Accessible Instructional Materials
For many students with disabilities, the limitations of print technology raise barriers to access and therefore to learning. Following the passage of IDEA in 1997, it became essential that all students have access to the general curriculum, and thus to the print materials of which it is composed. In a significant step forward for the rights of students with disabilities in the classroom, the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS) offers to students who are blind or have a print disability the opportunity for timely access to instructional materials.
Students who cannot see the words or images on a page, cannot hold a book or turn its pages, cannot decode the text, or cannot comprehend the syntax that supports the written word may each experience different challenges and they may each require different supports to extract meaning from information that is “book bound.” For each of them, however, there is a common barrier - the centuries-old fixed format of the printed book.
In 2004, Congress reauthorized the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act that is designed to improve the production and dissemination of educational materials to students with disabilities. This act outlined a new process for overcoming some of the barriers created by traditional print materials. Based on these new federal requirements, the Accessible Instructional Materials Center of Virginia (AIM-VA) will be the new resource for Virginia educators to request alternate formats of educational materials for students with disabilities. These educational materials will be created in digital formats to meet the unique learning needs of students with disabilities.
Accessible instructional materials are printed textbooks, printed core materials, and other educational materials that are converted to alternate formats (Braille, large print, electronic text, and audio recordings). These materials are written and published primarily for use in elementary and secondary school instruction and are required and requested by a local school division for use by students with disabilities in the classroom. Any student served under IDEA in Virginia will be eligible for accessible instructional materials.
For more information about AIM-VA and the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard, visit the AIM-VA website.
