NIMAS & Accessible Textbooks

NIMAS & Accessible Textbooks

Where are we now?

Skip Stahl

The Techie Bits (Deciphered)

(What you’ve always wanted to know about XML, but have been afraid to ask)

Sources of Accessible Instructional Materials

The Techie Bits (Deciphered)

The Techie Bits (Deciphered)

The Techie Bits (Deciphered)

The Techie Bits (Deciphered)

Digital Media can be “tagged”

For Structure

The Techie Bits (Deciphered)

For Semantics(meaning)

Digital Media can be “tagged”

The Techie Bits (Deciphered)

With proper tagging, subsequent transformations can create multiple “student-ready” versions (e.g.; Braille, Digital Talking Book, etc.) from a single source document.

A Textbook sample

This is NIMAS XML

Web page from NIMAS XML

DAISY Book from NIMAS XML

Braille from NIMAS XML

Relevant to Higher Education?

Unsure… IP challenges – every student a market 22,000 publications vs. 3500 Few duplicate requests No market for braille What incentives for content producers? AMP-based solutions? Market solutions? Legislated soutions?

What exists now

Ad Hoc local solutions Accessible Media Producers AccessText.org Market options State mandates (CA, KY, TX, etc.)

RFB&D RFB&D is an Accessible Media Producer

(AMP) providing instructional materials in the NIMAS format.

RFB&D offers many of the core textbooks in navigable audio format that predate the “published” date required for publishers to submit files to the NIMAC

RFB&D Phase 1 product – Synthetic speech audio

and full text delivered with quick turnaround textbooks are prioritized and produced

through human narration, in order for highest quality product for beginning readers

Phase 2 product – Human narrated audio replaces the synthetic speech version and is enhanced with figure descriptions

RFB&D Phase 1 Synthetic Audio Books offer

Speedy delivery to states and students of texts Audio playback on hardware devices and

portability for students Audio synchronized with full text of book on

software Phase 2 Human Narrated Audio Books offer

Unsurpassed human audio narration for correct pronunciation and prosody of text

Enhanced content with description of figures making them accessible for students with visual disabilities

Bookshare.org

Bookshare.org

New Web Site – January, 2009

Accomplishments

Bookshare.org content and services are FREE to all U.S. qualified students with a print disability of any age Bookshare membership includes free versions of Humanware’s Victor Reader Soft Bookshare Edition and Don Johnston’s READ:OutLoud Bookshare Edition.) Bookshare books can be read in a browser with a screen reader (a good option for Mac Users), other DAISY reading software (like eClipseReader and Book Wizard), with a portable device, or listened to on an MP3 player.

Braille

National Library Service American Printing House

Federal Quota funds

Many local/regional braille production & distribution centers

AccessText Network

Created by Publishers

www.accsestext.org

Challenges remain AHEAD is fully supportive of the philosophy

behind the development of the ATN project.  However, we have a number of concerns with how the project is being implemented, the majority of which concern the relationship between the ATN and local DS offices as articulated in the language of the "User Agreement" (AUA) that campuses are required to sign in order to participate.   

Market Models

Market Models ?