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NCAC: National File Format

National File Format Initiative at NCAC

In a landmark announcement for students with sensory and other print disabilities, the U.S. Department of Education endorsed the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS), version 1.0 on July 27th, 2004. On behalf of Secretary Paige, Deputy Secretary of Education Gene Hickok discussed the new standard at an event commemorating the 14th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The event was co-sponsored by the Departments of Commerce and Education in Washington, D.C. The voluntary standard will guide the production and electronic distribution of flexible digital instructional materials such as textbooks so they can be more easily converted to Braille, text-to-speech, and other accessible formats.

The report of the National File Format technical Panel, including the technical specifications for the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS), is available from the links below.

National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard Report:
[doc] [html]

Introduction

All students with print disabilities experience the same barrier - inaccessible materials - when core curriculum textbooks presented in print are the primary learning resource. Students who cannot see the words on a page, cannot hold a book or turn its pages, cannot decode the text or cannot comprehend the syntax that supports the written word may each experience different challenges, and they may each require different supports to extract meaning from information that is "book bound" - but the barrier for each is the same.

The Secretary of Education has authorized OSEP, The Office of Special Education Programs, to issue a supplement to the National Center on Accessing the General Curriculum led by CAST, to convene an expert panel to establish a voluntary national standard for accessible digital instructional materials for students with disabilities.

Nominees to the National File Format (NFF) Expert Panel have been selected for their expertise in identifying and detailing the specific instructional needs of the K-12 students with disabilities, their investment in increasing the availability of accessible digital materials, their experience in curriculum design, and their technical expertise.

Project Information

• Supplemental Award To NCAC: The National File Format Initiative supplement was awarded to extend NCAC's activities by coordinating and facilitating the establishment of a voluntary national standard for accessible digital instructional materials for students with disabilities.

• U.S. Department of Education Press Release: "The creation of a standard file format is of significant importance to students, educators, publishers, technology specialists and advocacy groups, according to Robert H. Pasternack, assistant secretary for special education and rehabilitative services."

• The Need for a National File Format: For many students with disabilities, the limitations of print technology raise barriers to access, and therefore to learning. Digital materials hold the promise to provide greater accessibility.

• The Process for Defining a National File Format

• Identifying Student Needs

• NFF Technical Panel: a December 2002 listing of panel members.

• Comments Regarding National File Format: NCAC intends to convene a series of at least three Technical Panel meetings over the next seven months to address the interests of each of the three key constituencies represented by the panel members: the Consumer group, the Technical group and the Feasibility group.

• NFF Calendar of Events: Listing of National File Format Technical Panel events and activities.

NFF Meeting Documentation

Information and documentation about each meeting will be presented here including overview, outline of discussion, public comment, agenda, and opening and closing remarks.

• January 7, 2003
• March 11, 2003
• June 9 & 10, 2003

NFF File Format Proposals

File formats and other technical proposals sent to the NFF panel for consideration.

• ANSI/NISO Z39.86-2002

Resources

• Existing Standards

• Guidelines for Accessibility

• Overview of Federal & State Legislation

• 2003 Reauthorization of IDEA

• Section 121 of the Copyright Act (Chafee Amendment)

National File Format (NFF) Online Community & Forum

An Online Community and Forum for the National File Format (NFF) has been created on CAST's Teaching Every Student (TES) web site. Clicking the "NFF Online Community" link below (and elsewhere on this and other NFF pages) will open the NFF Online Community home page in a new window.

• Once you have registered and logged into TES, you may participate in the NFF Forums.
• If you are a member of the NFF Online Community, you will have access to related resources and other members of the NFF Community.
• If you would like to join the NFF community, you may submit a request from the TES Communities Directory (TES login required).

Visit the home page of the NFF Online Community (opens in new window).

Other links related to the NFF Online Community and TES (all links open in new window):

• Teaching Every Student (TES) Login: register and/or login to participate in online forums and access the communities you are a member.

• Community Forums for National File Format (NFF): access to the online forums for the NFF Communuity. You need to login to participate.

• TES Communities Directory: a list of other TES online communities.