Volume 16, No. 2, Spring 2008	Previous Issues Subscribe to AT Messenger Download PDF Viewer
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The First State AIMs for Student Achievement

Beth Mineo
DATI Director

Children cannot learn if they cannot access the curriculum. Most schools depend heavily on print materials such as textbooks, leaving many students—such as those with vision loss, dyslexia, language learning disabilities, attention difficulties, or motor limitations—at a disadvantage. Federal special education law (the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004) now mandates that students with print disabilities must have alternative ways to access the information contained in textbooks and other print materials.

There are essentially two approaches to overcoming print barriers: delivery of content in entirely different formats, or modifying the delivery of print to increase students’ ability to access the information it contains. Using the first approach, we might convert print content into audio files or Braille documents. In the second approach, we might alter the appearance of the print to enhance its uptake: make it larger; change the font; increase the “white space” between lines or in the margins; or decrease the distractions on the page that compete for student attention. We might provide an audio supplement to the text so that the students have access to the information in two complementary modes. We might deliver print content with the support of a text reader such as Kurzweil or Read: OutLoud so that students have additional supports such as highlighting, supported horizontal tracking, and embedded content assists such as word definitions and comprehension prompts.

The key to efficient production of print access alternatives and supports is having the content available in digital format. Once content exists in a digital file, it can be easily transformed: enlarged, enhanced, converted to audio files, and so on. Enhancements are also digital, so they are easily saved for use by other educators or with new students in subsequent years.

As most instructional materials in today’s classrooms are print-based (textbooks, workbooks, worksheets, trade books), how are educators supposed to get their hands on digital content? In many cases, they—or people working on their behalf—will have to convert print materials to digital materials by typing them or scanning them into a computer. There are some sources of no-cost digital text in repositories on the web. And some publishers either routinely sell CD versions of their textbooks or are willing to provide textbook content in digital form upon request to accommodate a student with print disabilities.

There are also organizations that make content in alternate formats available for a fee. Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic (RFB&D) offers over 43,000 titles in its AudioCD format that, combined with a specially-designed player, allow students to navigate audio content as they would print content. Bookshare.org is a subscription service that offers books in digital format; a recent federal award enables Bookshare.org to make its services available to all U.S. schools and any qualifying student with a print disability at no cost!

Finally, IDEA 2004 established a new mechanism by which publishers of core instructional materials may submit those materials in a standardized digital format (the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard, or NIMAS) to a centralized repository (the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Center, or NIMAC). Ideally, schools eventually will have one-stop access to core instructional materials in digital format if they are not able to purchase them directly from publishers.

With so much focus on the Response to Intervention (RTI) and discipline provisions in IDEA 2004, the very enabling “print access” component of the new legislation often gets overlooked. Recent conversations with a group of school principals revealed that more information is needed in order for everyone to understand the new print access provisions. There is no question, however, that accessible instructional materials will level the educational playing field and make it possible for more students to achieve.

While it is easy to understand the benefits of accessible instructional materials, it is not always easy to ensure access to them. Right now Delaware does not have an infrastructure in place to help schools get efficient access to materials in a variety of formats, so each school is on its own. But this will soon change. Delaware was recently awarded federal funding to support its involvement in the Accessible Instructional Materials (AIM) Consortium, an initiative to facilitate availability of accessible instructional materials for K-12 students in the Consortium states. The U.S. Department of Education awarded funding to CAST (Center for Applied Special Technology) in Massachusetts for the leadership of the AIM Consortium, and CAST in turn contracted with 15 states committed to furthering curricular access for students with print disabilities. Leading Delaware’s effort are Karen Jones from the Delaware Department of Education (kjones@doe.k12.de.us) and Beth Mineo from the DATI (mineo@asel.udel.edu).

Delaware’s AIM project has three major goals. The first is to ensure that all stakeholders—students, families, teachers, and administrators—are aware of their rights and responsibilities relative to print access. In addition to offering training throughout the state for these constituencies, the project will establish a Print Access Cadre, which will serve as the primary implementation workgroup. We plan to invite all districts to participate in the Cadre. Some of the benefits of participation will include access to a wide range of supports, including training, technical assistance, technology, materials, and the services of the statewide print access center once it becomes operational. The other project goals relate to the establishment of the infrastructure: determining data management and tracking systems, securing the ability to transform print into a variety of formats, and creating and implementing processes and procedures for the identification of students with print access disabilities and the appropriate accommodation of their needs.

To learn more about options for accommodating print disabilities, the AIM Consortium, or for demonstrations of useful print access technologies, contact the DATI at 800-870-DATI (3284), 302-651-6790, or www.dati.org. The DATI Assistive Technology Resource Centers in each county can provide demonstrations, arrange training, and lend equipment for trial-use periods.

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