SAIL: Navigating the Journey to Accessibility
College can be an exciting, yet challenging time for students with disabilities. At Eastern Florida State College, SAIL (Student Access for Improved Learning) serves as a resource for students, faculty, staff, and the community to create an accessible and inclusive environment for all. The main function of our office is to help students who have documented disabilities get classroom and/or testing accommodations, based on their needs. According to the U.S Department of Education, reasonable accommodations are academic adjustments to the tasks, to the environment, or to the way things are usually done that enable individuals with disabilities to have an equal opportunity to participate in an academic program. Some examples of reasonable accommodations include the ability to audio record class lectures, extended testing time, the use of screen-reading software, as well as sign language interpreting services.
Personal responsibility is the key to success in many ventures, especially college. A major aspect of practicing personal responsibility is having the ability to self-advocate. In college, it is the student’s responsibility to request reasonable accommodations through SAIL. It is important for students to understand their disability, as well as its impact on their academic functioning. Through our interactive process, the SAIL office helps students to identify their strengths, needs, challenges, and what works for them. Here at Eastern Florida, there are many available options for student support, but it is the primary responsibility of the student to seek out these services. Self-advocacy is a crucial skill for optimizing success!
For students enrolled in the K-12 school system, accommodations are offered under IDEA, which is the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The Americans with Disabilities Act, otherwise known as the ADA, and the 1973 Rehabilitation Act protect college students with disabilities from discrimination. These important laws aim to provide reasonable accommodations for students in order to ensure equal access in all programs. It is important to note that accommodations are meant to level the playing field; accommodations are not meant to give any student an unfair advantage over another. At the college level, students in need of reasonable accommodations are responsible for self-identifying to SAIL and for obtaining and submitting disability documentation from a professional who is qualified to assess their disability. Once registered with SAIL, students are then expected to take an active role in informing faculty of their approved accommodations and collaborating with them to ensure that those accommodations are implemented.
Not only are we here to ensure that reasonable accommodations are provided to students, but SAIL is available to support instructors as well! If instructors have questions, need clarification regarding what a specific accommodation entails, or need assistance with the process of confirming Teacher Notifications, we strongly encourage them to reach out to us. We are also available to provide additional support to instructors regarding how to create accessible material for their courses. EFSC hosts several training sessions, workshops, open labs, and webinars that address classroom accessibility. New opportunities are routinely added to the schedule, so instructors should be sure to check Titan Today for upcoming workshop information, or visit the Training Calendar for a list of current offerings.
Accessibility Awareness Week is our annual event that occurs within the month of October on each campus. At SAIL, we celebrate by inviting students, faculty, staff, and the community to a series of events that increase awareness of some of the barriers that individuals with disabilities face. These activities include several simulation stations facilitated by the SAIL team, as well as a tabletop session featuring different support resources for individuals with disabilities. In collaborating with various on-campus and community agencies, our goal is to provide information that will help to break down barriers to a fair and inclusive environment for all.
We understand that attending college can present unique challenges for some students with disabilities. Eastern Florida State College offers a free, confidential student support resource called EFSCares to help students cope with these challenges. EFSCares is available to all part-time and full-time enrolled students. If you are interested in services, simply give them a call at 1-321-631-8569 and identify yourself as an EFSC student. A staff member from Gee Resolutions will then connect you to a licensed or certified professional, who will assess your identified problem and schedule you for additional counseling or support as needed.
As a student, you can rest assured that SAIL services are also completely confidential. We will never share your SAIL registration status with anyone, unless you provide us with written consent. The SAIL registration process, which is completely voluntary, is summarized below:
- Complete and submit a SAIL application.
- Submit documentation which meets our requirements. Requirements are detailed in the Policies and Procedures section of our website. The Disability Documentation form can also be used to collect supporting documentation.
- Contact the Access Specialist on your campus to schedule a short, interactive intake interview.
Once you have completed these steps, your file is reviewed by our team. This process takes up to two weeks, so we strongly encourage you to submit your paperwork as early as possible within the academic term. Although the majority of EFSC courses have transitioned to online learning at the moment, the SAIL team is fully operational and prepared to provide virtual support. For more detailed information about SAIL services, check out the SAIL web page — and cheers to smooth SAILing this semester!
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