The Irony of Progress: The State
of Accessible Instructional
Materials (AIM)
NIMAC, APH and Beyond
Julia Myers
July 20, 2011
What NIMAC Does
• The NIMAC receives and catalogs publishers'
electronic files of print instructional materials in
the NIMAS format.
• We provide the searchable database and web
interface.
• We create user accounts for publishers, State
Coordinators, Authorized Users, and Accessible
Media Producers.
• Authorized Users and Accessible Media
Producers provide the value added work to
make these NIMAS files accessible.
What is a NIMAS file set?
A NIMAS zip file contains:
• An XML file of the textual portion of the book
• A folder containing all of the images (in JPG,
PNG or SVG format)
• A package file containing metadata and a list of
files included in the file set
• A PDF of the title page/copyright page of the
print book
NIMAS, DAISY, EPUB
• NIMAS is a subset of DAISY
• Daisy/NIMAS XML is a text content type in
EPUB 2.0.1
• Some Daisy/NIMAS players read ePub
• NIMAS files may be converted to ePub
format
NIMAC Statistics
• States/Outlying Areas Coordinating : 57
(56 a year ago)
• Authorized Users: 182 (156 a year ago)
• Accessible Media Producers: 177 (107
a year ago)
• Publishers: 103 (92 a year ago)
NIMAC Statistics
• Files available for download: 25,100
(21,096 a year ago)
• Unique downloads by AMPs: 3,815
(2,536 a year ago)
• Unique downloads by AUs: 4,282
(2,163) a year ago
• Total Unique Downloads: 8,097 (4,699 a
year ago)
NIMAC Statistics
Inventory by Content Type:
Textbooks:
Other:
Consumables:
Supplementary
reading materials:
TOTAL:
26%
7%
11%
56%
100%
NIMAC, APH and Beyond
Louis
• One search locates accessible formats
from 140+ agencies and companies
• Free to list
• Free to search
• More than 370,000 accessible formats
listed
• http://louis.aph.org
Louis Sample Search
Variety of Accessible Formats
Sample of Publisher-Produced
Accessible Format Listing
NIMAC, APH and Beyond
LouisPlus
• One search retrieves results from Louis
and NIMAC
• Uses Google for search, indexing
• Uses SOAP web service that provides
option for other repositories to participate
• July 2011
LouisPlus
Louis Plus Search Results
NIMAC, APH and Beyond
DAISY ONLINE
• First U.S. implementation
• Deliver books to DAISY capable devices
NIMAC, APH and Beyond
APH Braille Plus
• Built in Braille Display
• Runs Android
– Integration with Cloud
– Content from multiple sources
– Take pictures of text and produce grade
2 Braille
NIMAC, APH and Beyond
Google Books and APH Braille Plus
• Download and read Google Books on
Braille Plus
NIMAC, APH and Beyond
New Product Research:
3-D Haptic Feedback Controllers
Tactile graphics implications for:
– Display
– Production
– Standard production plus display equals
improved opportunities for teaching students
to use and read tactile graphics
APH Research
Larry Skutchan, Technology Project Leader
• 502-899-2314
• LSkutchan@aph.org
NIMAC Team
•
•
•
•
Julia Myers, Project Director
Nicole Gaines, NIMAC Manager
Johanna Argo, NIMAC Support Specialist
Tiffany Bradford, NIMAC Support
Specialist
• OverDrive NIMAC Team
How to Reach NIMAC
• http://www.nimac.us
• 502-899-2230
• 1-877-526-4622 (1-877-52-NIMAC)
• NIMAC@aph.org