I have recently experienced a serious issue, where the computing faculty has not provided me with the reasonable adjustments specified in my DSA needs assessment report as being vital to my ability to study.
Specifically, this issue relates to no longer being provided with module materials in print format, despite my needs assessment report justifying why I need print materials for medical and specific learning disability reasons. The computing school has made a blanket decision not to provide disabled students with print materials, regardless of whether they specifically need them or not.
I have updated this issue post to take into account the final response I got after my official complaint.
Their justification for removing printed materials was due to “the nature of the module, which requires regular computer and internet access to meet the learning outcomes. These outcomes cannot be achieved through print alone, as print cannot replicate the practical computing components of the module”. Whilst their statement is technically correct, it ignores the fact that VLE module material for computing modules also contain a significant amount of theory content and technical explanation. This content supports the module aims and learning outcomes and needs careful reading to understand and apply. It underpins practical and research components of computing modules and is itself, a vital required part of the module. There is no way that I could read that volume of material on a screen, so I have no choice but to print my own materials as the OU has decided not to provide them as part of my reasonable adjustments.
I was advised that the decision to exclude my module (and others) from getting printed material was made jointly with the computing faculty and the StELA team. As I understand it, StELA stands for “Student Experience and Learning Adjustment” and they are part of the OU Library. An online article states that their role is to ensure that content is accessible for students. In this article, they state that “The printed pack is crucial for students studying with the OU who face challenges that make studying online difficult”. It is so depressing to find out that they are the very team who have enabled the decision to remove printed materials from those of us that do have those “challenges that make studying online difficult”!!
I am surprised that the OU computing faculty has been allowed to decide not to provide students with the reasonable adjustments they need as disabled students with specific needs. With this decision, it implies that the OU is not adhering to its own policies regarding discrimination. The OU Anti-Discrimination Statement states that the OU operates a policy of zero-tolerance to various kinds of discrimination, including "Indirect discrimination – putting rules or arrangements in place that apply to everyone, but that put someone with a protected characteristic or different circumstances at an unfair disadvantage".
The suggested solution to print my own materials is not suitable, as it relies on suitably formatted course materials being provided, which have not been. Having to reformat all the course materials, then print them myself, is incredibly time-consuming and is not sustainable for me moving forward.
I am sure that there will be other disabled students who might be suffering from not receiving print materials too, so I want to raise this as an issue to be looked at by OpenSU.