Objective: To distinguish between accommodations and modifications and to describe simple adaptations to learning materials

• Modifications are changes in the content of what is taught or what is expected. While these might be considered accessibility tools, they actually lower grade-level expectations for students. Examples of modifications are changing test questions from four multiple choice options to two; reducing the number of assignments; or making the assignments easier. A modification to a standardized test can invalidate that test. Students with cognitive disabilities may receive a modified curriculum, but visual disability alone usually does not require modifications.
• Accommodations are changes in the way a student is taught or in which learning materials are prepared that do not change what is being taught, measured, or expected. Accommodations are the strategies, tools, and techniques that make the curriculum accessible to a child who is visually impaired or blind. As a general rule, accommodations that are used for instruction can also be used for assessment and testing purposes without changing the nature of the test.
• Accommodations that provide curriculum and environmental access to students with visual impairment are divided into:
• Presentation, how materials are presented;
• Response, how students are permitted to respond to test questions, write notes, or submit assignments;
• Environmental; and
• Timing and scheduling, the length of time to complete an assignment or take a test.
• Examples of accommodations include:
• Braille, audio material, tactile graphic
• Modified print (reduced and enlarged)
• Prescription glasses or contact lenses, reading glasses, magnification devices
• Tactile graphics, including maps
• Audio recordings, recorded books
• Image description, video description
• Verbalizing as teacher writes on chalkboard or demonstrates
• Screen readers, mobile phones, text to speech, refreshable braille
• Using a reader and scribe for examinations / oral exam
• Highlighters, yellow acetate to increase contrast
• Notes, outlines, instructions in braille or large print
• Cubarithm slate, stylus and frame, abacus
• Specialized tactile instructional aids
• Braille writers, typewriters computers, tablets.
• Accommodations that provide curriculum and environmental access to students with visual impairment are divided into:
• Presentation, how materials are presented
• Response, how students are permitted to respond to test questions, write notes, or submit assignments
• Environmental; and
• Timing and scheduling, the length of time to complete an assignment or take a test.