Accessible Texts in the Classroom

The National Center on Accessible Instructional Materials (AIM) has assembled “An Educator’s Guide to the Acquisition of Alternate Format Core Learning Materials for Pre-K–12 Students with Print Disabilities.” This report is available from the AIM website at http://aim.cast.org/learn/aim4families/school/accessible_textbooks#overview

The National Center on Accessible Instructional Materials (AIM) has assembled “An Educator’s Guide to the Acquisition of Alternate Format Core Learning Materials for Pre-K–12 Students with Print Disabilities.” This report is available from the AIM website at http://aim.cast.org/learn/aim4families/school/accessible_textbooks#overview

As described there, the report was prepared by Skip Stahl, with support from Chuck Hitchcock, Valerie Hendricks, Mindy Johnson, Susan Christensen, and May Ann Stiller.

“This Guide, originally published in 2006, is designed to provide educators—administrators, teachers, and paraprofessionals—with effective strategies for acquiring and using accessible, alternate format versions of print instructional materials in the classroom. Beginning with three brief scenarios in the Reaching Every Student Section below, we describe typical challenges encountered by “print-disabled” students at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. The Guide explores solutions for obtaining alternate format materials in four categories: Braille, audio, e-text, and large print. As a result of the emergence of digital versions of textbooks and related materials, a vibrant commercial market for e-books and e-book players, and a growing array of open source instructional materials, the options for students who struggle to extract meaning from print has both simultaneously expanded and become more challenging.”