The National Instructional Material Accessibility Standard (NIMAS)
DISABILITY FACTS
In the United States, there are 22 million people with a disability that prevents them from being able to read ordinary print (print-disabled).
Of these 22 million, 7.7 million cannot see print, and 14.3 million possess a learning or cognitive disability that prevents them from being able to read effectively (view source).
- What is NIMAS?
- Who does NIMAS effect?
- Legislation involving NIMAS
- What is NIMAS based on?
- gh, LLC takes the lead
- What are the limits of NIMAS?
- Using NIMAS files
- For more information
"In past years, the lack of a standardized format meant that publishers had to produce materials in multiple formats--often causing delays that meant students with disabilities did not receive their textbooks in time for the beginning of the school year. The use of this standard will allow students and teachers to more quickly access general curriculum materials, giving students with disabilities the same educational resources as their non-disabled peers."
From a release by Troy R. Justesen, acting director of the Office of Special Education Programs, U.S. Department of Education
What is NIMAS?
The National Instructional Material Accessibility Standard (NIMAS) is a significant advancement in providing students with visual disabilities accessible textbook content. By specifying a national standard by which publishers are required to provide textbook files, the potential exists to produce digital and Braille content in a more cost effective and expeditious manner.
Who does NIMAS effect?
NIMAS files are intended for students in elementary schools and secondary schools who have a print disability which prevents them from seeing the words or images on a page, holding a book, or even turning its pages. The students that experience these challenges may require different tools and support that help them gain the ability to manipulate and comprehend content of their assigned text. The universal challenge that all these students have is that the content has only been available in standard print form, which has forced them to find alternative forms to access the information. Fortunately, with the birth of NIMAS, students now have a universal file format that can either be accessed by reading software like the gh PLAYER 2.2, or by being sent to a conversion company to render the file into Braille, large print, or a DAISY digital talking book.
Legislation involving NIMAS
The NIMAS provision was included in the revised Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) 2004. In this legislation a standard NIMAS file format was created for the production of textbooks for the blind and print-disabled students. The result is a common file that will be provided from the publisher to a repository of NIMAS titles stored at the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Center (NIMAC). The NIMAC will then make the files available to both State and Local Education Agencies, who will then have them converted into the desired accessible formats such as Braille, large print and digital talking books. Utilizing these NIMAS files should expedite the production of print instructional materials for students who qualify for materials in specialized formats as set forth under the Chafee Amendment to the Copyright Act. Although the NIMAS file is not considered "student ready," having the publisher provide the file at the same time the book is published will mean a lower cost to convert it into an accessible format while making it available at the beginning of the school term with higher quality than students receive currently.
By receiving study materials in NIMAS format, students can use tools that help access the content better allowing them to meet the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for No Child Left Behind, an act passed in 2001 targeted to close the achievement gap between mainstream students and their disadvantaged and minority peers.
According to U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige, " President Bush believes that every single child can learn and deserves the opportunity to learn, that's why he pushed for the historic education reforms of the No Child Left Behind Act. Today, we're taking another step toward this goal with a new, voluntary standard that will enable students and teachers to more quickly access general curriculum materials, thereby opening more doors of opportunity to students."
What is NIMAS based on?
The NIMAS specification is an XML source file derived as a subset of the ANSI/NISO Z39.86-2005 standard that is also used as the standard for DAISY 3.0 digital talking books. The National File Format Technical Panel, comprised of forty educators, disability advocates, publishers and technology specialists, developed the standard from 2002 through 2004.
gh, LLC takes the lead
gh, LLC is a leader in the conversion of various publisher file types into content that meets the NIMAS specification. Through gh's Media Conversion Process it accepts multiple file types and transforms them into XML-based NIMAS files. These files are validated against the standard and are also evaluated for their usability with DAISY readers. gh's expertise is derived from its active participation on the NFF Technical Panel, its work with the current NIMAS committee, and its strong background in XML file conversion.
What are the limits of NIMAS?
NIMAS files are most effectively used for literary-based textbooks. There is still going to be a void that will need to be filled for math and science material in an accessible format. Currently, secondary school students are in large part unable to receive accessible instructional materials in mathematics and science due to its varying levels of complexity. A project called MathSpeak is underway to produce and convert these materials into an ANSI/NISO digital talking book format that will hopefully be later adopted into the NIMAS specification. To find out more about MathSpeak visit the website at www.gh-mathspeak.com.
As of February 2007, DAISY has approved the Digital Talking Book Modular Extension for Mathematics, which allows MathML-encoded math content to be embedded into a Digital Talking Book. This is a first step in filling the void of math and science material in an accessible content. The NIMAS committee is expected to incorporate this modular extension into the NIMAS specification.
Using NIMAS files
The gh PLAYER 2.2, was the first fully featured NIMAS digital content reader available for students with disabilities. The gh PLAYER is based on universal design concepts that enhance the reading productivity for persons who are blind or low vision, but also has features to assist individuals with learning disabilities, and even individuals without disabilities. Special features include text-to-speech with high quality voices; magnification of 1x to 16x; contrast and color adjustments; bookmarking; navigation by page, section, segment, word, and time; index navigation; and smart table navigation.
For more information
To find out more about NIMAS files and the specifications they are based on, please review the following links.
ANSI/NISO Z39.86-2005 Digital Talking Book Standard
