UC Berkeley is committed to providing full access to all of our programs and services for our students with disabilities. If you require accommodations for a disability (visible or invisible) to fully participate in Golden Bear Orientation, please let us know.
In order to achieve the goals of Golden Bear Orientation including making connections, learning resources, engaging in community discussions, and developing community, participation in the program includes:
- listening to presentations
- reading written materials and handouts
- traveling across campus and city participating in small groups
- engaging with large and small groups, including meal times
New Student Services works with the Disabled Students’ Program (DSP) and Disability Access and Compliance to provide accommodations for the week of Golden Bear Orientation. You may receive communication from either or both offices as we work to address your accommodations request(s) at GBO and as you prepare for the upcoming academic year. Below is a list of potential accommodations. Please use this as a reference as you consider the support you will need to participate in GBO. The below list is not exhaustive, so please let us know if there’s anything else you require.
- physical/wheelchair access to locations
- accessible public transportation
- CART captioning for events and groups
- closed captioning on videos
- reading assistance/alternative media formats
- live stream of events (those with outside small group activities, some late night events, meals and excursions)
Some groups may need to switch activities based on disability if we are able to host in person programs (example: hiking). Please submit your request for accommodations by filling out the form below with as much advance notice as possible. In general, the more notice we receive of an accommodation request, the better prepared we can be to address it. We will always give a good faith effort to complete late requests.
Submit Your Request
If you require accommodations for a disability (visible or invisible) to fully participate in GBO, please submit your request by completing this online form. Please make sure to access the form using you Berkeley email address. We appreciate as much advance notice as possible to better prepare to address your needs. The form also collects information for full exemptions to GBO participation. For information about participation expectations, please review our Policies page.
Sensory Guide
You may have questions about the Golden Bear Orientation experience. New Student Services has created a GBO Sensory Guide that summarizes all events, including locations, sites, sounds, audience size, etc. While the program looks different in the Spring from the Fall program, you may view the Fall 2024 Golden Bear Orientation Sensory Guide here as a reference. Crowds will be significantly smaller (no more than 500 individuals in one program at a time).