Accessibility

The College of Charleston is committed to providing equal access to its facilities and technology for students, faculty and staff so they can succeed in and out of the classroom. This site provides information for those needing accessibility services as well as those who are responsible for maintaining accessibility at the College. 

Accommodation Requests

Students

The College is committed to providing educational opportunities for all students and assisting them in making their college experience fully accessible and positive.

In compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended in 2008 the College recognizes a student with a disability as anyone with a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activity. The Center for Disability Services coordinates the provision of reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities and students experiencing barriers due to inaccessibility. All reasonable accommodations are individualized, flexible and confidential based on the nature of the disability.

Please contact the Center for Disability Services at 843.953.1431 or visit disabilityservices.cofc.edu/. SC Relay System: 711 (within SC) or 1.800.735.2905 nationally.

Faculty and Staff

At the College, persons with disabilities are entitled to access, support, and reasonable accommodations. The ADA Coordinator supports the ongoing development of an accessible university that embraces and celebrates diversity. The ADA Coordinator provides disability-related information, services, and provides reasonable accommodations for employees. The ADA Coordinator is responsible educating the campus community, and promoting equal access and opportunity for those with disabilities. Please contact Steven Bell in the Office of Equal Opportunity Programs at BellSL1@cofc.edu or 843.953.6634.

Barrier Notification Process

The College is committed to equal access for people with disabilities, and strives to remove barriers to its programs and facilities wherever they exist. However, you may encounter a barrier to access on campus, such as an inoperative elevator or lift, blocking of an access ramp, broken or missing curb cut, or other impediment to access. If you do, please notify us of the issue by submitting this Barrier Notification Form.

Accessible Technology

Web Accessibility

In an effort to have a web presence that is accessible to the widest possible range of users, the College has implemented compliance techniques defined by the Federal government. These techniques allow agencies to comply with Federal regulations that ensure that people with differing abilities will be able to have access to the Internet. The State of South Carolina has outlined minimal requirements and best practices in providing accessibility to web sites. There are sixteen standards for Web-based intranet and internet information and applications. The features you have in your web site will determine which compliance techniques you should implement. More information and these standards are available at accessibility.cofc.edu/web/.

Video and Multimedia Accessibility

Video and Multimedia must be accessible. The standards require captioning and audio description for certain training and informational multimedia productions developed or procured by Federal agencies. The standards also provide that viewers be able to turn captioning or video description features on or off. The standards for Video and Multimedia are available at accessibility.cofc.edu/video-multimedia/.

Web Accessibility Issues?

The College's online presence is comprised of hundreds of sites that are managed and maintained by individual departments and sponsoring organizations. The quickest way to have a web accessibility issue addressed is to contact the owner of the site directly. You may also report accessibility difficulties with any technology at the College by contacting submitting a ticket at help.cofc.edu.