Deaf students may have an ASL Interpreter present in class or connected remotely to provide interpretation for a specified student. The interpreting via a separate platform will allow the student to follow the lecture in real-time and ask questions as necessary.

  • The ASL Interpreters will reach out to faculty to confirm how they will be accessing the class.

  • To avoid any delays in providing accommodation, faculty will be asked to provide guest links to the assigned ASL Interpreter(s) until they have Blackboard access established.

The National Deaf Center has an excellent resource guide for faculty to help faculty better meet the needs of students who are Deaf and hard of hearing.

Please email accessible-learning@humber.ca with suggestions for key accessibility-related topics that you would like us to address through the Communiqué.