The Family Center on Technology and Disability

Ideas That Work

• Re:STEP 3 Acquisition of Formats and Qualifications for Each Source posted by Annette Cerreta on Jul 29, 2009

  Well, since you suggested "anyone" can jump in, I'll accept the invitation! In the strand you posted on "Determination for Need for AIM" in your response to me about a student qualifying for copyright protected materials you mentioned that the student might qualify in one state but not another. I am wondering why each state has different qualifications for this, even though copyright law and IDEA 2004 legislation on NIMAS are federal laws. It seems like those regulations should be applied uniformly across the nation. Could you explain why states interpret and/or implement these laws differently? Thanks!

  • Re:STEP 3 Acquisition of Formats and Qualifications for Each Source posted by Joy Zabala on Jul 29, 2009

    For anyone coming into this conversation, please skim through the overly wordy post from me below before looking at this one, as there are things there that will not be addressed again here. Annette, you have put your finger right on one of the biggest challenges in the provision of AIM! You are quite right that both education and copyright statutes are FEDERAL and DO apply to all, but the "rub" comes in what a state determines what the federal statutes SAY and what they MEAN. in copyright law there are some specific words that are used, but there some diversity of opinion about what those words MEAN, since many are undefined. There are several undefined terms... Print disability (which is really a function, not a disability category under IDEA or any other statute).. Does this mean "cannot see or manipulate printed material" or might it mean "cannot gain and use information contained in printed materials"... As you can see, it could be quite a different set of folks who could have a "print disability" depending upon the interpretation. Another undefined term appears in a section about who HAS a print disability. What copyright statute does not tell us what a print disability IS, it does go on to say who HAS one under the statute. Although there is more to each than I will go into now, four disability categories are listed. Individuals who has : blindness, a visual impairment, physical limitations , or who have a reading disability based on organic dysfunction. So what is "organic dysfunction"? AND, does "physical limitation" mean MOTOR limitation or anything a limitation with any part of the physical body (such as the brain or central nervous system?) So, the issues around WHO can be certified by a competent authority as having a print disability, thus eligible to receive materials from AMPs and materials derived from NIMAS source files in the NIMAC are many and complex. There are, obviously many opportunities for multiple shades of gray in the interpretations of what is "written in black and white."

    • Re:STEP 3 Acquisition of Formats and Qualifications for Each Source posted by Annette Cerreta on Jul 30, 2009

      Thanks for explaining why each state has the latitude to "interpret" and implement laws in their own way. It's too bad that the language in these laws couldn't be clarified in the future. Is there anything in the works that you know of that will amend or better define some of language in the education and copyright statues?

• Re:STEP 3 Acquisition of Formats and Qualifications for Each Source posted by Joy Zabala on Jul 29, 2009

