Accommodations for Students

Accommodations are a roster tool that let instructors adjust course settings for individual students, such as giving extra time on all timed assessments.

Use Cases for Accommodations

Accommodations in Blackboard Ultra are set once and then apply automatically to all relevant future assessments in the Blackboard course, and are designed to address ongoing student needs such as a learning disability.

If you want to make a one-time change that does not repeat or apply to any future assessments, see the page on Exceptions and Exemptions instead.

Many students registered with the Center for Disability Resources require accommodations for extended time on in-class and web-based tests and assignments in Blackboard.

Accommodations in Ultra course view are set for individual students and then apply to all graded items within the course. Accommodations can include adjusting or overriding time limits, or overriding due date restrictions.

An accommodation is a proactive, global setting applied to a specific student profile. An accommodation gives that student an individual settings override that automatically applies to time limits and/or due dates for all graded items in the course. Once set, an accommodation should generally not be altered or bypassed, and should be treated as part of the default format of the course when planning and delivering course content.

Not all disability accommodations registered with the CDR can be addressed with the Blackboard accommodations feature, which is designed specifically with graded coursework in mind. Some CDR accommodations not related to the submission of graded work, such as providing lecture slides ahead of time, or granting course access to a note taker or helper, can be managed in Blackboard using other individual settings features. For more information and ideas about addressing individual accommodation needs reach out to Online Learning Services directly through help@syr.edu.

Setting an Accommodation for a Student

Add student accommodations from the Roster, or the Gradebook student list view by clicking the three dot menu (...) next to the student's name. A panel will open where you can set a due date or time limit accommodation:

Due date accommodation: Students with a due date accommodation may submit work any time after the due date for no penalty. Students with this accommodation will never have their work marked late.
Time limit accommodation: Students with a time limit accommodation have a 'percentage of extra time' that you define to finish their work during timed assessments. For example, if the exam has a time limit of 30 minutes, a student with an accommodation of 50% extra time (aka time-and-a-half) will have 45 minutes to complete the assessment. A student with an accommodation of 100% extra time (aka double time) will have 60 minutes to complete the assessment.

A student with an accommodation(s) set will appear with a purple banner icon next to their names in both the roster and gradebook.

Other instructors and TAs can see the accommodations flag in the course roster. Students cannot see accommodations you have assigned.

In the roster list view, students with accommodations appear with an icon next to their name and the type of accommodation is clearly visible in the accommodations column. You can view/edit a student's accommodation information by clicking on the type of accommodation link.

Students won't see the accommodations you have assigned.