When my health status changed six weeks into the semester during undergrad, I had to move off-campus and could not attend in-person classes regularly due to ongoing medical issues. Even though I already had a hybrid schedule with a mix of in-person and virtual classes,…

How I organized my first PhD Portfolio with Microsoft Sway as a student with low vision that uses large print and responsive layouts

When I was first approved to receive extended time accommodations for low vision, I remember wondering how that would work in a middle school or high school setting where students had a single class period to take an exam or work on a timed assignment.…

How do you choose a seat in class with low vision? Here are some things I think about when using preferential seating accommodations in K-12 and college classrooms as a low vision student

Learning how to write research papers and essays can be overwhelming for students with low vision or print disabilities that impact access to standard print. Students who are interested in exploring topics related to disability may experience difficulties with finding sources in accessible formats on…

One of the things that I love about my college is that there are hundreds of classes available for students to take that cover a wide variety of topics and areas of interest. While there are certain classes that a student may need to take…

In math and statistics classes, instructors often provide students with a formula sheet that contains equations, tables, and other helpful definitions that students can refer to during assignments and exams. As a student with low vision that primarily accesses information visually, a lot of these…

I frequently get questions about the most common classroom accommodations for low vision from parents, students, and support team members trying to figure out what accommodations they need for Student Assistance Plans (SAPs), 504 Plans, Individualized Education Plans (IEPs), and college Disability Services files. While…

As a user with low vision, I have discovered that custom video backgrounds can be either super helpful tools for making it easier to concentrate on video calls or super distracting tools that make it harder to concentrate. Factors such as background choice, environmental lighting,…

I have an eye and brain condition affected by flashing lights. Here’s how I work with instructors to modify assignments and course content as needed

After taking over three dozen virtual classes and countless more online hybrid classes, I have learned firsthand how using web browser extensions for virtual learning can make a huge difference in how well I do in my virtual classes. While these extensions don’t help me…

In order to streamline the digital workflow process, my second high school suggested implementing shared folders for accessible materials so I could get copies of digital assignments more easily. This worked well from the teacher perspective, since they could easily add documents to a folder…