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NCAC: National File Format: The Need for A National File Format

The Need for A National File Format

1. The promise of digital materials for accessibility
2. The promise unfulfilled: barriers to access
3. Fulfilling the promise: a national file format

The promise of digital materials for accessibility

For many students with disabilities, the limitations of print technology raise barriers to access, and therefore to learning. Following the passage of the IDEA in 1997, it has become essential that all students have access to the general curriculum, and thus to the print materials of which it is composed.

For students who cannot see the words or images 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." For each of them, however, there is a common barrier- the centuries-old fixed format of the printed book.

For many of these students, a more accessible alternative has recently emerged. Modern digital materials can present the same content as printed books, but in a format that is much more flexible and accessible. For students who cannot see the words or images, the digital version can be produced in Braille or voice, and provide descriptions of the images. For students who cannot hold the printed book or turn its pages, the virtual pages of a digital book can be turned with a slight press of a switch. For students who cannot decode the text, any word can be automatically read aloud. For students who lack the background vocabulary in the text, definitions (in English or another language) can be provided with a simple click.

The advantage of digital books is that these alternatives, and many others, can be available on an individual basis - available for students who need them, invisible or non-distracting for those who don't. Such customizable alternatives can substantially reduce the barriers found in traditional texts, reducing the effects of what are commonly called "print disabilities".

The promise unfulfilled: barriers to access.

Very few students with disabilities presently have access to the accessible books they need. There are several reasons for that. In some cases, the problem is technical - schools do not have the technology they need to properly provide accessible versions to students, even if they had such versions. In other cases, the problem is ignorance - many teachers and schools do not understand the issue of access or the potential solutions that are available.

But for many students the problem is a frustrating distribution system; students can't get the accessible materials they need in a timely fashion. Present policies and procedures for disseminating accessible materials are archaic and inefficient, raising barriers rather than opportunities. Every element of the complex distribution system faces impediments:

1. Publishers are presently unable, largely because of outdated copyright policies, to manufacture and distribute accessible digital versions directly to students in much the same efficient way they do their print versions. Instead they, and their consumers, must depend upon various independent third parties to render the printed books accessible. This dependency on third parties for re-designing and re-distributing accessible materials is not only an impediment to efficient distribution, it also raises concerns for the publisher and consumer about quality control, digital rights management, etc. Most importantly, this process ensures that there are no financial incentives to the publisher for facilitating the process of getting materials to students who need them, or for improving the quality of their original materials for students with disabilities. Publishers who nonetheless try to support the process by providing digital versions of their materials to third parties face a bewildering array of requests for different formats and versions from different states, disability organizations and individual teachers and students.
   
   
2. Since schools and school districts cannot get accessible versions of their curricular materials from the same sources as they get their "regular" materials, they must turn to other agencies and organizations that specialize in "re-publishing" accessible versions, or they must create them themselves. Either path is complicated and time consuming: districts must identify the format (or formats) they will need for individual students and for the differing technologies available in their various schools and classrooms, select a vendor or process for creating the necessary formats and then order materials, develop a repository and distribution system to match versions to individual students and technologies, and develop local capacity for utilizing and supporting teaches in using accessible versions. All of this is vastly complicated by the fact that there are a variety of technologies and formats. These complicated procedures interpose a delay that often stretches for months and all too often results in materials arriving in classrooms long after the need has passed.
   
   
3. Not-for-profit agencies or vendors have emerged to meet the widespread need for accessible materials in schools. These agencies - called "authorized entities" in the Chafee amendment - transform inaccessible published materials (like books) into more accessible versions. The largest of these (like RFB+D, APB) are national and have long served students by creating alternative versions (audio, large print, Braille, etc.) of print materials. Because of the advantages of digital materials, many of these agencies have begun migrating to digital versions as a better way to serve their clients. But their progress is hampered by the diversity of potential formats. For example, differing publishers tend to use different proprietary formats or templates for digital production and distribution. As a result of that format complexity, it is difficult for "authorized entities" to develop an efficient process - most find it easier to begin with the printed book itself, then recreate a digital version backwards from that. Format complexities similarly inhibit the production and distribution from vendors to students. Since there is no standard format, different states and districts (even schools or classrooms) may request differing formats or versions, enormously complicating the processes of production and distribution. The lack of uniform format thus impedes both the evolution to superior digital materials, and their timely delivery to individual students.
   
   
4. Teachers, in turn, face many impediments to using digital accessible versions in their classrooms, impediments that are exacerbated by complexities in format and technology. They have two choices. First, they can determine a format that is appropriate for their student(s) and compatible with their existing classroom technology and then find a vendor or repository that can supply it. Or, they can accept a format provided for them and then adapt their classroom technologies to the format provided for them and find training in how to navigate and use it in their classrooms. Either of these is complicated when each vendor or repository may provide different formats and player technologies that teachers will have to learn to use.
   
   
5. Students with disabilities continue to face learning materials that are inaccessible in many different formats, from print to digital.

Fulfilling the promise: a national file format.

While there are many barriers to accessibility, the problems that are caused by multiple formats are particularly frustrating and easily remedied. The adoption of a common, or standard, format is a simplifying step that has been crucial to progress in many other fields - from railroads (adopting a common track gauge), to video technology (adopting a common format for DVD, and HDTV). Similarly, progress in accessibility will be greatly abetted by defining a common national file format. With that single change, a number of barriers at many points in the educational system can be addressed.

1. With one clear and consistent file format to produce, publishers would be able to deliver a high quality digital version expeditiously and simultaneously to all authorized entities for further conversion and distribution.
   
   
2. With one consistent file format coming from different publishers, "authorized entities" would be able to efficiently transform these common formats into accessible formats (accessible digital versions and printed Braille, for example) and deliver them to local schools and school districts expeditiously.
   
   
3. With one basic digital format from vendors, schools and school districts could adopt vastly simpler, less costly, and more timely methods for acquiring materials, storing and retrieving them, purchasing additional assistive technologies, and training teachers and others in their use.
   
   
4. With one basic digital format from their districts, teachers could get their accessible materials in a timely fashion, in a consistent format that will work with their classroom technologies, and in a consistent format that will be easier for them to learn.
   
   
5. With one basic file format, students would finally get the accessible materials they need, when they need them.