Summary
Federal guidance on effective auxiliary aids in higher education under Section 504 and ADA Title II.
Key findings
- Section 504 applies to recipients of Department of Education funding, including colleges and universities; Title II applies to public colleges, universities, and graduate and professional schools.
- Lists assistive listening devices and systems as auxiliary aids. Institutions must provide effective aids in time for participation, consult students, and give primary consideration to individual requests under Title II.
- Postsecondary students must identify their need and give adequate notice. The institution must assess effectiveness in the particular setting, including differences between a lecture and a seminar.
- An institution must make necessary nonpersonal aids available unless this would cause undue burden, and cannot charge the student for them. It remains responsible even when arranging help from an outside agency.
- Individually prescribed devices and services of a personal nature are excluded from the institution’s duty; this does not remove the duty to provide educational auxiliary aids.
Limits
Guidance revised September 1998; the page separately says it was last reviewed on 23 September 2025. Not a current device guide or a substitute for the regulations. Does not address Title III or prescribe a listening technology.
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Cite this source
US Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights. Auxiliary Aids and Services for Postsecondary Students with Disabilities. US Department of Education. September 1998. https://www.ed.gov/laws-and-policy/individuals-disabilities/auxiliary-aids-and-services-for-postsecondary-students-with-disabilities (accessed 13 October 2026).
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