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AIMing for Achievement: Selecting and Acquiring Accessible
Instructional Materials for Students with Dyslexia
Joy Smiley Zabala, Ed.D.
Director of Technical Assistance
CAST and the National Center on Accessible Instructional Materials
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Purpose and Big Ideas of this Session The purpose of this webinar is to provide foundational information related to the timely provision of AIM. Content will focus on the following main ideas: • Rationales for providing AIM
• Legal and pedagogical issues • The changing language of AIM • Sources of AIM and who can use each source • A Decision-making process • Available tools and resources • A glimpse of the future – Digital Materials
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What do the regulations for the implementation of IDEA say about Access to Instructional Materials?
Section 300.172
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Provisions within the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 require state and local education agencies to ensure that textbooks and related core instructional materials are provided to students with print disabilities in specialized formats in a timely manner.
Section 300.172, Final Regulations of IDEA 2004
The IDEA Connection
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State and local education agencies must also
• “Adopt the NIMAS” National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard
SEAs and LEAs must include the requirement to produce a NIMAS-compliant file in all purchasing contracts. No statutory requirement is placed on publishers.
Accessible Instructional Materials The IDEA Connection
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State and local education agencies must also • Decide whether to “coordinate with the NIMAC”
National Instructional Materials Access Center
All 50 states have opted to coordinate with the NIMAC as a means for providing specialized formats in a timely manner to students served under IDEA who meet copyright criteria.
Accessible Instructional Materials The IDEA Connection
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Print Disability
In general usage, it refers to being unable to read or use standard print materials because of blindness or other disability that makes effective, efficient use of print difficult or impossible.
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Specialized Formats
Braille, Large Print, Audio, and Digital Text
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Timely Manner
• Must be defined by states as mandated in Section 300.172 of the Final Regulations of IDEA 2004
• Generally means “at the same time” that other students receive their instructional materials in print format.
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Lesson Learned…
Many students who are not “covered” by the IDEA requirement have difficulty learning from typical instructional materials.
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…but what about READING???
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MYTH
If we give students these materials, they will never learn to read!
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REALITY
Accessible materials DO NOT replace ongoing, effective reading instruction.
For some students, accessible materials provide a means to build skills in other
aspects of reading/learning that are beyondcurrent decoding skills.
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What are Accessible Instructional Materials?
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ü Language as a barrier • Changes over time • Acting from common misunderstandings
ü Language as a capacity-builder • Keeping up with change • Common vocabulary
Keeping Language Current
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XML files that are developed to the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS) can be readily
transformed into student-ready specialized formats.
AIM as NIMAS
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• Facilitator: purchasers, publishers and media producers
• Barrier: decision-makers for individual students, educators, families
• Common misunderstandings: eligibility, student-ready, is all that’s needed
Language Change Over Time
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AIM as Specialized Formats
• Braille, large print, audio, and digital text
• Exactly the same information as the printed materials
• Only the presentation
of the material is different
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AIM = Specialized Formats • Facilitator: broadens understanding beyond
NIMAS as sole means of providing accessible materials
• Barrier: applies only to print-based materials, limited to students meeting copyright criteria, equates need to specific disability categories
• Common misunderstandings: need is equated to falling within specific disability categories, acquiring for one opens access to all, fair use
Language Change Over Time
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Lesson Learned…
• AIM is not just NIMAS! • AIM is not just Specialized Formats
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Accessible Instructional Materials…
• Are designed or enhanced in a way that makes them usable by the widest possible range of student variability regardless of format (print, digital, graphical, audio, video)
• Content may be “designed to be used as print” and require retrofitting
• Content may be “designed to be used digitally” and difficult to retrofit if not accessible from the start
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AIM = Materials designed to be highly usable across full range of student variability • Facilitator: expands beyond printed materials,
includes digital materials, increases importance of the market, extends thinking to non-text material
• Barrier: lack of demand, limited availability in the market
• Common misunderstandings: all digital materials are accessible to everyone
Language Change Over Time
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Lesson Learned…
It is important to understand that content and delivery technology are two sides of the AIM coin and both require careful consideration and selection.
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• The information is the content
• Technology is the delivery system upon which the content is presented to the student
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Who needs AIM?
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Who “qualifies” for NIMAS?
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Who “qualifies” for NIMAS and/or AIM?
Need comes before qualification!
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Reframing the Question
“Who NEEDS specialized formats of print-based instructional materials for
educational participation and achievement?
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Many students with disabilities are unable to read or use standard print-based materials, because of
– Blindness or visual impairments – Physically impairments – Learning disabilities – Other disabilities that impact the
ability to read standard print
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Lesson Learned…
The need or preference for instructional materials in accessible formats goes well beyond students with identified disabilities and well beyond print.
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Who Needs AIM?
Students with disabilities that prevent them from using “typical” instructional materials, such as print or “locked” digital materials, effectively • Students with sensory, physical, or learning-related disabilities
Students without identified disabilities who cannot make effective use of “typical” instructional materials • Struggling readers; students lacking English proficiency, etc.
Students who simply prefer options for different tasks or for use in different environments.
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The Four Components of UDL The Pedagogical Connection
Goals, Assessment, Methods, and Materials
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Who NEEDS AIM as specialized format?
If any student is unable to read traditional grade level printed instructional materials
at a sufficient rate and with adequate comprehension to complete academic tasks
with success, relative to same-age peers, or cannot do this independently, or cannot do
this across environments and tasks, then the student may need AIM.
