What are reasonable accommodations?
Reasonable Accommodations (sometimes called “academic adjustments”) are a modification or adjustment to a course, service, program, activity, or facility that enables a qualified student with a disability to have an equal opportunity to participate or to enjoy the benefits and privileges as are available to a similarly-situated student without a disability.
A. Reasonable accommodation may include, but is not limited to; making existing facilities used by students and employees readily accessible to and usable by persons with disabilities; job restructures, work schedule modifications, reassignment to a vacant position; acquisition or modification of equipment or devices, adjustment or modifications of examinations, training materials or policies, and provision of qualified readers or interpreters. An employer is required to make an accommodation to the known disability of a qualified applicant or employee, if it would not impose undue hardship on the operation of the employer’s business. Undue hardship is defined as an action requiring significant difficulty or expense, when considered in light of factors such as employer’s budget, size, etc. An employer is not obligated to provide personal use items as an accommodation.
Reasonable accommodations are adjustments or modifications which range from making the physical work environment accessible to restructuring a job, providing assistive equipment, providing certain types of personal assistants (e.g., a reader for a person who is blind, an interpreter for a person who is deaf), transferring an employee to a different job or location, or providing flexible scheduling. Reasonable accommodations are tools provided by employers to enable employees with disabilities to do their jobs, just as the employer provides the means for all employees to accomplish their jobs. For example, employees are provided with desks, chairs, phones, and computers. An employee who is blind or who has a visual impairment might need a computer which operates by voice command or has a screen that enlarges print. This information is covered in J. J. Keller’s Americans With Disabilities Compliance Manual.
A Reasonable accommodation is any modification or adjustment to a job or the work environment that will enable a qualified applicant or employee with a disability to participate in the application process or to perform essential job functions. Reasonable accommodation also includes adjustments to assure that a qualified individual with a disability has rights and privileges in employment equal to those of employees without disabilities.
