[blindlaw] Do Digital Law Books?

Thu Dec 17 18:25:54 UTC 2015

Is your school requiring you to request the books yourself? If so, that is quite problematic.  If not, you should have them send the requests. From my experience, requesting alternative format books is a standard service of a disability services office.   

Sent from my iPhone

> On Dec 17, 2015, at 12:45, Shelley Richards via blindlaw <blindlaw at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> I had tried a few times to get the books myself, but to often ran into
> the problem of the publisher wanting the request to come directly from
> the school since they are only required to provide electronic texts
> for print impaired students who need them for school.  Of course law
> school is generally dealing with a much smaller number of publishers,
> so maybe this is not the case overall and just a big thing with
> publishers of law texts.
> 
>> On 12/17/15, Jim McCarthy via blindlaw <blindlaw at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> 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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>> 
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> 
> 
> -- 
> Thank You
> Shelley Palmadessa
> shelleyrichards9 at gmail.com
> 
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