Key takeaways:
- AI is transforming day-to-day disability services work: From speeding up alternative media production to automating meeting summaries, teams are finding immediate time savings that free up space for higher-value work.
- The biggest barrier is the absence of policy: Inconsistent approaches within a single campus are leaving students and staff in a grey area that can have serious consequences for academic outcomes.
- AI literacy is uneven across campus: Students using tools they do not fully understand, and faculty assuming content is accessible without verifying it, are two sides of the same problem.
- Disability Services teams must be at the AI policy table: Without a disability perspective in those conversations, tools get deployed without accounting for the students who need them most.
- AI done right builds access and independence: When students know how to use AI as a tool rather than a substitute for thinking, it removes barriers without creating new ones.
AI is moving faster than most higher education institutions can keep up with. For Disability Services teams, that means balancing accommodation requests, accessible content, and helping students use AI to support learning
In a recent Genio webinar, we were joined by three disability services professionals to talk through what is actually happening with AI adoption and disability services teams in higher education.
Scott McAfee, Access Coordinator at College of the Canyons, Rosie Ewert, Tutorial Coordinator and Learning Specialist at Louisiana State University, and Hanna Lewis, Director of Student Disability Services at University of Denver, shared how they are using AI day to day, where institutional policy is falling short, and what disability professionals need to do to make sure their students are not left behind.
How is AI being used effectively in Disability Services work day to day?
Across the panel, three areas stood out where AI is making an immediate difference:
- Alternative media production: Image descriptions, bulk PDF conversion, and making complex visual content accessible for students who are blind or have low vision are now significantly faster. Work that previously required back-and-forth between student, coordinator, and instructor can often be resolved by the student independently with the right prompting skills.
- Administrative automation: A significant portion of repetitive front-end work can now be automated, freeing disability professionals to focus on the support that requires genuine human judgment, such as one-to-one student meetings and case management.
- Institutional applications: At the University of Denver, AI is being explored for captioning, alt-text, file remediation, and a student support agent that connects students with the right resources around the clock.
One emerging category is multimodal study resource tools that can turn a single source document into flashcards, infographics, or podcast audio.
The University of Denver uses Genio Notes with students, faculty, and staff to capture meeting summaries and keep communication clear after student conversations.
"Genio Notes has been a huge support for both students, faculty, and staff, just to keep on top of things, be able to send summaries after conversations with students. It can be really helpful to just facilitate relationships." - Hanna Lewis, Director of Student Disability Services, University of Denver
Are AI tools closing the gap for students or opening new ones?
Depending on how they are used and who is using them, AI is closing a few gaps but also widening some new gaps for students. AI is opening up independence for students who previously depended on staff intermediaries to describe images, produce alt text, or translate technical content into accessible formats.
The panel raised three specific gaps worth naming:
- Accessibility of AI tools themselves: Not every AI tool is built with accessibility in mind. Disability services teams need to be requesting VPATs (Voluntary Product Accessibility Templates) before deploying any new tool.
- Equity and cost: Students who can afford premium AI subscriptions have access to significantly more powerful tools than those on free tiers.
- The risk of over-reliance: There is a fine line between enabling access and fostering dependency. A tool meant to provide agency can end up limiting a student's ability to master material independently.
"You really have to have the foundation of critical thinking and curiosity first so that you can really wield that tool before it ends up wielding you." - Rosie Ewert, Tutorial Coordinator and Learning Specialist, LSU Academic Center for Student Athletes
What are the biggest ethical questions Disability Services teams are facing?
The most pressing ethical questions for Disability Services teams sit at the intersection of accommodation and academic freedom.
Students are already requesting AI as an accommodation, even in courses where instructors have not permitted it. Without an overarching institutional policy, teams are navigating these situations case by case, working through interactive processes with individual faculty to determine what is appropriate within each course, major, and college.
"We are building the ship as it's sailing." - Hanna Lewis, Director of Student Disability Services, University of Denver
Even when the legal case for an accommodation is clear, academic freedom can override it in practice. Proving a student is in the right takes time, and that timeline rarely works in the student's favor. The practical response many teams are adopting is to seek written guidance from instructors whenever AI sits in a grey area, so accountability sits where it belongs if a dispute arises.
Part of the challenge is also helping faculty understand how wide the AI umbrella actually is. Blanket AI bans are often applied without that context, which creates barriers that were never intended.
Download Genio's free AI policy template to help your institution build a foundation before the semester begins.
What role should disability professionals play in shaping institutional AI policy?
Disability professionals need to be in the room when AI decisions are being made. Not as observers, but as active voices in campus governance around the creation, adoption, and deployment of new tools.
When those voices are absent, the assumption becomes that there are no problems. Products get built and deployed without accounting for the students who need them most, and the accessibility gaps only surface after the fact.
"We must be a voice in these decisions, if nothing else, to remind the decision makers that there is a population of students that may need these tools for basic access to content. We have to be there constantly cheerleading this and making sure we are considered and included." - Scott McAfee, Access Coordinator, College of the Canyons
Getting a seat at that table often comes down to relationships built long before any AI decision lands on an agenda. The most effective Disability professionals are building networks across student affairs, IT, and academic departments .
How does Genio Notes support disability services teams navigating AI?
For Disability Services teams working out how to approach AI responsibly, Genio Notes is built to support independent learning rather than replace it. It gives disability professionals the transparency they need to introduce it with confidence.
The University of Denver uses Genio Notes for students, faculty, and staff to stay on top of information, capture meeting summaries, and share notes after conversations with students and families. That practical utility, combined with WCAG 2.1 and 2.2 Level AA compliance and a commitment to never using student data to train AI models, means teams can answer every accountability question a faculty member or administrator might raise.
AI is not slowing down, and the institutions that will support students best are the ones that put accessibility at the center of AI adoption from the start.
That means evaluating accessibility before new tools are introduced, asking for VPATs, teaching students to use AI as a learning companion rather than a replacement for independent thinking, and creating clear AI policies that give both faculty and students confidence.
Most importantly, it means ensuring Disability Services has a seat at the table whenever decisions about educational technology are made.
Want to see how disability services teams across higher education are using Genio Notes to support students and build institutional confidence in AI?
