Gaining Access to Textbooks for Postsecondary Students with Visual Impairments

Abstract

This article reports the results from a national survey of experiences in postsecondary education of students with visual impairments in gaining access to textbooks. Participants were members of listserves sponsored by the student affiliates of the American Council of the Blind and the National Federation of the Blind. While the majority of students were successful in gaining access to their textbooks in formats they could use, a greater number reported delays in procuring textbooks. National accessible textbook providers such as Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic, http://www.bookshare.org, and the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped influenced the ways in which respondents gained access to textbooks. Respondents called for quicker access to textbooks, differing formats for electronic versions, changes in how electronic texts are structured, and improvements in service delivery related to textbook conversion for offices serving students with disabilities and publishers. Although hailed as landmark legislation for people with disabilities, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA, 1990) does not require book publishers to provide accessible formats of books for individuals with print reading disabilities. Internationally, the DAISY Consortium’s (http://www.daisy.org) members work to promote global access to printed books produced by libraries, publishers, and governments. The most recent reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) mandates that publishers provide electronic copies of textbooks to K12 students. The National Instructional Materials Access Standard (NIMAS) (http://www.ed.gov/policy/ speced/guide/idea/idea2004.html) has been published in the Federal Register to provide guidance on the production of accessible instructional materials for K12 students, but no such federal bill currently exists for students in postsecondary education. Several states have recently passed textbook legislation for postsecondary institutions (S. Noble, personal communication, September 29, 2003), including Kentucky and New York. In these states, postsecondary students with print disabilities are provided electronic versions of their textbooks for college courses. The U.S. Office for Civil Rights has found that universities struggle to provide timely access to textbooks for students with print disabilities (http:// www.ed.gov/ocr/), and many of its findings are mirrored by the results of the current study. The American Association of Publishers recently announced the formation of the Alternative Formats Solutions Initiative to address the needs of print-disabled postsecondary students in accessing course materials (http:// w w w. p u b l i s h e r s . o rg / p r e s s / r e l e a s e s . c f m ? PressReleaseArticleID=321; Kessler, 2006). Despite these promising developments, since postsecondary education publishers are currently not mandated to make textbooks accessible on a national level, the responsibility for providing alternate formats of textbooks falls on the shoulders of offices for students with disabilities (OSDs) at the university or college level. OSDs or the students requiring the accommodation can request book titles from publishers. The practice of alternative formats is not yet widespread, and many publishers provide electronic files in formats