[blindlaw] Accessibility of PDF Textbooks Obtained Directly from the Publisher

[Nightingale, Noel]

Michal,

Yes, you can ask the law school to give you priority registration as a disability-related accommodation.

To my knowledge, it is not the publisher that has the legal obligation to provide an accessible copy of  textbooks.  It is the university's responsibility to make its programs and activities accessible to you.  I think others on this list are better equipped to answer how best to interface directly with publishers that are providing textbooks directly to students in an accessible format and whether publishers have gotten on board with a uniform publishing standard.  The other option is to go through the university's disability services office, which may have a relationship with publishers that allows them access to electronic files of publishers.  

Noel Nightingale


-----Original Message-----
From: blindlaw [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Michal Nowicki via blindlaw
Sent: Monday, January 05, 2015 10:08 AM
To: 'Illinois Association of Blind Students List'; 'Blind Law Mailing List'
Subject: [blindlaw] Accessibility of PDF Textbooks Obtained Directly from the Publisher

Dear Current Students and Recent Graduates,

 

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and that you are ready for 2015.

 

I am addressing this message to you directly, though I welcome responses from everyone who is willing and able to provide them, because I know that you can give me the most accurate information.  I'm sure many of you know that publishers are required to provide students with print disabilities textbooks in alternate format if the students provide proof of purchase.
This obviously applies to books that are not readily accessible online or through a library service like LearningAlly and/or Bookshare.org, in which case members may download them without even contacting the publisher.  To satisfy this requirement, most, if not all, publishers offer such materials in PDF format.

 

That being established, I would greatly appreciate it if you could give me some information as to the navigability of these documents with JAWS and other screen readers.  Since publishers offer this service as an ADA accommodation, I would expect, at least in theory, them to be fully accessible.  That is, I would expect them to be tagged, as well as for headings and other HTML elements to be used properly.  However, is this actually the case?  If not, are the files accessible enough that you recommend using them in an academic environment, such as law school?  Also, do all publishers seem to follow the same accessibility standards?

 

I am asking you all these questions because as an undergrad, I received all materials from the office for students with disabilities in Word format.
That is, when the office received PDFs from publishers, they always converted them into Word files for me.  Consequently, I never even saw the publisher PDFs, so I don't know anything about their accessibility.  Looking ahead to law school, though, I would like to spare document conversion staff the extra work if it turns out that publisher PDFs can be navigated efficiently using assistive technology.

 

Finally, I have some questions specific to law school case books.  Based on the research I have conducted, my understanding is that entering law students are often not assigned to instructors until the semester is about to begin.  Is this true?  If so, can such students be granted priority registration as a reasonable accommodation?  If not, what steps can they take to insure that the disability office has enough time, if applicable, to scan their textbooks before classes begin?  Finally, how responsive do publishers of law school case books tend to be when they receive a request for electronic copies of the books?

 

Thank you in advance for answering my questions.  I eagerly look forward to reading your responses.

 

Best,

 

Michal

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