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Alt Format Initiatives<br />
Ron Stewart
AHEAD Technology Advisor
Chair, AHEAD E-Text Solutions Group
Our Long Term Goal
Create
The
Darned
Thing
Once
US Alt Format Projects
Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD)
E-Text Solutions Group
American Association of Publishers (AAP)
Alt Format Strategic Initiative (AFSI)
US Department of Education
National Instructional Materials Standard (NIMAS)
National Instructional Materials Access Center (NIMAC)
AHEAD E-Text Solutions Group
AHEAD E-Text Survey v 2
E-Text Institute Trainings
Best Practice Identification and Awareness
Two Trainings per month currently
National and International Partnerships
AHEAD E-Text Resources Web Site
www.ahead.org/etext/etext_main.htm
Partnerships and Cooperative Activities
Research and Development Partnerships
Formation of Working Groups
AAP - Alternate Format Solutions Initiative
AAP Higher Ed Executive Committee approved key AFSI recommendations for development
AAP's Critical Issues Task Force now translating recommendations into viable implementation strategies
Currently being explored:
Collaborative Process Improvement Initiatives
Best practices for publishers and stakeholders
Standard Agreements and Templates
Fabric of agreements to create a "trusted system" and permit efficiencies
Balance efficiency and flexibility (diverse publishers and institutions)
All pieces available in "Look up" Portal's Information Center
AAP - Alternate Format Solutions Initiative
Powerful new national "Look up" Portal to enable rapid location of alt formats by searching for individual titles (current service is by publisher or imprint only)
Direct links to publisher online permissions and order forms under review
Investigate potential for a legal, cost-effective and efficient system to facilitate sharing of user formats
Membership model
No central repository for publisher-supplied files currently envisioned. However, this assessment will be reevaluated after the Portal has been in operation. (AAP believes the Portal, coupled with publisher and DSS best practices, should obviate need for a costly, restrictive, single-format repository)
Collaborative efforts needed to maximize participation by smaller publishers and institutions
K-12 IDEA Reauthorization
Benefits
Component of US National Disability Law for primary and secondary education
National repository established for files
National standard adopted.
Copyright exception provided to publishers.
Issues and Dilemmas
Only applies to "Chafee Population" not all print disabled students.
Does not apply to "Legacy Materials".
Only applies to "Adopted" curricular materials.
No mechanism established for existing materials.
No ability to place existing or future files back in NIMAC
NIMAS/NIMAC is not a useful model for Higher Ed
The Overall Situation
Phenomenal progress has been made!
Speed of delivery remains the number one priority.
Technology will not solve this problem.
Legislative efforts continue to be counterproductive.
Outdated language
Differing requirements
Significant lack of educational stakeholder involvement
Woefully underfunded, if funded at all
A collaborative effort is the only effective model
Persistent project leadership is essential to coordinate and drive change.
Widespread lack of understanding and respect for stakeholder perspectives and challenges inhibits effective collaboration.
The Overall Situation
Big gaps exist between the leadership and the front lines within the publisher, education and disability community.
Opportunities exist for major improvements via a coordinated effort to fix the process and educate all the participants.
The Front Line Staff are woefully underprepared and undertrained at all levels to meet the projected needs.
Buy-in and active participation of both publishers and institutions will be necessary to create the critical mass necessary for success and to insure long term stable funding.
Systemic Challenges
How does alt format fit into emerging education data management models?
How do systems and institutions build the capacity to meet the projected student needs?
How do we align various efforts into a holistic model for delivering curricular access?
How do we reconcile the limitations of Chafee with the requirements of Section 504 to serve all students with documented disabilities?
How are the students with disabilities going to develop the level of technology literacy that will be necessary to use DAISY and other forms of Alt Format?
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For More Information
Ron Stewart
231 Clarksville Rd Suite 3
Princeton Junction, NJ 08550
ron@ahead.org
(609) 213-2190
ahead.org/etext/etext_main.htm
altformat.com