Alternate format course materials

Providing textbooks suited to your disability needs.

The Accessibility Services alternative format service offerings evolve as Athabasca University innovates its mandate for online accessibility and distance education delivery.

The standard formats for university-provided course materials are listed in the course syllabus as “e-text” or “print,” to be noted before you register for a course.

AU courses use a variety of online platforms to view and read course content, and students must be able to use them. An online course may include e-textbooks or hard-copy textbooks, library databases rendered into documents from a digital reading room, the Brightspace learning platform, online quizzes, exams, and assignments, discussion forums, and multimedia.

The accommodation to receive an alternate format textbook is assessed by your Accessibility Advisor. This accommodation is not based on personal reading preference or past service history. A medically verified disability must be noted on your student file to be eligible for a PDF or hard copy textbook. Additional medical documentation may be requested to verify your functional need.

Accessibility Services provides alternative textbooks when:

• a student has received confirmation of the accommodation for the alternative format textbook
• a student is registered in a course at Athabasca University
• a student has submitted an Alternative Format Course Material request for the course textbook through the AU Accommodate platform
  • AU Accommodate is also found in your MyAU portal under Support Resources.
  • Log in to AU Accommodate with your AU email address.

About alternate format textbook services

Accessibility Services provides alternate formats for textbooks only. Alternate formats are not available for the course content. Accessibility Services may provide a similar textbook format to the requested format if it is known to work for your needs or with your assistive technology (e.g., a searchable PDF instead of an EPUB).

All requests depend on the student’s disability-related need, the availability of the source, and the unit's capacity. Accessibility Services assists eligible learners in applying for funding for assistive technology to independently use course material (text-to-speech software, scanning software, a printer, and note-taking software).

Accessibility Services provides alternate format textbooks on a cost-recovery basis whenever possible. Learners eligible for the Canada Student Grant for Students with Disabilities will have the estimate for services submitted on their application. More information on potential funding for equipment and services is available on our funding resource page.

Alternate formats available due to a disability related need:

• Searchable PDF with navigation support (bookmarks, split into chapters)
• A hard copy of the e-textbook (if available from the publisher)
• Braille/tactile supplementary diagram guides to accompany a digital textbook (request at least 12 weeks before course start)
• Un-zoned Kurzweil 3000 format (zoned Kurzweil service is only provided when funded; request 8 weeks before course start date)
• A text transcript of AU-produced multimedia (if closed captioning is not available in the learning management system). External to AU sites must caption their multimedia. Contact that site owner for text alternative requests.

Contact the Assistive Technology team in Accessibility Services for more details about the information on this page.