Alternate Format Policy

Disability Access Center (DAC) will coordinate the access to educational materials in alternate format for students with a documented disability who have been approved for this accommodation. The following identifies the responsibilities of the student and DAC if the student chooses to utilize educational materials in alternate format.

Student Responsibilities:

Student should give DAC a minimum of six weeks notice to arrange for educational materials in alternate format (note that Braille can take twelve weeks and earlier notice to DAC is advised). Alternate format accommodation requests should be made through myAccess student portal.
Student should utilize Priority Registration (PR) to register for your classes for the upcoming term. You are responsible to request accommodations through myAccess during PR week. When you request PR week, DAC invites you to schedule a short meeting to discsus alternate format needs for the following term. Requesting during PR week prompts DAC to begin the production of your alternate format for the upcoming term. (Additionally, when you request your accomodations in myAccess, this prompts DAC to send out accommodation letters to your instructors just prior to the start of the following term.)
You must show proof of purchase documenting purchase of any textbook or educational materials to the DAC Office prior to checking out the alternate format due to publisher requirements. You can provide DAC with an original receipt, or a copy of the receipt. If a receipt cannot be obtained, you can bring in the book for DAC to photo copy the inside cover, or you can copy/scan the inside cover. If you cannot come to campus to submit a receipt or provide a photo copy of the inside of your book, you can e-mail the office at: DAC@clark.edu. Please consult with DAC with any questions.
If you have a book that is a rental, you must agree to only access the files for the applicable quarter or duration of the rental. You must sign an e-agreement in
You must bring any printed materials dispersed during class that need to be converted into alternate format to the DAC Office as soon as possible.
If you do not request early during priority registration, DAC may not have materials ready for you at the beginning of the quarter.
Many times due to the volume of request, DAC has to work on alternate format production as the student needs it. In these cases materials would be provided via partial distributions instead of giving the entire textbook file at the beginning of the quarter.
You will pick up or access your alternate format from the DAC Office in a timely manner. If materials are not accessed in a timely manner, services may be suspended until you meet with the DAC Director or designee.
If two concurrent quarters where you did not pick up any alternate format for a course you requested, DAC can suspend your eligibility for alternate format until you meet with the DAC Director.
There may be times when you have to return alternate format to the DAC office upon completion of the quarter. For example, most Braille materials must be returned. If these materials are not returned and other arrangements have not been approved, a hold will be placed on your record. A hold means that you will not be allowed to register for future quarters, order copies of transcripts, or graduate until payment has been made.
You promise not to duplicate, lend, or sell alternate format to others.
Inform DAC if you have problems using your alternate format files.
Inform DAC if you have a different alternate format preference than the files provided.

DAC Responsibilities:

DAC will email you a letter outlining your approved accommodations after you submit your accommodation request for the term.
DAC will make every effort to provide the student with all requested educational materials in alternate format in a timely manner. In the event notice is not given in a timely manner, (i.e. request is made after Priority Registration), DAC will attempt to provide you with the requested educational materials in alternate format on an as needed basis.
DAC will inform you when alternate format is ready to be picked up.
If DAC realizes you have dropped a class, DAC will stop production of your alternate format and notify you by email.
DAC can suspend alternate format production. As stated earlier, often DAC provides partial distributions of a textbook as the quarter is occurring. The suspension of alternate format would apply to these partial distributions more frequently as DAC is providing sections of the course content on an “as needed basis” usually determined by the assigned reading schedule for the quarter, etc. Our general suspension practice is:

DAC will notify students by email when they have not accessed their alternate format within two weeks explaining DAC will stop alternate format production of additional course content.
Suspension would occur until the student meets with DAC Director or other DAC staff designee. As DAC assumes the student no longer needs alternate format for the particular course that quarter. If the student receives approval of the DAC Director or staff designee and the student quickly accesses or picks up the files, DAC will restart production of the course alternate format.
If you have two quarters where you did not access any alternate format for a course you requested, DAC can suspend your eligibility for alternate format until you meet with the DAC Director.
If the DAC Director or other DAC staff designee approves to reactive your alternate format production, DAC will start working on course materials occurring at that time based on the assigned reading schedule that the instructor provided.DAC will attempt to pick up where the class is at. DAC may have the capacity to provide the files missed during the suspension after we have completed or caught up on the “as needed” files.