Job Applicants with Disabilities

UT Austin offers reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities throughout the hiring process. Applicants must request accommodations in advance and may be asked to provide supporting documentation for complex requests or testing accommodations.

Applicants with disabilities can request reasonable accommodations for scheduled interviews at UT Austin. Requests can be made orally or in writing through the online Applicant Reasonable Accommodation Request Form. Applicants can have someone else make the request on their behalf.

If you are a job applicant that is applying for a vacant position at UT Austin and you believe you need an accommodation because of a disability, please complete and submit the Applicant Reasonable Accommodation Request Form. You can expect an email follow-up from the IAA team to discuss your accommodation needs.

Applicants with disabilities can request testing accommodations for required tests, but they cannot be exempt from the tests. If the applicant's disability and need for accommodation are not obvious, they may be asked to provide documentation to support their requestThe ADA requires that employers give application tests in a format or manner that does not require the use of your impaired skill unless the test is designed to measure that skill. As an example, an employer gives a written test for a proofreading position. The employer does not have to offer this test in a different format (e.g., orally) to an applicant who has dyslexia because the job itself requires an ability to read. Furthermore, if all test-takers must obtain a certain “passing score,” so must the test-taker with a disability.

Examples of testing accommodation include:

• Testing in a private room
• Providing extended time
• Providing instructions/test in large or bold print
• Providing magnification
• Use of a computer with screen readers (voice output)
• Use of scratch paper
• Allowing breaks

The test-taker with a disability may need accommodation to help meet the standard, but the standard does not have to be lowered, changed, or altered. In most cases, the University is unable to approve accommodations such as an alternative format or extended time without documentation from a licensed healthcare provider supporting a diagnosis of disability (e.g., dyslexia) that would warrant such.