Digital

Bookshare is an online, searchable accessible digital library for print disabled readers. Through a federal grant, they serve schools at no cost.

If a student needs digital text for use with text-to-speech software, .brf, or DAISY files, educators can download files from Bookshare.

The district/school/organization needs to sign up for a school or group account before files can be downloaded, certifying that only eligible students will use the materials.

For questions, contact  staterequests@bookshare.org.

NIMAC

The NIMAC was created by IDEA to serve as the national repository for digital source files to aid in the production of accessible formats for K–12 instructional materials such as braille, large print, digital text, and audiobooks. The NIMAC site lists all the source files received from publishers that were requested by school district purchasing contract. The files are in a special format called “NIMAS”.

The National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS) is a technical standard that curriculum publishers began using in 2006. NIMAS file sets are designed to make it easier and faster to obtain accessible instructional materials. They are source files and are designed to be converted into accessible formats by accessible media producers (AMPs), using specialized software for this purpose. NIMAS files are used by AMPs in the production of a range of accessible formats, including braille, large print, digital audio, and a variety of accessible digital text formats, including DAISY and EPUB.

As NIMAS files are raw and need to be converted, they are NOT available directly to school districts or students.

It is also important to note that NIMAS-derived materials are only available to qualifying students on an IEP and students on 504 plans are not eligible to use NIMAS-derived materials.

Publishers will send NIMAS files to the National Instructional Materials Access Center (NIMAC), only when requested to do so through a purchasing contract with a school district.

Therefore, school districts’ contracts or purchase orders with curriculum publishers should include a provision requiring the publisher to create NIMAS files and send them to the National Instructional Materials Access Center (NIMAC). The model contract language is suggested below:

“By agreeing to deliver the materials marked with “NIMAS” on this contract or purchase order, the publisher agrees to prepare and submit, on or before ___/___/_____ a NIMAS file set to the NIMAC that complies with the terms and procedures set forth by the NIMAC. The publisher also agrees to mark up materials eligible for NIMAS submission that contain mathematical and scientific instructional content by using the MathML3 (refer to latest applicable version) module of the DAISY/NIMAS Structure Guidelines as posted and maintained at the DAISY Consortium website. Should the vendor be a distributor of the materials and not the publisher, the distributor agrees to immediately notify the publisher of its obligation to submit NIMAS file sets of the purchased products to the NIMAC. The files will be used for the production of alternate formats as permitted under the law for students with print disabilities. This is page __ of __ of this contract or purchase order.”