Scenario 1
A student cannot access a scanned PDF.
This is one of the most common and most avoidable barriers in this toolkit — a scanned page is completely unreadable by a screen reader, however good it looks to a sighted reader, and it affects several categories at once (visual impairment, but also anyone using text-to-speech for dyslexia or processing reasons).
Immediate response: Send an accessible, text-based version immediately, or read the key content aloud in the next session.
Relevant adjustment: Accessible document formats by default (Part 2, Section 7).
Preventing it next time: Stop scanning printed pages entirely; export directly from the source document to PDF instead.
For staff training discussion: How many documents in your own current module might still be scanned images? How would you check?
Scenario 2
A deaf student cannot follow an uncaptioned video.
Video content is frequently treated as a convenient supplement, but where it carries essential material, its inaccessibility becomes a barrier to the module itself, not just to that one resource.
Immediate response: Pause the video and summarise key points verbally; follow up with a transcript.
Relevant adjustment: Captioned video content as standard practice (Part 3, Hearing Impairment).
Preventing it next time: Caption all video content before the session, not after a problem is raised.
For staff training discussion: Whose responsibility should it be to check captions before a video is used — the teacher, or a central service? What happens if neither checks?
Scenario 3
A student with anxiety is unexpectedly asked to present.
Presentations are a high-exposure format that can trigger disproportionate anxiety relative to the actual academic task, particularly with no advance warning.
Immediate response: Offer an alternative way to contribute in the moment — written, or at a later point — without pressure.
Relevant adjustment: Alternative to spontaneous verbal participation (Part 3, Depression and Anxiety).
Preventing it next time: Give advance notice of who will be asked to present, or make presenting genuinely opt-in.
For staff training discussion: Is it possible to redesign this task so an alternative format is offered to the whole cohort, rather than negotiated individually?
Scenario 4
A visually impaired student receives an undescribed diagram.
Diagrams and visual references convey information invisibly to a screen-reader user unless deliberately described — the habit of saying 'as you can see here' is easy to fall into without noticing.
Immediate response: Describe the diagram's content and structure aloud immediately, and provide a text description afterwards.
Relevant adjustment: Verbal description of visuals (Part 3, Visual Impairment).
Preventing it next time: Build description into the lesson plan wherever a diagram or image is used.
For staff training discussion: Try describing one of your own regularly used diagrams aloud, without looking at it — how long does a clear description take, and could it be scripted in advance?
Scenario 5
A wheelchair user is allocated an inaccessible teaching room.
Room allocation is often handled centrally and without accessibility checks built into the process by default, meaning the barrier can arise from an administrative gap rather than any individual's oversight.
Immediate response: Relocate the session to an accessible room as soon as possible, communicating directly with the student.
Relevant adjustment: Confirmed accessible room and route (Part 3, Physical Disabilities and Mobility).
Preventing it next time: Check room accessibility before the term starts, not after the first session.
For staff training discussion: Does your institution's room-booking process ask about accessibility at all? If not, who would need to be involved to add that check?
Scenario 6
A student with dyslexia receives complicated instructions shortly before a deadline.
Complex, late-arriving written instructions place a high processing load on a student who may already be working close to their deadline, compounding an existing time pressure barrier.
Immediate response: Clarify the instructions in writing straight away, and check whether the deadline itself needs adjusting.
Relevant adjustment: Extra time and clear written instructions (Part 3, Dyslexia).
Preventing it next time: Share task instructions well in advance, in plain written language.
For staff training discussion: How far in advance do you currently finalise assignment instructions? Would earlier finalisation be realistic given your own workload?
Scenario 7
A student with ADHD struggles to follow a long, unstructured lecture.
Extended, unsignposted verbal delivery is one of the least effective formats for a student managing working-memory and attention-regulation difficulties, and rarely serves other students particularly well either.
Immediate response: Pause to summarise key points and signpost what comes next.
Relevant adjustment: Clearly signposted, staged explanations (Part 3, ADHD).
Preventing it next time: Build in regular structure and short breaks when planning the session.
For staff training discussion: Could you restructure one upcoming long lecture into three clearly signposted 'chapters' with a short pause between each?
Scenario 8
An autistic student becomes overwhelmed by an unexpected change.
Unpredictability is consistently identified as one of the largest anxiety triggers for autistic students, regardless of how minor the change might seem to everyone else in the room.
Immediate response: Acknowledge the change calmly, offer a quiet space or a moment to regroup, and confirm what happens next in writing.
Relevant adjustment: Advance notice of change; quiet/sensory-safe space (Part 3, Autism).
Preventing it next time: Give as much advance notice of any change as possible, even a change that seems minor.
For staff training discussion: What is your fastest available channel for reaching students with an urgent change (email, messaging app, notice board)? Is it fast enough?
Scenario 9
An approved assessment adjustment has not been arranged.
This is a recurring theme across almost every chapter in Part 3: an adjustment agreed on paper is not the same as one confirmed as actually in place with the person delivering the session or exam.
Immediate response: Escalate immediately to the relevant service and agree an interim solution with the student so they are not disadvantaged.
Relevant adjustment: Verified adjustments, confirmed with everyone delivering the assessment (Part 3, several chapters).
Preventing it next time: Build in a pre-assessment check that all agreed adjustments are actually in place.
For staff training discussion: Who, specifically, in your own department would need to confirm an adjustment is in place before an exam — and is that person's role written down anywhere?
Scenario 10
A student with a fluctuating health condition misses a compulsory session.
Fluctuating conditions can vary significantly day to day without any change in the student's underlying commitment, which is easy to misread as inconsistency if it has not been discussed in advance.
Immediate response: Follow up without penalty, and share what was covered along with any recording or notes.
Relevant adjustment: Flexibility around attendance and lateness (Part 3, Physical Disabilities and Mobility).
Preventing it next time: Agree in advance how missed sessions linked to the condition will be handled, rather than deciding case by case under pressure.
For staff training discussion: Does your module have a standard, written attendance-flexibility policy, or is every case currently handled individually? What would a standard policy need to cover?