2001 Conference Proceedings
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The Appropriate Provision of Alternate Media: A Current Focus
of the California Community Colleges
Marcia Norris
Training Specialist
mnorris@ginko.htctu.fhda.edu
Wayne Chenoweth
Training Specialist
wchenowe@ginko.htctu.fhda.edu
High Tech Center Training Unit
of the California Community Colleges
21050 McClellan Road
Cupertino, CA 95014
Introduction
The California Community College system (108 colleges) is in the
process of funding and implementing a system-wide solution to
provide alternate media to students with disabilities in a timely
and appropriate manner. As a result of a system-wide compliance
review done by the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) in 1996, and
reported on in 1998, the Chancellor's Office of the California
Community Colleges has diligently worked to develop new systems
and solutions in order to improve access to electronic
information and alternate media by students with
disabilities.
The initial focus of these new strategies was concentrated on
developing standards for making distance education and all web
based educational activities accessible. The Distance Education
Access Guidelines for Students with Disabilities were released in
August 1999. A second major set of guidelines, the Guidelines for
Producing Instructional and Other Printed Materials in Alternate
Media for Persons with Disabilities was released in March 2000.
The guidelines are landmark publications and serve as a model for
other states and countries developing their own standards.
The intent of this presentation is to describe the breadth of
the current efforts to develop and implement necessary changes
needed to bring about a system-wide means of producing alternate
media for students with disabilities, with particular emphasis on
media for students with vision impairment.
Definitions of Alternate Media
Hard copy text can be converted to electronic text, to braille
material, to large print, or to audio. Electronic text, or
"etext" can be provided in standard formats: e.g., plain text,
Microsoft Word, HTML Documents can be translated into braille and
provided in different ways: hard copy, a braille formatted file,
or access to online documents via refreshable Braille display.
Documents can be reformatted for large print and provided as hard
copy, word processed files, or in Portable Document Format (PDF).
Audio material can be provided in a number of ways: audio tape
with a human reader or with synthetic speech; recorded to CD, MP3
or DVD with human reader voice or synthetic voice, or a real-time
human reader can provide the audio version of text.
Difficulties
Creating alternate text formats is not that difficult; what is
difficult is converting hardcopy text to a form that can be
converted to an alternate media. Consider that any person needing
a form of alternate media must first scan and convert the
hardcopy text to an electronic format. Multiply the hours spent
scanning and converting text by persons globally, and one
discerns that the total is an extraordinary amount of human time.
And, ironically, almost all hardcopy text which is scanned into
electronic format originally exists as electronic text.
An Extrordinary First Step
Visionary legislators in the California Assembly were successful
in getting an important assembly bill passed. Similar to one in
Texas, it requires publishers to provide an electronic format of
any required textbook or materials needed in an alternate format
by a student. This bill, AB422, became effective on January 1,
2000, and not only provides for alternate media for text, but
also for alternate media for such required educational materials
as educational software programs, video disks, and video and
audio tapes.
The Basics of AB 422
This bill applies to all public postsecondary educational
institutions in the state of California. Each sector: the
community college sector, state college sector and UC sector, is
charged with developing at least one center which will be the
primary agent for requesting electronic formats from publishers.
This center will also be the major source for distribution of
alternate media. Once the center has the electronic form of a
book or material, it is expected that all other requests for that
material be directed to the center. AB 422 also provides the
possibility for an individual campus to set up an alternate media
center. It is thought that the model of a central alternate media
center will provide a more efficient mode of larger volume,
streamlined delivery in the provision of alternate media,
especially braille materials.
AB 422 requires publishers to provide text and educational
materials in an unencrypted electronic form. The electronic
versions must retain their "structural integrity. . ., be
compatible with commonly used braille translation software and
speech synthesis software." Acknowledging the current
technological difficulty involved in converting some aspects of
text pages, "'structural integrity' need not include nontextural
elements such as pictures, illustrations, graphs, or charts."
