Alt-Text Production: Providing More Effective Services & Promoting Student Self-Reliance Utah Valley University Laura Loree, Accessibility Services Counselor Jenna Atkinson, Assistive Technology Coordinator

Here’s Why We’re Different Demographics Open enrollment High non-traditional student population 56% work 30+ hours/week 45% are married 23% support at least one child at home 41% are 25 or older (low-tech students) Large international and ESL population Unique Situation Small lab with a small budget on a large campus Dealing with programs ranging from tech/trade certificates to graduate degrees

How did we get here? Lost long time lab coordinator overnight in the snow 5 miles uphill both ways No trained lab staff to pick up the torch No lab coordinator for 14 months Laura begins supervising lab in addition to full-time counseling Functional assessment of lab shows major deficits Jenna assumes position during fall rush; very little experience

We didn’t know what we didn’t know Improper alt-text procedures Scanning full books at once Using Kurzweil for OCR No editing, no alt-tags MP3 only: no DAISY, no Braille (inaccessible PDFs for everyone) No ability to produce any STEM content Reproducing same text repeatedly No ATN requests: ALL books cut and scanned (bookstore won’t buy back)

There’s Gotta Be a Better Way! Start researching how to do my job Spoiler alert: ain’t nothing online Weep softly under desk Attend CSUN and AHG Start consulting with local Assistive Tech providers Have students scan their own books Unedited PDFs to use with Kurzweil & Firefly Provide MP3s on CDs

What Are We Gonna Do? Student’s who needed texts ASAP Sampled TTS applications with Word documents for these students Students LOVED it! Text displayed while read aloud Easily navigable Easily customizable Cheap/Free Can use it anywhere Began to utilize this method more and more for students with varying disabilities New standard as it works most of the time

Text-to-Speech Applications Natural Reader Central Access Reader Kurzweil Balabolka Reads Math X Generate MP3 Platform OSX, Windows, iDevices, Android Mac & PC desktops / laptops only PC, Mac, Ipad, Web File types supported PDF, Word, EPUB, HTML, copy+paste, etc Word, copy+paste Cost -$69.50 desktop -$9.99 mobile app Free $700+ Bonus Features Sync documents across all platforms Can export to HTML, HTML Flex, etc Lots of study features, like highlighting, dictionary, etc

Our process specifically Request from publisher and Bookshare first Process books one chapter at a time OCR done by Abbyy Zone edits and reading order Save PDFs and Word docs Edit in Word, convert to needed format Use Dolphin EasyConverter to produce DAISY or MP3 if needed STEM Content Students with LD: equations, formulas, etc saved as images Students with VI: Use Infty to OCR

Why It Works for Us Production Distribution “One and done” All books done as if DAISY in Word Easily modified to any format: HTML, Braille, etc. No alt tags needed unless visually impaired Massive reduction in MP3 production Distribution PDFs and Word docs for students Assist with downloading of CAR, NaturalReader, and Balabolka Demonstrate built-in accessibility features on computers

Why It Works for Students Students don’t have to rely on AT Coordinator for materials off LMS Students can generate own MP3s and other file formats Moves us closer to universal access across campus TTS programs on every computer in every lab on campus Composition classes using for peer review Great for ESL students (Natural Reader translates to other languages) Makes oral administration of exams easier

Where we’re going Working on perfecting project management system Improving collaboration with the bookstore and university departments Involving students for accessibility testing Establishing tech plan for distance ed and satellite campuses Working on online training modules for instructors Educating faculty on creating their own accessible documents and PowerPoints

Questions?

Contact Us Jenna Atkinson – jenna.atkinson@uvu.edu 801-863-8868 Laura Loree – laura.loree@uvu.edu 801-863-8712