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. 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 what Golden Bear Orientation is really like. New Student Services has created a GBO Sensory Guide that summarizes all events, including locations, sites, sounds, audience size, etc. We are currently working on updating the Fall 2024 Sensory Guide. Preview the Fall 2022 Sensory Guide as a reference and check back in May for the Fall 2024 Sensory Guide.