[Athen] [ATHEN] EASI Webinar: The Future of E--books Is Here!

[Ron Stewart]

I would be happy to participate.

 

Ron

 

From: athen-bounces at athenpro.org [mailto:athen-bounces at athenpro.org] On
Behalf Of Prof Norm Coombs
Sent: Tuesday, May 01, 2007 11:52 AM
To: Access Technologists in Higher Education Network
Subject: Re: [Athen] EASI Webinar: The Future of E--books Is Here!

 

The point of the Webinar is to outline the current state of NIMAS which is
the K-12 standard in the IDEA legislation.  Of course, my personal interest
is more higher ed but I believe this event is monumental and needs
treatment.  Also, An hour goes by quickly.  If we hope to get into any
depth, 2 people is probably all we can cover.

I'd love to do a follow-up on how to expand this to higher ed.

ANY VOLUNTEERS????
At 07:27 AM 5/1/2007, you wrote:



My apologies to all!  I previously posted this last week, but with the wrong
subject line, so thought I'd try again.

Norm, this sounds like a very interesting workshop!  Thanks for providing
it.  

I do have one concern which is that there is no representation from two key
players - postsecondary education dss and APA (American Publishers
Association) - in this workshop. Since NIMAS is the standard for K-12 and
not postsecondary ed, was anyone from the AHEAD eText inititive involved or
invited?  It would just seem appropriate to have someone who represents
postsecondary ed involved in this along with the individuals who are
scheduled. 

Soapbox for any who wish to lend an ear:  It seems that we have several
different groups working on this issue, but the groups are not communicating
with one another!  Ex: Group 1 - we have the AHEAD eText Initiative which
has the main players at the table talking, Group 2 - this EASI workshop
group, Group 3 - a group of individuals who are blind who recently went to
Washington to talk directly with senators and representatives about needing
legislation mandating that publishers provide eText in a specific standard
(I think they too had jumped on the NIMAS bandwagon).  I'm sure there are
other groups out there.  Rather than having umpteen smaller groups picking
away at the problem, it would seem more feasible for us to band together.
More power in numbers!

OK - I'm stepping off my soap box and getting back to proctoring finals. 
Thanks all!

Heidi Scher, M.S., CRC
Counselor/Coordinator of Disability Services
Arkansas State University - Beebe

 




Message: 7
Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2007 09:08:52 -0700
From: Prof Norm Coombs <norm.coombs at GMAIL.COM> (by way of Prof Norm 
        Coombs  < norm.coombs at gmail.com <mailto:norm.coombs at gmail.com> >)
Subject: [Athen] EASI Webinar: The Future of E--books Is Here!
To: athen at athenpro.org  <mailto:athen at athenpro.org> 
Message-ID: < <mailto:6.0.3.0.2.20070426090743.022b50f0 at pop.gmail.com>
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EASI Webinar: The Future of E--books Is Here!

Accessible E-textbooks for Students: May 1 2 PM Eastern
Presenters:
Nicole Gaines, NIMAC Manager, American Printinghouse for the Blind
Julia Myers, Director, Resource Services and NIMAC, American Printing House 
for the Blind,
Skip Stahl, Project Director, NIMAS Development Center, Center for Applied
Special Technology

President Bush signed the Individuals with Disabilities Education
Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA) on December 3, 2004 which, among other 
things, mandated
the provision of textbooks and instructional materials in accessible
formats for students who are blind or print disabled. While the legislation
relates to K-12 students, we believe that the more that publishers are 
creating accessible e-textbooks for K-12 that they will inevitably expand
to a broader audience. If not, there will be an outcry from K-12 students
as they transition into higher education wanting the same quality of 
support for their studies. This will be like dropping a pebble into the
water. The wave will expand to include higher ed and the general
public.  Learning about this dramatic e-book revolution is important for
all of us.

This presentation will focus on NIMAS, (National Instructional Materials
Accessibility Standard), the role of APH, (American Printinghouse for the
Dlind)
and the role of CAST, (Center for Applied Special Technology). 

The National Instructional Materials Access Center (NIMAC) is a file
repository for core print textbooks and related instructional materials
required for
use by blind or other persons with print disabilities in elementary and 
secondary schools in the U.S. and its territories. These National
Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS) source file sets can
be used to create specialized formats, such as braille, large print, audio, 
or digital text. The NIMAC opened in December 2006.

CAST is the home of the NIMAS Development Center and the NIMAS Technical
Assistance Center, Cooperative agreements with the Office of Special
Education Programs, United States Department of Education. 

While this Webinar is free, you need to register in advance to guarantee a
seat in the room. (Those who register, whether or not they attend, will
afterwards
receive a link to the recording.  When you connect over the Internet to the 
Webinar room, you can listen to the presenters and watch as supporting Web
pages are pushed to reinforce the presentation.  The audience can also make
comments or ask questions either by using a mic to talk or by writing into 
the room's text window.


To read more and register to reserve a seat and to get login information
for this free event, go to:
http://easi.cc/clinic.htm


Look for other future Webinars on that page.  We have several being
finalized and they should be on that page very soon.
The EASI month-long, online courses on accessible Information Technology
for May are:
Barrier-free Information Technology (4-week online course starting May 7)
http//easi.cc/workshop.htm
Creating and Repurposing More Accessible Content (4-week online course
starting May 7)
http//easi.cc/workshop.htm 


Norman Coombs
CEO EASI

-----------------------
Check out EASI's New Synchronous Clinics:
http://easi.cc/clinic.htm

EASI Home Page http://www.rit.edu/~easi <http://www.rit.edu/%7Eeasi> 
Online Courses and Clinics http://easi.cc/workshop.htm
To sign off this list 
send e-mail to listserv at listserv.icors.org saying
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     ----------------------------------------
Webinar Series on Accessible Powerpoint starting April 19
http//easi.cc/clinic.htm

May Courses
Barrier-free Information Technology (4-week online course starting May 7)
http//easi.cc/workshop.htm
Creating and Repurposing More Accessible Content (4-week online course
starting May 7)
http//easi.cc/workshop.htm

Norman Coombs, Ph.D.
CEO EASI (http//easi.cc)
22196 Caminito Tasquillo
Laguna Hills CA 92653
(949) 855-4852 (Pacific time zone)



                

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