The Office of Disability Access team recognizes that there may be questions regarding this accommodation provision. General information is provided below. If Faculty have any specific questions or concerns, we encourage them to contact us at Disability@unt.edu or reach out to the Student's Coordinator directly. 

Students with the approved accommodation of Advance Lecture Materials typically have a disability which significantly impacts how they process verbal and/or written information. Many college classes are structured in a way that is effective for those who do not have any specific way in which they access or process information. Lectures generally assume that a student can continously and efficiently shift their attention and focus between listening to their Faculty, reviewing lecture materials in potentially different formats, writing notes, and synthesizing the information for potential participation. They are also required to process all of this new information to build upon their existing knowledge. This assumption can be ableist as many students with disabilities are not able to process information in this format. 

Students who are Blind or Visually Impaired require the materials in advance of lecture (typically in an accessible digital format) to be able to access it utilizing their assistive technology to follow along while in class, as their sighted peers do. Students who are d/Deaf or Hard of Hearing may need it to pair the terminology and concepts being taught in lecture with the American Sign Language interpretation or CART access. Students with various processing disorders benefit from having a framework for organizing ideas in advance. During lecture, students with processing disabilities typically have to work extra hard to follow the information presented, and then as a result, they can't arrange the ideas in a logical progression or distinguish between key takeaways and supporting details. These are only a few examples of various disabilities which may require this as an accommodation, dependent on the individual student's access needs. Providing the lecture materials in advance allows students with this approved accommodation to be able to follow along in class as best as they can given their disability.

Prior to Summer 2024, this accommodation was listed as "Copies of PowerPoints" on letters of accommodation and it was strongly encouraged to provide access prior to class. However, after careful review based on why this accommodation is approved, this accommodation verbiage was changed to better meet the disability-related access needs of our students.