New Online Accommodations Are Not Enough: The Mismatch between Student Needs and Supports Given for Students with Disabilities during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in nearly all universities transitioning their in-person courses to online instruction. Recent work from our research team conducted in Spring 2020 established that the immediate transition to online learning presented novel challenges for students with disabilities: students were unable to access previously established accommodations and there was a lack of information from Disability Resource Centers (DRCs) about adapting accommodations to online environments. In this study, we aimed to determine the extent to which these issues still were present 1 year later. In Spring 2021, we conducted a survey of 114 students with disabilities who were registered with the DRC and taking online science courses at a public research-intensive institution. We used our previous interviews with students to develop closed- and open-ended questions to assess the extent to which students with disabilities were being properly accommodated in their courses, document any new accommodations they were using, and elicit any recommendations they had for improving their experiences in online science courses. We used logistic regression to analyze the closed-ended data and inductive coding to analyze the open-ended data. We found that more than half of students with disabilities reported not being properly accommodated, and this was more likely to be reported by students who experienced new challenges related to online learning. When students were asked what accommodations they would have wanted, students often described accommodations that were being offered to some students but were not universally implemented. This study summarizes recommendations for making online science learning environments more inclusive for students with disabilities.

Keywords: COVID-19; accommodation; accommodations; disability; online education; online instruction; resources.

FIG 1

Percentage of students who reported being properly accommodated in their online college science course based on whether they have experienced a new disability-related challenge in online learning. Students who experienced new challenges (n = 69) and students who did not experience new challenges (n = 34) are separated along the x axis. Students who experienced new challenges were significantly more likely to report not being properly accommodated (χ² = 14.9, P < 0.001).

FIG 2

The percent of students who indicated they experienced each challenge during their online college science courses (n = 45).

FIG 3

New accommodations received by students (n = 43). Additional themes reported by <5% of students include: instructors share slides prior to class, work in smaller (breakout) groups, and the use of clear masks by instructor.

FIG 4

Accommodations that students with disabilities reported would have been helpful to them when learning science online (n = 44). Additional themes reported by <5% of students include: online note-taking services, recorded lectures and class meeting, work in smaller breakout groups, option for cameras off during class, reduced distraction home environment (e.g., earplugs), instructors share slides prior to class, socially distant testing centers on campus, and requests for printed materials.