U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) recently requested a Government Accountability Office (GAO) review of how colleges and universities are ensuring accommodations for students with disabilities during the ongoing pandemic.
“During the COVID-19 pandemic, students face many of the same challenges in accessing appropriate accommodations as they did prior to the pandemic, but must now do so navigating remote and distance learning,” wrote Sen. Cassidy and two of his colleagues from the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee in a Jan. 13 letter sent to U.S. Comptroller General Gene Dodaro.
The lawmakers noted that recent news reports highlight the increased challenges that exist in meeting these students’ required accommodations during the pandemic, including the move to online or remote instruction and the rising needs for mental health support.
For instance, even when students have access to adequate broadband and technology, teaching modalities — such as chat and videoconferencing, complex learning management systems, online collaboration tools, and instructional videos to deliver educational instruction — may introduce particular challenges in meeting accessibility standards that are legally mandated through the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), wrote Sen. Cassidy and U.S. Sens. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and Bob Casey (D-PA).
In turn, this could result “in potentially negative effects on the academic achievement and co-curricular learning of students with disabilities,” according to their letter.
“These accommodations are necessary for students to access the full range of academic programs and other services offered by their institution of higher education (IHE), including classes, co-curricular activities, advising, registration, and counseling,” the senators wrote.
The lawmakers requested that GAO conduct a review of accessibility services and accommodations in higher education, and to specifically examine what challenges college students with disabilities face related to accessibility and accommodations at IHEs, including any related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and how some IHEs support students with disabilities during the pandemic.