Accessibility Services

accessibility-services-hero-optimized-1

Accessibility Services is Calbright College’s disabled students’ program. We’re dedicated to providing quality support services to meet the needs of Calbright students who have any type of physical, mental health, or learning disability that is a barrier in any way to achieving their educational goals. We strive to ensure accessibility to all aspects of Calbright College without the need for making requests, and Accessibility Services is here to provide accommodations if additional support is needed.

Students are the center of what we do, and we put students first, above all else. However, only those students who identify themselves to the College and present appropriate written documentation of a disability are eligible for accommodation. Even if you aren’t sure if you will need our services, it’s better to have a file established with us and not need it, then it is to not have a file set up and need our support.

Contact Accessibility Services if you need our help with any part of the application and enrollment process, or if you find you need our services after entering your Program Pathway.

The best way to reach us is via email: accessibilityservices@calbright.org. 
You can also call the Calbright main number to speak with someone directly at 1-833-956-0225.

For more information about Web Accessibility in general, visit our Web Accessibility page. If you have trouble accessing any of our webpages or documents, please use Report a Concern Form and we will get back to you.

Prospective Students:

We provide accommodations to students with any kind of physical, mental health, or learning disability that is a barrier to their education in any way.


Eligibility
To be eligible, students must provide disability verification, and meet with Accessibility Services for intake and an Academic Accommodation Plan.

More information

Verification
Presence of a disability may be verified by one of the following means. Call or write for more information:
  • Observable by an Accessibility Services staff member; OR
  • Examples of types of disability verification include, but are not limited to:
    • IEP,
    • 504 plan,
    • School transcripts showing Resource Classes or Special Education,
    • Letter from doctor or therapist,
    • Printout from your insurance website indicating diagnosis treated or under treatment,
    • SSI/SSDI paperwork or check stub,
    • Proof of Disabled Parking placard (paper from DMV),
    • Prescriptions for disability-related medications,
    • Documents from your County Regional Center,
    • Documents from the CA Department of Rehabilitation,
    • And more (just ask).
  • All documents will be kept confidential with Accessibility Services in compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and the professional and ethical standards of the Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD).
Students who qualify for accessibility services have the following rights:
  • Access to courses, programs, and student support services offered by Calbright College;
  • Reasonable and appropriate accommodations, academic adjustments, and/or auxiliary aids determined by Accessibility Services on a case-by-case and program pathway basis;
  • Confidentiality and the choice of whom to disclose the disability, except as required by law;
  • Information and curricula provided in alternative formats upon request.

By registering with Accessibility Services, students agree to:

  • Make requests to Accessibility Services in a timely manner;
    Self-identify to the College as a person with a disability when requesting accommodations;
  • Follow specific steps for obtaining and using accommodations, academic adjustments, and services;
  • Abide by the Calbright College Student Code of Conduct;
  • Meet with an Accessibility Counselor to complete the Academic Accommodation Plan (AAP), and continue to meet with an Accessibility Counselor to review and renew services;
  • Take responsibility for any loaned technology and agree not to let another person use their loaned Calbright College equipment.
    • A searchable, online library of digital books available free of charge to people with print disabilities. The collection includes textbooks, novels, periodicals, and assistive technology tools for readers of all ages. Users can have memberships through their school, organization, and/or an individual membership for use at home. Reading materials are downloaded electronically and then read using compatible adaptive technology, typically software that reads the book aloud (text-to-speech) and/or displays the text of the book on a computer screen or Braille access devices, such as refreshable Braille displays. There is even an app for use with the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch.
    • Powered by the Foundation for California Community Colleges, it offers discounts of up to 85 percent on a wide range of educational products, from industry-leading software and technology to high-quality office and classroom furniture.
    • Support, advocacy, and assistive technology to facilitate the transition to higher education
    • Internet For All Now Act of 2017 was sponsored by the California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF) and its partners to lay a foundation for the future of broadband in California.
      • Offers students a wide range of services such as mental health counseling, referral and consultation services as well as a variety of other resources.
  • The California Community Colleges have a contractual relationship with Learning Ally, which is a major provider of audiobooks for students with print disabilities. To access your college’s free membership or to find out more about the service, visit this website. Contact information is provided for the CCC’s Learning Ally representative.

Criteria for Documenting Disabilities per California Education Administrative Code, Title 5 § 56032:

Physical Disability

  • Defined as a limitation in locomotion or motor functions. These limitations are the result of specific impacts on the body’s muscular-skeletal or nervous systems, and limit the student’s ability to access the educational process.


Deaf or Hard of Hearing

  • Defined as a total or partial loss of hearing function that limits the student’s ability to access the educational process.


Blind or Low Vision

  • Defined as a level of vision that limits the student’s ability to access the educational process.


Learning Disability

  • Defined as a persistent condition of presumed neurological dysfunction which may exist with other disabling conditions. The dysfunction is not explained by lack of educational opportunity, lack of proficiency in the language of instruction, or other non-neurological factors, and this dysfunction limits the student’s ability to access the educational process. To be categorized as a student with a learning disability a student must meet the following criteria through psycho-educational assessment verified by a qualified specialist certified to assess learning disabilities: (a) Average to above-average intellectual ability; and (b) Statistically significant processing deficit(s); and/or (c) Statistically significant aptitude-achievement discrepancies.


Acquired Brain Injury

  • Defined as a deficit in brain functioning which results in a total or partial loss of cognitive, communicative, motor, psycho-social, and/or sensory-perceptual abilities, and limits the student’s ability to access the educational process.


Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

  • Defined as a neurodevelopmental disorder that is a persistent deficit in attention and/or hyperactive and impulsive behavior that limits the student’s ability to access the educational process.


Intellectual Disability

  • Defined as significant limitations both in intellectual functioning and in adaptive behavior that affect and limit the student’s ability to access the educational process. An individual may have an intellectual disability when: (a) the person’s functioning level is below average intellectual ability; and (b) the person has significant limitations in adaptive skill areas as expressed in conceptual, social, academic, and practical skills in independent living and employment; and, (c) the disability originated before the age of 18.


Autism Spectrum Disorder

  • Defined as neurodevelopmental disorders described as persistent deficits that limit the student’s ability to access the educational process. Symptoms must have been present in the early developmental period, and cause limitation in social, academic, occupational, or other important areas of current functioning.


Mental Health

  • Defined as a persistent psychological or psychiatric disability or emotional or mental illness that limits the student’s ability to access the educational process. For purposes of this subchapter, conditions that are not described and/or excluded in the American Psychiatric Association Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) or the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) are not covered in this category.


Other Health Conditions and Disabilities.

  • This category includes all students with disabilities, as defined in Section 56002, with other health conditions, and/or disabilities that affect a major life activity, which are otherwise not defined in Sections 56032-56042, but which limit the student’s ability to access the educational process.