Disability and Accessibility Resources

The University of Massachusetts Amherst is committed to fostering a culture of diversity and inclusion, where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. We embrace disability as a natural part of diversity and seek to build capacity to appreciate and value individual differences, including differences in ability, to create inclusive community.

We are fully committed to to providing full and equal access to information and services for all current and potential members of our community. For more information on our accessibility practices, and where you can go for assistance and support, please review the resources below.

Campus Services

Assistive Technology Center
The Assistive Technology Center (ATC), located on the Lower Level of the W.E.B. DuBois Library in the Learning Commons, offers instruction, training, and support for assistive technology tools to any member of the University community.  The ATC provides a workspace and access to specialized software, equipment, and tools to improve the campus experience for the entire campus community. Email atc@umass.edu for more information.

Accessible Van Service
Provides rides to eligible passengers to better navigate the UMass Amherst campus. Call (413) 545-2086.

Accessible WorkplaceThe Accessible Workplace unit within the Office of Equal Opportunity and Access (EOA) of Human Resources is responsible for administering reasonable workplace accommodations for faculty and staff through an interactive process. Call (413) 545-3464.

Accessibility Map
A campus map detailing building access levels, accessible restrooms, and elevators created in collaboration between the Alliance Against Ableism and the Campus Planning Team.

Center for Counseling and Psychological Health
The Center for Counseling and Psychological Health (CCPH) offers a community of care to UMass Amherst students to help cope with stress or anxiety, find strategies to overcome challenges, promote mental wellbeing, and succeed in college life and beyond. The 24/7 crisis intervention service can be reached at (877) 831-7421. CPPH also offers individual, group and couples counseling, as well as medication consultation and treatment. The main line is (413) 545-2337.

Center for Teaching and Learning
The Center for Teaching & Learning (CTL) supports the professional development of faculty across all career stages and disciplines with programs and resources focused on course design, classroom instruction, curriculum development, and other forms of instructional support for faculty, departments, and the campus as a whole. CTL offers workshops about teaching students with disabilities.

Dining Nutrition
Registered dieticians work with students to ensure dietary needs are met. Call (413) 577-5101.

Disability Services
The University of Massachusetts Amherst is committed to being a destination of choice for individuals of all ability levels. Disability Services provides direct services to students for all types of disability, information and referral on issues of accessibility, as well as training and staff development to the University community.

Instructional Innovation
There’s a lot you can do to make your course materials, websites, and media more accessible to people with different abilities, including vision, hearing, learning abilities, cognitive needs, mobility, speech,  and combinations of these. Instructional Innovation regularly offers workshops on a variety of accessibility topics.

IT Accessibility Resources
The University of Massachusetts Amherst Information Technologies is committed to providing information and resources that support our institutional goals of accessibility. Please visit this webpage to learn about resources and support in the areas of websites and web-based software, multimedia, electronic documents, electronic instructional materials, classroom delivery techniques and considerations, and more.

Psychological Services Center
The Psychological Services Center offers a full range of psychological services from therapy to learning disability and ADHD testing. Call (413) 545-0041.

University Health Services
Provides a variety of health services including health advice, same day appointments, and urgent care. Students can use the UHS Shuttle to travel to and from UHS via their residence hall. Students can use HealthRide for planned trips to and from a healthcare provider, as well as contact them for vouchers regarding unscheduled trips (like to or from a hospital). Call (413) 577-5000.

Web Accessibility
In order to meet its values of diversity and inclusiveness, UMass Amherst is committed to making its website accessible to all. To learn about our institutional commitment to web accessibility and to ensure that your UMass webpage is accessible, please use the information and resources provided.

Culture and Advocacy Groups

Access UMass
Access UMass meets on Fridays on Zoom at 4:00 - 5:00 PM. Email access.umassamherst@gmail.com for the Zoom link or more information.

Alliance Against Ableism 
The Alliance Against Ableism is open to UMass students, staff, faculty and community members . Contact: alliance@umass.edu for information and sign up for the AAA listserve.

  • The Alliance Against Ableism(AAA) aims to:  
  • Have conversations around disability identity and inclusion and discuss its intersection with other identities. 
  • Address ableism and barriers to inclusion and equality on campus and within the community.   
  • Incorporate disability into larger systemic conversations and help create a campus built for all people. 
  • Engage in programmatic and educational opportunities surrounding disability on campus and within the community. 

College Life on the Spectrum* Support and Discussion Group

  • Talk about your experiences with support from co-facilitators in this weekly discussion group hosted by CCPH and Disability Services. You are welcome to honor your needs and come after the start time and/or leave before group ends! Please refrain from using products with fragrances.
  • *Spectrum refers to people who experience any elements of autism spectrum disorders, including (dis)abilities related to perception, sensory processing, language, executive function, and motor skills. Group members do not need a medical diagnosis to attend.
  • Email Denny Bobot for more information

Disability Culture Club 
The Disability Culture Club was founded to spread disability culture and disability history throughout the UMass community. They aim to promote awareness of what "disability" means as a lived experience, as a social identity, and as a vibrant group with a shared heritage as well as to to support members and the disability community as a whole through fun activities and social events. Subscribe to the Disability Culture Club Listserve.

Karuth Silver (Disability) Cultural Center Planning Meetings
This group meets Thursdays 1-2pm via Zoom. Email disabilitycc@umass.edu for the Zoom link or for more information.

UMass Allies for Illness and Disability Access (UMAIDA)
UMAIDA promotes a supportive network and work environment that is inclusive and accessible for all individuals with lived experience of disability, deafness, illness (chronic and mental), injury, neurodiversity and their allies. The group also focuses on ways to support the recruitment, retention, professional development and career advancement of employees with disabilities.