[blindlaw] Do Digital Law Books?

Thu Dec 17 16:06:42 UTC 2015

I did book procurement in Maryland and much of that for law students. It was
my experience that legal publishers were sticklers for procedure, but if one
complied, she received what she requested. Most of the commonly used legal
publishers had a point of contact for accessibility requests and one
develops a pretty good relationship with that person in time.

In my experience, Shelley's email is largely a best practices about how this
process should be accomplished. Will publishers deal with students directly?
Shelley relied on her school with good success but some students may want to
maintain the process themselves. Whenever talking to students about getting
books, I always think that no one cares more about that process working than
does the student herself; I mean there may be legal obligations on schools
DSS staff and the like and maybe publishers to but it is the grades of
performance of the student, not any of these other entities. One can try
with them and finding the access contact person is easy enough. I think it
is more in powering for students to do this themselves but the process will
not always permit it. The key is to have the receipt and provide that. Law
book publishers more than anyone else in my experience are insistent on
that. For those thinking of law school and seeking good resources/advice, I
do think Shelley's email is worth keeping.
Jim McCarthy 

-----Original Message-----
From: blindlaw [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Shelley
Richards via blindlaw
Sent: Thursday, December 17, 2015 10:04 AM
To: Blind Law Mailing List
Cc: Shelley Richards
Subject: Re: [blindlaw] Do Digital Law Books?

I never had any trouble with getting my books from the publishers.  I almost
always got the books before the class actually started as well.
My school required professors to let the book store know 4 weeks before the
semester started which books they would be using, and I found that I had
plenty of time to get the books with just waiting until the required text
lists were available from the book store.  It probably helped though that
the person in charge of ADA accomidations at my law school had direct
communications with the specific people from each publisher of law texts who
would actually be providing the PDF copies.  I never had a problem with
poore copies either.  I certainly think they could have been done better for
easier navigation, but the quality of the text was nearly perfect every
time.
I would usually run the PDF files through an OCR, Kurzweil in my case, and
also put them onto my victor streem so that I had several options in the end
for accessing and reading the materials no matter where I was.  Having them
on my stream and about half way through law school, also on my phone in
Ibooks allowed me to even read on the subway just like many other
classmates.  I found the page numbering in the PDF files matched the
numbering in the print books, so I never had major trouble figuring out
where the correct pages or chapters were.  I would still definitely consider
using an OCR program, and looking into how to read PDF files on your phone.
I believe the navigation in the original PDF was always more difficult than
when I used Kurzweil or Ibooks, or my stream to read.
I still used my scanner often to scan materials outside of the text book,
but my professors were also very good about emailing clean copies of
everything to me as well.  I did make sure to open a line of communication
with all my professors at the start of each semester, and I believe this
really helped me when it came to accessing other materials outside of the
text.  I rarely, if ever, used a reader because it is just not a method I
have ever particularly liked, but I did make sure I had that option
available if necessary.  My school was also very willing to scan anything
for me anytime I needed it.  When I had a 200 page book which my professor
had written, but which had not yet been published, they scanned the entire
thing for me, and emailed the files to me.
Your school is the one who is supposed to send in the request for the books
in electronic format, so you should talk to them ahead of time to see what
experience they have in getting books from publishers, and how long it
usually takes them to get the book from each publisher.

On 12/16/15, Nightingale, Noel via blindlaw <blindlaw at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> One can also file a complaint with the Office for Civil Rights of the U.S.
> Department of Education if being denied access to a university's 
> programs and activities.  The complaint can be filed on-line at
www.ed.gov/ocr.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindlaw [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Don 
> Padou via blindlaw
> Sent: Tuesday, December 15, 2015 1:15 PM
> To: blindlaw at nfbnet.org
> Cc: Don Padou
> Subject: Re: [blindlaw] Do Digital Law Books?
>
> Hi Anita;
>
> When I was in law school the Dean of Students also served as a sort of 
> coordinator for providing accommodations under the ADA.Every semester 
> I told her the classes that I was taking and the books that I 
> needed.She wrote to the publishers and the publishers provided PDF format
books.
>
> Sometimes the books came as one flarge ile and sometimes there was a 
> separate file for each chapter.Sometimes the PDF was emailed to me and 
> sometimes I received a CD.It depended on the length of the book.
>
> Only one publisher ever gave us grief: North Carolina Academic Press.I 
> was never able to get an electronic version of my contracts book and 
> had to use a scanned version.
>
> The Dean required me to show a receipt demonstrating that I actually 
> bought the books.The ADA does not require the publishers to give you 
> free books.I sold the hard copy books to a sighted class mate each 
> semester.
>
> There is a problem to be aware of.It can take several weeks for the 
> publisher to provide the PDF books.You are best served by getting your 
> request in early.Sometimes that means that you have to pester the 
> professor to tell you what books you need.
>
> If your law school doesn't do a good job of providing you with PDF 
> books in a timely manner then don't waste time.Pressure them 
> quickly.You are in law school for a short period of time and it will 
> affect your career.You cannot afford to fall behind in a class because 
> you don't receive a book until two months into the semester.
>
> In other words, don't hesitate to get an ADA lawyer.
>
> Good luck,
>
> Don Padou
>
>
>
> On 12/15/2015 12:55 PM, Anita Keith-Foust via blindlaw wrote:
>>
>>
>> I have been conspicuously absent for a few months. Of course, I am 
>> coming back with some questions about digital format law books.
>>
>>
>>
>> Has anyone had any luck with getting the publisher to provide digital 
>> copies of books? Or, do I have to look forward to my books being 
>> butchered?
>>
>>
>>
>> Please let me know.
>>
>>
>>
>> Thank you.
>>
>>
>>
>> Anita Keith-Foust
>>
>> 919-430-1978
>>
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--
Thank You
Shelley Palmadessa
shelleyrichards9 at gmail.com

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