Students with special needs have many avenues of assistance when they come to the University of Pittsburgh. These students, however, may take from eight to ten years in pursuit of a bachelor's degree due to the amount of time that it takes to accomplish tasks that the mainstream population may take for granted. For example, a visually challenged student may need considerably more time to absorb course materials because written text and handouts must first be suitably processed into a format such as audio tape or scanned into electronic form which can be listened to via a voice synthesis setup.
Similar preparations are necessary for homework and testing.
These tasks make the learning process more time consuming and often results in students with disabilities taking a reduced course load. Fortunately for these students, CIS has made technology available that can assist with the learning process and help them achieve a greater measure of independence. Also, every CIS computing lab is equipped with a wheelchair-accessible station. By the end of the term, all computing labs that feature DOS-based PCs will have a machine capable of voice synthesis. The CIS policy on these machines as well as the wheelchair-accessible stations is that any student may use these facilities provided they vacate if a student with a disability requests to use the equipment.