© Disability Business Technical Assistance Center—Northeast 1 Employment and Disability Institute...

© Disability Business Technical Assistance Center—Northeast 1Employment and Disability Institute www.edi.cornell.edu

Access to Print Materials

DBTAC – Northeast ADA Center

1.800.949.4232

Sharon Trerise

© Disability Business Technical Assistance Center—Northeast 2

Topics• Access to print materials through alternate

formats: who benefits?• Textbooks

– Legal basis for providing alt formats– Process for providing alt formats– Challenges

• Other course materials• College publications• On the horizon


WHO BENEFITS WHEN INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS ARE PROVIDED IN ALTERNATE FORMATS?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CjQoc5vu28&feature=channel


Who benefits?• People who are blind• People with low vision• People with physical disabilities which limit their

ability to hold a book or turn pages• People with reading-related learning disabilities• English language learners• Others (people listening while driving/ riding /

exercising…)


How do we provide access? Alternate Formats

• Braille & tactile graphics

• Large print

• Electronic text (e-text)– MS Word, PDF, HTML, DAISY

• Audio files– MP3, WAV, etc.


Providing Alternate Formats

• Publishers

• Membership-based sources– AccessText, Bookshare, Learning Ally (RFB&D)

• Public domain

• Contract with supplier

• Scan & convert in-house


Challenges• Graphics

– Graphics must have text descriptions to be useful for audio translation

– Tactile graphics• Time consuming & expensive to produce

– Large print / magnification• May create distortion of graphic / contrast problems

– Audio files• Missing graphics


Challenges

• Complex page layouts may affect read order (PDF)

• STEM content: scientific & math symbols must be converted to format for voicing – one at a time– Resource: http://www.access2science.com/


Challenges

• Other course materials– Course packs– Handouts– Lab materials– Library reserves– Exams & quizzes


Challenges• Conversion challenges

– Expense of hardware & software– Technical expertise needed– TIME needed– Liability for accuracy of converted materials

(exams & quizzes)

• CA model offers many benefits


On the Bright Side• Publishers are starting to help

– AccessText.org / PublisherLookup.com– Pearson’s Course Compass

• Proliferation of E-books (although most are not yet accessible)

• Choices of Assistive Technology for converting & reading alternate formats


Other College Publications• Recruiting materials, Student handbook,

Course catalog, Health Services brochures, etc.

• What is available on the web?– Is it in an accessible format?

• Accessible Word, PDF• Resources: CSU Professional Development for Accessible

Technology; teachingcommons.cdl.edu/access

• Library materials


LEGISLATIVE BASIS FOR PROVIDING ALTERNATE FORMATS


Federal: OCR Case History

• 1996 Brooklyn College– http://people.rit.edu/easi/law/brooklyn.htm

• 1996: CA Community Colleges– http://www.icdri.org/legal/ocrsurltr.htm

• More: http://people.rit.edu/easi/law.htm


State: NYS Chapter 219

• Chapter 219 of Laws of 2003– http://www.tc3.edu/bcl/altformhandbook/219fi

eldmemo.asp

• 2011 Extension– http://m.nysenate.gov/legislation/bill/S7748A-

2009


Campus Policies• Examples:

– George Brown College• Captioned_Media_and_E_Text_Policy%5b1%5d.pdf

– CA Community Colleges• http://www.htctu.net/divisions/altmedia/altmediadocs/

Nussbaum_ltr.htm

– CA State University• http://www.calstate.edu/accessibility/instructionalmaterials/

index.shtml


Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008• July 1, 2010, institutions will be required to disclose in

their course schedules, ISBN of required and recommended textbook and supplemental materials and retail price information.

• Publishers are required to provide faculty with information on price, copyright dates of the three previous editions, any substantial revisions between a new edition and prior iterations, whether the textbook is available in any other format and at what price and to supply textbooks in bundled and unbundled formats. Source: Amer. Council on Education, ACE Analysis of Higher Education Act Reauthorization, www.acenet.edu/e-newsletters/p2p/ACE_HEA_analysis_818.pdf


ON THE HORIZON


Google BooksGoogle's stated mission is "to organize the world's

information and make it universally accessible and useful." As part of that goal, it struck a deal in 2004 with several major libraries to digitally copy the books in their collections. The company now has an archive of more than 12 million publications.

However: “Judge rejects Google's attempt to create a universal library”

Source: CNNMoney, article by Laurie Segall, March 22, 2011

http://money.cnn.com/2011/03/22/technology/google_books_lawsuit/


On the Horizon• Proliferation of e-reader devices with more

features

• Open educational resources model (including textbooks)

• Publishing trend toward electronic media– Wiley (Jossey-Bass) position


DOJ / OCR Letter to Colleges• June 29, 2010, the Office of Civil Rights, United States Department of Education, sent

a joint letter to all United States college and university presidents.HL104 • Requiring use of an emerging technology in a classroom environment when the

technology is inaccessible to an entire population of individuals with disabilities—individuals with visual disabilities— is discrimination prohibited by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504) unless those individuals are provided accommodations or modifications that permit them to receive all the educational benefits provided by the technology in an equally effective and equally integrated manner (Office of Civil Rights, US Department of Education,(2010) Joint Letter, Washington, DC).

• It is not unrealistic to assume that the mandate to provide equitable access to digital learning materials and activities, even though focused on mobile e-book reading devices in this instance, also extends to courseware, learning management systems, instructional software programs—in short, any and all digital curriculum resources required for use in publicly-funded educational institutions.


Disability and Business Technical Assistance Center – Northeast ADA

Center

ILR - Employment and Disability InstituteCornell University201L Dolgen HallIthaca, NY 14853

800.949.4232 in NY, NJ, PR, VI

[email protected]

© Disability Business Technical Assistance Center—Northeast 1 Employment and Disability Institute...

Documents

Transcript of © Disability Business Technical Assistance Center—Northeast 1 Employment and Disability Institute...