NIMAS National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard OSEP Project Directors Conference July 31, 2006 Chuck Hitchcock Director, NIMAS TA Center

NIMAS: What is it?  National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard – NIMAS source file set  A recommendation developed by consensus in 2004 by an expert panel of key stakeholders -  Approved by US Dept. of Education in July 2004  Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for NIMAS was posted to the Federal Register on 6/29/05  Standard updated as Final Rule – July 19, 2006 and ??  Based on the international DAISY Book Standard  ANSI/NISO Z – NIMAS version 1.0  Daisy/NISO Z – NIMAS version 1.1 -> regs  NIMAS baseline+optional elements = DAISY elements

Problems Addressed by NIMAS  Students  Timely delivery of accessible textbooks  Appropriate formats and quality  Breaks down one barrier to the general education curriculum  Increases level of independence  Educators  Reduces scanning duplication of effort – time and money  Increases likelihood that specialized formats will be available when they are needed by students with print disabilities  Increases awareness of what is available and how to use it  Publishers  50 States and 50 sets of requirements – complexity and cost  Copyright issues – digital rights  Digital rights management issues

NIMAS Statute Highlights (IDEA 2004)  State Assurances to US Dept. of Education (Part B, Sec. 612)  Adopt NIMAS in timely manner  Coordinate with NIMAC or assure timely delivery of accessible materials  Coordinate with State agency responsible for AT  LEA Assurances to State Dept. of Education (Part B, Sec. 613)  Coordinate with NIMAC or assure timely delivery of accessible materials  NIMAC (Part D, Sec. 674)  Establish and support a 'National Instructional Materials Access Center‘ at APH  Receive and maintain a catalog of NIMAS print instructional materials  Provide access to print instructional materials in accessible media (source files)  Develop procedures to protect against copyright infringement.  Applicability - Applies to print instructional materials published after 8/19/06 (regs)  Section 121 of title 17, United States Code, is amended– (Title III)  Not a violation of copyright for publishers to transfer files to NIMAC if required by State and publisher has rights to publish material in print and files are to be used to create specialized formats.

NIMAS Specification  Published on July 19, 2006 in Federal Register  Comments in response to NIMAS NPRM  The NIMAS Specification  Effective after August 18, 2006 for publishers  Posted as HTML and Word on NIMAS Website  Specification  Changes – list of updates from v.1.0 to v.1.1  Additional regulations to be included in full publication of the IDEA 2004 regulations

Which Students will Qualify?  Blind and other students with print disabilities  1996 Chafee Amendment to Copyright statute – authorized entities can produce and distribute specialized formats to students  Consistent with policies of existing authorized entities  NIMAS source files are not intended for direct student use. What Materials will be Included?  Print Instructional Materials: The term 'print instructional materials' means printed textbooks and related printed core materials that are written and published primarily for use in elementary school and secondary school instruction and are required by a State educational agency or local educational agency for use by students in the classroom.  K-12 textbooks, workbooks, assessments, leveled readers, etc.  Textbook adoption & open territory state differences  Will apply to copyright as of the date of publication of the final rule that includes NIMAS in the Federal Register  Additional clarification may be needed regarding this topic.

What is the NIMAC?  A national repository of NIMAS source files maintained and coordinated by the American Printing House for the Blind (APH) in Louisville, Kentucky.  Operations proposal and funding request approved by OSEP  Have contracted with Overdrive to administer validation, security and data base files  Coordinate with NIMAC  Opt In = 48 SEAs & DC  Opt Out = 2 SEAs

State and Local Education Agency Opt In Scenario SEAs and LEAs request submission to NIMAS starting on 12/3/06. Applies to educational materials published on or after 8/19/06.

NIMAS Center Partners  NIMAS Development and TA Centers at CAST

Client version demo

NIMAS Center Website Resources  History of IMAA and NIMAS  The NIMAS & NIMAC related language from IDEA 2004 statute  The most current version of the NIMAS technical specification (v1.1)  List of NIMAS Development Committee members  List of NIMAS related conference presentations and Webcasts  Minutes of the bi-annual NIMAS Development Committee meetings  A detailed NIMAS/NIMAC FAQ and SEA Guidelines  Other resources for publishers, conversion houses and states -  Background knowledge on DAISY, XML & accessible materials  Guidance on the development of NIMAS file sets  Links to conversion houses that can help with NIMAS file development  NIMAS baseline file sets and supplemental exemplars  Links to research on the use of electronic text in education  Links to legislation and regulation pertaining to NIMAS, NIMAC and copyright laws related to the provision of accessible materials