Student Guide to Alternate Format
After your Disability Services Specialist has approved you for an alternate format accommodation, you can submit an alternate format request form.
Request Alternate Format
Overview of the Alternate Format Process Heading link
- The alternate format team will acquire your requested texts via publishers or accessible libraries and post them onto Kurzweil or Box within the course folder or as a subfolder within the course folder.
- The alternate format team will verify the accessibility of the PDF readings with your professors and if necessary, convert the readings to make them accessible.
- For readings the alternate format team decides need to be converted, they will typically be posted for students on Kurzweil or Box by Friday evening before the week the reading is needed.
- Whereas if the alternate format team determines the readings posted by faculty are already accessible (digitally created and readable meaning you can drag your curser along individual lines of text), then the alternate format team will not convert these readings and we recommend you use the built in Blackboard Ally text-to-speech format, Immersive Reader (more information in the accordion below).
Learn more about the alternate format process Heading link
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First:
You should schedule a meeting with a DRC Disability Specialist to determine whether alternate format is an appropriate accommodation for your documented disability and which format best fits your needs. Check out our Registration Page for more information.
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Complete the Alternate Format Request Form
Submitting the Alternate Format Request Form will start the process to convert course material into an alternate format.
- If you require textbooks in an alternate format, gather the book title and ISBN for each textbook and include this information in your request. If you don’t know this information, you can look it up on the UIC Bookstore website.
- If you indicate on the request form that you need assigned course readings converted, we will reach out to your instructors to access to these materials and convert them as they become available.
**Please note that it may take up to 15 business days to convert course materials and keep in mind that it is never too early before the semester begins to put in a request!
- Prepare to receive your converted material:
- If you are a Kurzweil user, make sure your Universal Library account set up. Find tutorials on navigating Kurzweil on the Kurzweil Users page.
- The alternate format team will upload material into your “private” folder organized by semester, course, and week (depending on the course structure). See video below for visual
- If you are not a Kurzweil user, make sure that your Box account is set up. All students have access to a free Box account through UIC.
- The alternate format team will create and share a folder titled “***Student’s Name.” Within this folder you’ll find course folders that contain textbooks and/or weekly folders (depending on the course structure)
- If you are a Kurzweil user, make sure your Universal Library account set up. Find tutorials on navigating Kurzweil on the Kurzweil Users page.
If you need assistance with either of these steps you can contact Nicole Sims, our Alternate Format Specialist at accesstext@uic.edu
- The alternate format team will upload converted course material either to your Kurzweil Universal Library or the Box folder the alternate format team creates for you.
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Resources to access alternate format through Blackboard Ally