Accessibility Initiative
In support of the THEC Accessibility Task Force recommendations submitted to the legislature in 2014, the Office of Academic Affairs is engaging campuses in dialogue, training, and assessment activities to make our educational resources more accessible to more students.
“Accessible” means that individuals with disabilities are able to independently acquire the same information, engage in the same interactions, and enjoy the same services within the same time frame as individuals without disabilities, with substantially equivalent ease of use.
Accessibility Statement:
Accessibility (per THEC/TBR) means that individuals with disabilities are able to independently acquire the same information, engage in the same interactions, and enjoy the same services within the same timeframe as individuals without disabilities, with substantially equivalent ease of use.
Accessibility versus Accommodation
Accessibility is readily available for everyone. An accessible and readily available example would be the electronic doors at a store that slide open as people approach them to enter the building. Everyone can easily enter the building and, because the doors are accessible; therefore, people with disabilities do not have to disclose to others that they have a disability.
An accommodation is a documented plan requested by an individual with a disability. The accommodation plan at Walters State Community College is called an Educational Support Plan (ESP). Accommodations in an Educational Support Plan (ESP) may include, but not be limited to, a note-taker in the classroom, extended exam times, or an exam room location with the least possible distractions.
Accessiblity is for everyone. An accommodation is for an individual.