Additionally specialized mathematics or science materials are
also exempt from being supplied in an electronic format "until
the time software becomes commercially available that permits the
conversion of existing electronic files of the materials into a
format that is compatible with braille translation software of
alternative media for students with disabilities."
The Availability of Funding for Alternate Media
Production
California, in the year 2000, has benefited extraordinarily from
the dot.com economy. In June 2000, the California Community
Colleges received 12.4 million dollars in the Governor's Budget
to implement the provision of accessible online instruction and
campus-wide implementation of assistive technologies, as well as
the provision of alternate media, including video captioning and
descriptive narration.
Funding for an Alternate Text Production Center
At the time this paper is being written, a Request for
Applications (RFA) for the grant to develop the statewide
Alternate Text Production Center (ATPC) is out. The grant will be
awarded in December 2000. Grant descriptions of some of the
responsibilities follow.
This center will provide alternate text materials according to a
three-tiered priority system. Primary consideration will go to
priority 1 documents: those materials "which are required and
essential instructional materials, including library and learning
resource material, such as textbooks, reference materials,
assigned reading, and other 'on-demand' materials which require
rapid turnaround and a high degree of accuracy which cannot be
efficiently or effectively produced locally on campus." As
currently structured, all ATPC services to California community
colleges are free.
Priority 2 documents "are noninstructional materials such as
financial aid documents, student handbooks, college catalogs,
class listings and other information which may not be efficiently
or effectively produced locally on campus."
Priority 3 materials are those requested by "other public
educational institutions (such as California State University and
the University of California)." Priority 3 materials will be on a
fee-for-service basis.
Funding for Extra Staff
Specifically included in these monies was 6.4 million dollars in
ongoing staffing which will provide each campus with support in
three basic areas: accessible web design, implementation and
support of assistive technologies on a campus-wide basis, as well
as support for alternate media production. It is expected that
the campus person who supports alternate media production will be
the primary campus liaison with the statewide alternate media
center.
Funding for a System-wide Braille Production System
The Governor's Budget also includes money for each campus to
purchase a designated interpoint tractor feed braille embosser
and sound cabinet, a designated scanner with standard scanning
software, and a designated braille translation software program.
This standard set of equipment was recommended by the Alternate
Media Committee, a committee formed by the Chancellor's Office to
structure the ways in which the system could best respond to the
OCR findings concerning the provision of alternate media. This
committee is also responsible for the development of the
Alternate Media Guidelines
The ATPC and Campus Embossers: an Integrated System
It was decided that the most efficient way to produce braille on
a state-wide basis was for each campus to have the same embosser,
the same braille translation software, and utilize the same type
of scanner and scanning software. This redundancy will have
several effects. The ATPC can format documents in a standard
manner as each campus has a brailler with identical settings. It
is also expected that locally produced braille files will be
easily shared with other campuses.
Training and technical support will be provided by the High Tech
Center Training Unit (HTCTU) The ability of the HTCTU to provide
an ongoing standard training for campus staff who will be working
in the area of braille production will ensure effective use of
these new resources now being made available. It is projected
that technical support issues will be significantly reduced
because the ubiquity of similar equipment is expected to generate
redundant support issues.
An update of these dynamic, ongoing changes will conclude this
presentation in March, 2001.
References
California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office
Documents:
Distance Education Access Guidelines for Students with
Disabilities
http://www.htctu.fhda.edu/dlguidelines/final%20dl%20guidelines.htm
Guidelines for Producing Instructional and Other Printed
Materials in Alternate Media for Persons with Disabilities
http://www.htctu.fhda.edu/amguidelines/am33000.htm
Grant:
RFA Specification No. 00-0080
Alternate Text Production Center
Chancellor's Office
California Community Colleges
Student Services and Special Programs Division
Disabled Students Programs and Services Unit
Issued October 6, 2000
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