National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS) and National Instructional Materials Accessibility Center (NIMAC)
Clearinghouse for Specialized Media Technology (CSMT)
and
Special Education Division
Slide 2 - What is NIMAS?
- IDEA 2004 mandates that states adopt a standard electronic file format for instructional materials
- Publishers and instructional material producers shall provide a standard electronic file format which may be converted into fully accessible textbooks and instructional materials for students with qualifying disabilities
Slide 3 - Why is NIMAS Needed?
- Students with print disabilities often did not receive textbooks and other instructional materials in a format they could access at the same time print materials were provided to non-disabled students violating equal opportunity provisions
- NIMAS will increase availability and timely delivery of print instructional materials in accessible and standardized file formats used by publishers of instructional materials
Slide 4 - Who Developed NIMAS?
- In 2002, a 40-member national panel including publishers, educators, disability advocates and technologists created NIMAS
- A staff person from the California Department of Education was a panel member
Slide 5 - What are the Intended Outcomes of NIMAS?
- NIMAS textbooks will consist of source files in a standardized electronic format created by publishers of instructional materials
- NIMAS files are not student ready
- From NIMAS files, accessible, student ready files (e.g., Braille, digital talking books, large print) shall be created by third party producers and provided to students in a timely manner
- Access and expanded learning opportunities for all students
Slide 6 - When Must NIMAS be Implemented?
- State and local educational agencies shall implement NIMAS by December 3, 2006
- The NIMAS standard regulations (Outside Source) became effective August 18, 2006
Slide 7 - What is NIMAC?
- NIMAC is the National Instructional Materials Access Center
- The American Printing House for the Blind is designated as NIMAC
- Frequently Asked Questions about NIMAC (Outside Source)
Slide 8 - NIMAC
The NIMAC serves as a national repository for NIMAS files, and a conduit through which NIMAS files are made available only to authorized users so that these files may be converted into fully accessible textbooks and instructional materials for students with qualifying disabilities
Slide 9 - What is the Role of NIMAC?
- Receive and maintain a catalog of print instructional materials prepared in the NIMAS made available by textbook publishers
- Provide access to print instructional materials free of charge to eligible print disabled students
- Develop, adopt, and publish procedures to protect against copyright infringement
Slide 10 - Proposed flow of NIMAS files through NIMAC
Slide 11 - Opting In or Out of NIMAC
- States and local educational agencies (LEAs) are encouraged, but not required to participate in NIMAC
- States and LEAs who opt in to NIMAC shall require publishers to send NIMAS files to the Center beginning December 3, 2006
- States and LEAs who opt out of NIMAC must provide assurances to comply with all provisions of NIMAS but don’t send files to NIMAC
- The California Department of Education has opted in to NIMAC
Slide 12 - Requirements for the Preparation and Delivery of Files
- If a State Education Agency (SEA) or LEA chooses to coordinate with the NIMAC, as of December 3, 2006, the SEA or LEA must:
- As part of any print instructional materials adoption process, procurement contract, or other practice or instrument used for purchase of print instructional materials, enter into a written contract with the publisher of the print instructional materials
- Require the publisher to prepare and, on or before delivery of the print instructional materials, provide to NIMAC electronic files containing the contents of the print instructional materials using the NIMAS; or purchase instructional materials from the publisher that are produced in, or may be rendered in, specialized formats
- Provide instructional materials to blind persons or other persons with print disabilities in a timely manner
Slide 13 - Responsibilities
- Not later than December 3, 2006, a State or LEA that chooses to coordinate with the NIMAC, when purchasing print instructional materials, must acquire those instructional materials in the same manner, and subject to the same conditions as an SEA
- If an LEA chooses not to coordinate with the NIMAC, the LEA must provide an assurance to the SEA that the LEA will provide instructional materials to blind persons or other persons with print disabilities in a timely manner
- Nothing in this section relieves an LEA of its responsibility to ensure that children with disabilities who need instructional materials in accessible formats but are not included under the definition of blind or other persons with print disabilities or who need materials that cannot be produced from NIMAS files, receive those instructional materials in a timely manner
Slides 14-21 - Denfinitions
- Timely Manner
During the regulation hearings, many requests were made to define “timely manner” as providing these materials at the same time they are provided to children without disabilities, or at the start of the school year, or for children who transfer schools after the start of the school year, within 30 days of the start of the school year, regardless of whether a State chooses to coordinate with the NIMAC - Print Instructional Materials
Means printed textbooks and related printed core materials written and published primarily for use in elementary and secondary school instruction - Authorized Entities
- “Means a nonprofit organization or a governmental agency that has a primary mission to provide specialized services relating to training, education, or adaptive reading or information access needs of blind or other persons with disabilities”
- CSMT is the State of California authorized entity
- Authorized User
- Simply means an individual who has signed the NIMAC Limitation of Use Agreement and has been provided a user identification number and password that enables access the NIMAC database
- Agree to a Limitation of Use Agreement for NIMAS files that restricts the files’ use and defines the qualifying disabilities as stated above
- California LEAs will become authorized users and gain access to NIMAC by coordinating with CSMT
- Coordinating Agencies
Those local and state educational agencies that have chosen to coordinate with the NIMAC by directing publishers to provide NIMAS files to the NIMAC - Accessible Media Producers (AMPs)
- Produce Braille, large print, Daisy books, and other accessible format materials for people with disabilities
- Eligible to download files directly from the NIMAC as agents of authorized users
- Blind or other persons with print disabilities
Means children served under IDEA who may qualify in accordance with the act entitled “An Act to Provide Books for the Adult Blind,” to receive books and other publications produced in specialized formats - Specialized formats means
Braille, audio or digital text which is exclusively for use by blind or other persons with disabilities.
Slide 22 - How Are Files Distributed by the NIMAC?
- After validation and cataloging, the NIMAS files will be available for downloading by authorized users via an online, searchable database
- To ensure copyright protection and files are used only to produce accessible textbooks for students, access to files from the NIMAC will be restricted to authorized users who have agreed to and signed the NIMAC Limitation of Use Agreement
Slide 23 -What Happens When NIMAS File Sets Are Downloaded?
- The authorized user may convert files to fully accessible textbooks or may deliver the files to outside vendors or contractors
- Accessible media producers, as an agent of the authorized user, may download and convert file sets assigned to them within NIMAC by authorized users
Slide 24 - For More Information…
- Frequently Asked Questions about NIMAC (Outside Source)
- National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS) (Outside Source)
- Federal Register, July 19, 2006 - National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard; Final Rule (Outside Source)
