Covid-19 resulted in a pivot to remote teaching and learning in most North American colleges and universities. All of a sudden faculty expected students to use a variety of digital technologies. Here we report on the technologies post-secondary students had to use and on the problems experienced by students with and without disabilities (e.g., mobility and visual impairments, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, mental health related disabilities). In a sample of 24 post-secondary students, we found a series of problems related to: software and platform issues; connectivity; how professors managed their courses; classmates’ computer behaviors; and equipment issues. We also learned about several beneficial practices and ways to avoid problems that can be retained for future hybrid and blended courses. By giving a voice to post-secondary students our research can inform policies and practices to create a more resilient and inclusive society.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) experts and individuals with ADHD have made many recommendations concerning mobile apps that could potentially help college students succeed. But do students know about these recommended apps? Do they find them useful? How do students use mobile apps for completing schoolwork? To answer these questions we carried out two empirical studies. In study 1, 35 Canadian postsecondary students who self-reported ADHD and 74 students without disabilities completed an online LimeSurvey questionnaire and indicated which of 20 expert recommended schoolwork-related apps they had tried and which they liked. In Study 2, nine students with ADHD specified how they used their technologies to complete schoolwork. Results indicate that students with and without ADHD were familiar with only 13 of the 20 apps recommended by experts, and that they liked only 11. For completing academic work, the most popular apps were built-in smartphone camera and recording apps. Students also found Microsoft, Google, Pomodoro and Kahoot apps helpful. Discord was the most popular app for collaboration with classmates. Results show that students with and without ADHD found the same apps and technologies helpful. To the best of our knowledge this is the first study to actually query students with ADHD about their app use and preferences. We conclude that disability service providers, academic administrators and access technologists need to stay up-to-date about general use mobile apps to enable them to make appropriate recommendations to help students with ADHD succeed in college.

Virtually all North American two- and four-year colleges provide accommodations to their increasing numbers of students with disabilities. To explore technology and non-technology related accommodations for these students we surveyed 118 Canadian two- and four-year college students who self-reported at least one disability, including a mental health related disability, and indicated that they had registered for access services from their college. Seventy-four students without disabilities were included in some analyses. Our findings reveal emerging issues such as non-binary gender and multiple comorbidities, in addition to more targeted recommendations concerning technology use. For example, over half of our sample self-reported multiple disabilities; there is a large number of students with mental health related disabilities (e.g., anxiety disorders, mood disorders), many of whom have comorbid disabilities; binary (male, female) gender designations are outdated; and exam and classroom accommodations without technologies are still the most popular. Grades of students with and without disabilities did not differ. Similarly, the number of different types of accommodations in two- and four-year colleges did not differ. Students generally had high technology related self-efficacy and they saw the substantial benefit of technologies, especially of writing tools. Students with mental health related disability used somewhat fewer technologies for reading, writing and time management. Self-efficacy and perceived benefit were highest for writing technologies. General use technologies such as Microsoft Office and Google Docs that were reported by most students in this study are increasingly used as adaptive aids. In future, use of technology related accommodations is likely to include showing students how to use general use software.