  I am going to provide a brief and VERY GENERAL overview of the major categories of sources for accessible instructional materials and then provide the individual "qualifications" a student must meeet in order to be able to use materials derived from those sources. There are five VERY GENERAL sets of sources of accessible versions of instructional materials. First, there are free or fee-based materials that can be obtained from publishers, from the web, etc. These sources can be used by ANYONE. There are NO QUALIFICATIONS for receiving and using materials from these sources. If somebody is giving the material away for free (not typically the case with textbooks), you can use it with any student. If the material is open source or in the public domain, it can be used by ANY student. If you PURCHASE something you can use it with ANY student! Unfortunately, there are not a lot of textbooks available for purchase in accessible formats, BUT there is hope on this front. One large educational publisher has produced an HTML version of one of their textbooks that will be available for purchase just like the print book. The HTML book does not have supports built into it, but it is designed to be used with whatever assistive technology the student uses within their own computer and browser. Although an HTML book will not necessarily be accessible to ALL, it is a HUGE step forward for students who need accessible materials to whom more restrictive sources are closed. Second,accessible materials in specialized formats can be obtained from ACCESSIBLE MEDIA PRODUCERS (AMPS) if a individual is certified as eligible for materials from this source. The Chaffee Amendment to the 1931 Act to Provide Books to the Adult Blind (which has been amended many times since to include children and some other disabity categories) enables AMPs to produce materials in specialized format FOR USE ONLY BY INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE BEEN CERTIFIED BY A COMPETENT AUTHORITY TO HAVE A PRINT DISABILITY. More about that later!) There are many AMPs across the country who produce accessible materials, typically for a fee. The three AMPs that we, in schools are typically most familiar with Bookshare, Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic (RFB&D)and The American Printing House for the Blind (APH). It is important to note that AMPs typically provide services across the lifespan. Their work is not restricted to instructional materials, but often include instructional materials. The third source actually relates to the second source. Publishers have frequently provided some sort of digital file to schools if the school asks for them. These files, ALSO, can ONLY be used by students who are certified as eligible for specialized formats under copyright law. This is appropriate for two reasons: 1) publishers are not always the copyright holder for all materials contained in their materials. Some materials, such as images, may be licensed for a certain number of print reproductions but not for digital reproduction; 2) publishers typically receive NO COMPENSATION for these files. Thus widespread use of these files by individuals for whom they were not intended would be troublesome in two way - legally and monetarily. The fourth source is the one many of you may have heard about and might even have equated with accessible instructional materials. It is the National Instructional Materials Access Center (the NIMAC) which is where XML source files marked up to the National Instructional Materials Accessability Standard (NIMAS) are placed by publishers so that they can be accessed by authoried users of state and local education agencies across the country. For this source there are TWO QUALIFICATIONS: 1)the student must be a student with disabilities who receives services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA '04) AND 2) the student must be certified by a competent authority as being eligible for specialized formats under copyright law (as briefly explained above and in more detail below.) The fifth source is the one that we have been using in AT since "time began". I call it "Do it youself!". Annette and others are experts in this area (I used to be pretty good at it myself, but too much policy and not enough time with kids has blunted by skills. I am a good example of the adage, unless you USE skills, you LOSE them!) I am sure there will be LOTS of dicussion about this source. Before I go on, please know that I am HIGHLY IN FAVOR of "do it yourself" when necessary, but there are a couple fo important things to keep in mind here, when using this solution. First, check to see if the OTHER sources have what you need before mebarking on the "do it yourself" path. The other sources - particularly the NIMAC and the NIMAS and Bookshare, RFB&D, and APH - are there to ensure that materials are available to ALL eligible students who require them in a timely manner, whether that student has a "techie" teacher or a whiz-bang AT specialist or not! The "do it yourself" approach is an important part of making sure kids get what they need, but it does little to support increases in the availability of such materials to ALL kids who need them. The second thing to keep in mind when "doing it yourself" relates to copyright. Under copyright law, only students who would qualify for the services of AMPs should receive specialized materials, unless we are talking about small amounts of copyrighted documents reproduced under "Fair Use" for educational purposes. While it MAY be ok to use our great technology supports to make, for example, a switch activated storybook from a copyrighted book for a student who needs it to read the book, it would NEVER be considered ok to provide copies of that book to all of the other students in the class or give it to your grandchildren for Christmas. So... Those are "the basics" to the best of my ability to explain them simply... AND, Annette's question below, is the first of one of the big puzzles... and it relates to COPYRIGHT law, not to education law, but it sure does cause our heads to spin!

  • Re:STEP 3 Acquisition of Formats and Qualifications for Each Source posted by Betsy Burgess on Jul 29, 2009

    Joy, Thank you for the wonderfully detailed post. I'll just add two more points: 1) To add to the qualifications discussion, NIMAC textbooks from Bookshare are available only to U.S. K-12 students with IEPs. In this case, certification, like a signed proof of disability from a qualified professional, will not be sufficient to access NIMAC-sourced textbooks. CAST provides some guidance on IEPS and the NIMAC that you can read here: http://nimas.cast.org/about/resources/accessible_iep 2) In regards to Do it Yourself (DIY), it is indeed a good practice to check resources like Bookshare, RFB&D, and APH first to save you alot of time. The beginnings of organizations like Bookshare are built upon the work of individual volunteers scanning and submitting books to our library (we also get books other ways these days like direct from publishers and the NIMAC), but volunteers still continue today to submit scanned material to our library, and Bookshare works on these submissions to format and make student-ready. Our motto and the idea behind Bookshare is to "scan once, share many" for the benefit of the larger community. If participants are scanning books or are interested in volunteering in this regard, here is more information: http://www.bookshare.org/about/volunteerOverview

  • Re:STEP 3 Acquisition of Formats and Qualifications for Each Source posted by Joy Zabala on Jul 29, 2009

    In a section earlier in the discussion, someone said that they were disappointed to see that a student with autism does not qualify under copyright law... I am going to repost here, the comments that I made in response to that post. One thing that is important to keep in mind... "Autism" is not one of the disability categories explicitly mentioned, BUT if the student's disability results in the inability to use print effectively for learning, it is THAT that you want to focus on. In the National Library Service's information about "who qualifies" is the following sentence... "The following groups of individuals are NOT AUTOMATICALLY eligible (caps are mine jsz): those who have learning disabilities, dyslexia, attention deficit disorder, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder, chronic-fatigue syndrome, autism, functional illiteracy, or mental retardation, unless there is a specific accompanying visual or physical handicap." http://www.loc.gov/nls/reference/factsheets/readingdisabilities.html What this does NOT say is that people in the listed categories are automatically INELIGIBLE!!!! This means - to ME - that a decision has to be made about whether or not the student's disability - regardless of categorical label - has a led to a FUNCTIONAL disability when it comes to gaining and using information contained in printed materials. Just my thoughts... nothing official... and, of course, I am NOT an attorney, but I have talked to enough of them that I know that all are not of the same mind. We've been saying for a while that the "gray areas" with only become clear through practice and litigation.... and we all hope that it is our OWN practice that helps and that the helpful litigation happens to someone far, far away! :)