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Let’s unpack this a bit…
If any student is unable to read traditional grade level printed instructional materials
at a sufficient rate and with adequate comprehension to complete academic tasks
with success, relative to same-age peers, or cannot do this independently, or cannot do
this across environments and tasks, then the student may need AIM.
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What are the sources of AIM and who can use each source?
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There are multiple sources for acquiring materials for students needing AIM but all sources cannot be
used for used all students
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Multiple Sources of AIM
• NIMAS/NIMAC
• Accessible media producers (AMPs)
• Locally produced
• Free sources
• Commercial sources
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Multiple Sources of AIM The NIMAC
Students using materials created from NIMAS-source files stored in the NIMAC must: 1) meet copyright criteria (certified by a competent authority as
unable to read printed materials because of blindness or other disability) AND
2) be served under IDEA.
There are varying Interpretations of “Qualifying Disability”
The National Library Service of the Library of Congress Blind, Visual Impairment, Physical Limitations,
or a Reading Disability based on Organic Dysfunction
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Multiple Sources of AIM
Accessible Media Producers:
Use of materials from this source are constrained by copyright restrictions (Bookshare, Learning Ally, APH, etc.)
Locally Produced:
May have constraints and certainly require significant human resources
Free Sources:
No limitations, but may not be the same as used by others
Commercial Sources:
Purchase for anyone, use with anyone!
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Lesson Learned…
As the publishing industry “goes digital” the most promising source of AIM for widespread use will be accessible digital learning materials developed by publishers and made available for purchase.
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In a world going digital, this does not
seem to be a problem, right?
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Not all digital materials are accessible!
WRONG!
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The PALM Initiative from the AIM Center
Purchase Accessible Learning Materials
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Benefits Of Purchasing Digital Materials That Are Accessible From The Start
• Supports inclusion
• All students have the same materials at the same
time
• Benefits all students’ learning • All have access to supportive features and
scaffolds
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Benefits Of Purchasing Digital Materials That Are Accessible From The Start
• Benefits teachers
• Easier to plan and teach
• Reduces complexity • Eliminates eligibility questions
• Reduces costly accommodations • No need for different sets of materials or to provide
accommodations for inaccessible materials
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What can you do?
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Action Steps
• Purchasers must demand increased production and availability of accessible digital materials for purchase
• Require that all materials purchased from publishers/developers are aligned with relevant accessibility standards (e.g., DAISY, WCAG 2.0, Level AA at minimum, Section 508)
To start,
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WCAG 2.0, Level AA Principles • Perceivable
• Information and user interface components must be presentable to users in ways they can perceive.
• Operable • User interface components and navigation must be operable.
• Understandable • Information and the operation of user interface must be
understandable
• Robust • Content must be robust enough that it can be interpreted
reliably by a wide variety of user agents, including AT
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Indicators of Accessibility
Content should be perceivable • Content is represented in multiple ways so it can be
used based on what students might need or prefer (e.g., video captions, alt text, audio, text-to-speech, digital braille)
• Mathematical, scientific, and music symbols, formulas, and notations are represented in multiple ways (e.g., explained with text, MathML)
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Indicators of Accessibility Content should be operable • Both visual and non-visual forms of navigation are
possible (e.g. keyboard shortcuts/mapping, screen gestures, voice)
• Location and progress supports are included (e.g. page numbers, progress bars)
• If writing is required, there are multiple ways to enter text (e.g. word prediction, on-screen keyboards, voice input)
• Timing and pace can be controlled
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Indicators of Accessibility Content should be understandable • Content is structured in a predictable, coherent, and
logical way • Content is at an appropriate level for the students • Supports and scaffolds for difficult content are
available to students (e.g. glossaries, highlighters, sentence starters, spellcheckers, graphic organizers)
• Feedback on errors and progress is provided to students
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Indicators of Accessibility Content should be robust • Content can be used on multiple devices and with
different assistive technology (AT) • Nothing prevents access to built-in accessibility
features or necessary AT (e.g. Digital rights management (DRM))
• Products are tested by the publisher/developer to ensure compatibility with AT (e.g., screen readers, refreshable braille, text-to-speech, human-voice reading software)
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Take Action: What You Can Do
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Lesson Learned…
There’s a LOT to think about… a decision-making process is important to assist with sorting through all this.
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How are decisions made about AIM?
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A Four-Step Process for Decision-Making
1. Establish need for instructional materials in accessible format(s)
2. Select format(s) and features needed by a student for educational participation and achievement
3. Commence steps to acquire needed format(s) in a timely manner
4. Determine supports needed for effective use for educational participation and achievement.
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Lesson Learned…
It SOUNDS simple, but it’s not!
A variety of information, tools, and resources must be readily available to educators, families, and others who need them where and when they are needed!
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The AIM Navigator
A process facilitator that assists educators, families, and students with decisions about AIM for an individual student • Four major decision points
Need, Selection, Acquisition, and Supports for Use • Guiding questions and instant feedback • Built-in scaffolded supports • Extensive references and resources • Student Summary and To-Do List
Not a screening or evaluative tool!
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Where can we learn more and get help when we need it?
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The AIM Center Web Site:
Knowledge, Tools, and Supports at Your Fingertips!
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• Visit the AIM Center web site at: http://aim.cast.org • Check out the Quick Starts • Use the information and tools here to help you identify
need and then explore options to meet the need • Go to “AIM in Your State” to find out about state and
local policies, procedures, and practices related to the selection and acquisition of instructional materials
• Move beyond any statutory obligations to excellent instructional practices
• Push for AIM in the marketplace
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I’m just a fingertip away!
Joy Zabala [email protected]
