Assistive Technology Center Description of Services
The Assistive Technology Center (ATC) provides support for students with disabilities at Harvard College, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and most of Harvard’s professional and graduate schools.
ATC offers accessible hardware and software demonstrations. ATC also helps remediate course materials that are not accessible to students by converting the materials into accessible PDF files, electronic text (usually MSWord), as well as electronic and embossed Braille. ATC provides image descriptions, tactile graphics and audio descriptions of video, where needed. ATC does not offer video or audio recording of classes, access to captioning, or American Sign Language Interpreting, although these services may be available to students through their local disability coordinator. More information about ATC and its services can be found on the ATC’s Website.
If a school’s course materials are already accessible, then there is no need for ATC intervention or involvement. More information on how to make course materials accessible to all is provided by Digital Accessibility Services here: https://accessibility.huit.harvard.edu/.
To help facilitate ATC’s support of Harvard’s students, ATC has developed this document, outlining certain roles and responsibilities. For questions about ATC, its services, or any of the information outlined here, please contact atc@fas.harvard.edu.
ATC Stakeholders and their Responsibilities
Local Disability Coordinators:
Local Disability Coordinators (LDCs) are encouraged to use the official ATC form to refer students to the ATC. LDCs should clearly identify the services for which the student is eligible and the approved accommodations. LDCs should also outline any additional information the LDC believes ATC should know to support the student. LDCs are responsible for faculty communication, escalating access concerns, and supporting ATC as may be necessary.
Students:
Students are responsible for identifying and prioritizing the materials they need from their courses. Students must provide accurate information about materials and schedules in their courses as soon as possible. Students may contact the ATC if they need syllabi made accessible to help them make decisions about courses. Because disabilities and how they manifest vary from individual to individual, students must work with ATC to ensure clarity around the details of their access needs. This clarity is especially important when ATC is supporting a student’s access to images, languages, math content, and optional materials. Students are also expected to provide feedback about delivered materials to ensure that ATC can make them accessible. Importantly, a student’s failure to provide timely and necessary information to ATC may result in unexpected delays and/or unsatisfactory materials.
Faculty:
Faculty are strongly encouraged to preemptively make their course materials accessible to all, which will eliminate the need for the ATC’s services. As mentioned above, Digital Accessibility Services can provide instruction and guidance to faculty on self-service remediation tools. If materials need to be remediated by the ATC, faculty are expected to supply ATC with those materials with enough time for ATC to remediate the materials at least 7 days before they are listed on the syllabus but no later than 5 days before the materials are made available to the whole class, so that all students get the same access to course readings, assignments, evaluations and study guides. If remediated materials are not available to students working with the ATC, those materials should not be provided to other students, as doing so could result in unequal access to the class.
ATC Responsibilities
Local Disability Coordinators:
The ATC will provide LDCs with timely updates about the status of student requests. ATC will also include LDCs in relevant discussions with course staff. ATC will report progress at the monthly LDC meetings.
Students:
The ATC will provide students with an introduction and basic instruction (where relevant) in Harvard-provided Assistive Technologies. ATC will also provide students with course and research materials in an accessible format in a timely manner.
Faculty:
Faculty: The ATC will provide Facultywith clear communication about the ATC’s role in converting course materials and the anticipated timelines for conversion.
To help ensure that students working with ATC receive accessible materials in a timely manner, ATC expects materials needing remediation to be submitted to the ATC no later than 5 business days before they are to be delivered to the class. This includes midterms, exams, problem sets, and problem set solutions. Materials already made accessible by course staff can be delivered directly to the student.
ATC Limitations
The ATC operates Monday to Friday 9-5 and has limited capacity. Therefore, it is best to provide ATC with materials for conversion as soon as possible.
ATC’s primary focus is on course materials, including research materials. As a result, requests for extracurricular activities will only be considered when the ATC’s primary obligations are met.
ATC does not handle video or audio recording of classes, or access to captioning or American Sign Language Interpreting. Please consult with your School’s Local Disability Coordinator for information about these services.
Graduate Students doing thesis research, who need alternative format materials, must have a research assistant, who will be paid for by their referring school, to manage the logistics of that volume of work. Any request for more than 8 books for research in a one-week period must also include a list that identifies the priority of the books. Graduate students doing thesis work must meet with ATC staff as soon as possible to develop a plan for fulfilling their research materials requests.