[Athen] Time to Convert STEM Book for B/LV

[Kruzel, Rachel]

Hi Susan,

Yes! I completely agree this is a loaded question. I knew going into asking
it that it was. I do conversion work for books so I completely understand
the work that goes it and how student dependent it all is as well as it is
based on the textbook too. I figured getting good numbers was going to be
hard, but hearing your response with numbers just reinforces the ideas I
had when talking to my colleague when he posed the question to me last
night. I gave him essentially the same answer but said I'd ask peers to
reinforce my response.

Thanks for your response!

Rachel


*Rachel Kruzel, ATP **| Assistive Technology & Accommodations Specialist*
*Assistive Technology Practitioner, RESNA Certified*

CLASS Office (Disability Resources) | Augsburg University
Direct: (612) 330-1353 | Appointments: (612) 330-1053
2211 Riverside Ave CB 57 | Minneapolis, MN 55454

Website:  http://www.augsburg.edu/class/
*Pronouns: She/Her/Hers*





On Fri, Apr 13, 2018 at 9:08 AM, Susan Kelmer <Susan.Kelmer at colorado.edu>
wrote:


> That is a very loaded question, Rachel.

>

>

>

> Much depends on what kind of material it is.  How many STEM things need to

> be converted?  Is it all math?  Or are there graphs and images that need to

> be tactiles or described/alt-texted?

>

>

>

> We have spent as much as 800 hours converting a computer science book on

> algorithms (book was 600 pages, there were 15-20 equations on every single

> page).  We’ve spent as little as 100 hours on a small calculus book.  It

> really does depend on the content and how much of that content there is to

> convert. It also depends on what the final output is. If it has to go to

> Braille, you have to consider the time needed to emboss.  The same for any

> tactile images.  And who is going to write your content, aka, the image

> descriptions?  That should not be done by anyone but a content expert.  We

> refer those to faculty – they are content experts, we are only formatting

> experts.

>

>

>

> We do everything in-house, we do not send out anything to be done.

> Sometimes the work is just done all through the semester, with a goal to

> keep about two weeks ahead of the student’s needs for material.  And we

> definitely work with the instructor to pick out which parts of the book

> they are actually going to use, and which images are absolutely critical,

> and which are just eye candy and don’t need to be created in a different

> format.

>

>

>

> The last thing we did for a student here was a calculus book.  We did

> about 2/3 of it (based on what the professor was going to be using) and

> that included MathML and some tactile images.  We finished the material

> about 6 weeks into the semester and the combined hours for the MathML/Word

> formatting and he graphics production was about 150 hours.  Most of that

> work was done by my student staff although I produced the final output (BRF

> and MathML files).

>

>

>

> *Susan Kelmer*

>

> *Alternate Format Production Program Manager*

>

> *Disability Services*

>

> *University of Colorado Boulder*

>

> *303-735-4836*

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

> *From:* athen-list <athen-list-bounces at mailman13.u.washington.edu> *On

> Behalf Of *Kruzel, Rachel

> *Sent:* Thursday, April 12, 2018 7:14 PM

> *To:* Access Technology Higher Education Network <

> athen-list at u.washington.edu>

> *Subject:* [Athen] Time to Convert STEM Book for B/LV

>

>

>

> Hello,

>

> How long, on average, does it takes you/your office to convert a STEM

> textbook for a student who is blind/low vision? Of course, each textbook is

> different, as well as the needs of a student. But, for an average sized

> textbook, with average difficulty of content, and an average number of

> symbols, graphs, charts, and pictures, approximately how many hours would

> it take to do the following:

>

>

>

> a. Convert and make the text portion of the textbook accessible and

>

>

>

> b. How long would it take to make the pictures, charts, graphs accessible

> using descriptions, tactiles, or other media to make it accessible?

>

>

>

> Obviously, many schools send this work out to be done due to complexity,

> time, expertise, etc. I'm only looking approximate numbers for one book if

> it's done in-house on your campus.

>

> I’m writing on behalf of a colleague doing research on a new accessible

> math software program called EquatIO.

>

> Thanks in advance!

>

>

>

> Rachel

>

>

>

>

> *Rachel Kruzel, ATP **| Assistive Technology & Accommodations Specialist*

>

> *Assistive Technology Practitioner, RESNA Certified*

>

>

>

> CLASS Office (Disability Resources) | Augsburg University

>

> Direct: (612) 330-1353 | Appointments: (612) 330-1053

>

> 2211 Riverside Ave CB 57 | Minneapolis, MN 55454

>

> Website:  http://www.augsburg.edu/class/

>

> *Pronouns: She/Her/Hers*

>

>

>

>

>

>

> _______________________________________________

> athen-list mailing list

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