[blindlaw] west academic now using "vital source" to distribute accessible books--is this platform accessible?

[Laura Wolk]

Hi all,

Just a very brief update to say that apparently West responded to my
Disability Service Director, who was copied on the email, saying that
they understood the issues I had raised and wanted to ensure that I
had a fully accessible copy. Just passing htat along because I think
its as important to share progress as well as problems, and I think
that this was a great response and bodes well for any other students
who would rather not use West's new system.

On 1/6/15, Paul Harpur <p.harpur at law.uq.edu.au> wrote:
> I would check your university's and the ABA's policies on what can be taken
> into an openbook exam.  I would be very surprised if they permit students to
> be on-line during an exam.  If the only way you can access the content of
> the textbook is on-line, then you will not be able to take it into the
> exam.
> As for the capacity to redeme tokens - Sounds like it is an image and not
> usable for a person using a screen reader.  While there are possably some
> limitations with forcing publishers to make EBooks accessible, the failure
> to have an disability accessible website is much easier to run.
> While I think publishers should have duties under the ADA, it is much easier
> to go after your university to force them to force the publisher.
> This might be of interest from Peter Blanck, Equality:  The Struggle for Web
> Accessibility by Persons with Cognitive Disabilities (2014) Cambridge
> University Press, chapter 8:
> The NFB and the American Council of the Blind (ACB), along with the U.S. DOJ
> as an  intervening  party, successfully resolved a lawsuit against Arizona
> State University (ASU) in regard to ASU's use of the Kindle DX, Amazon's
> e-book reader.41 The plaintiffs had alleged that because the Kindle was not
> accessible to students with print disabilities, ASU violated the
> Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and ADA title II.42 These laws covered ASU as a
> public university receiving federal funds, with antidiscrimination
> objectives similar in  purpose to those in  ADA title III. NFB and ACB
> alleged that the Kindle menus and controls were displayed
>
>
>
> visually with no audio options and that print disabled and blind students
> were not able to configure the settings, select books, and use the menus
> because they lacked the text to speech option.43 Recall the Redbox
> litigation regarding barriers in the use of touchscreen technologies, which
> raised analogous issues in the commercial setting.
> In  resolving the  dispute,  ASU agreed to offer its educational  materials
> on e-books that were accessible to all students. An acceptable e-book
> device, accord- ing to the parties, was one that blind and students with
> print disabilities may use to enjoy the same educational  information and
> services offered to others without disabilities "with substantially
> equivalent ease of use."[557] Notice that the touch- stone functional
> criterion of "equivalent ease of use" was central to the measure of web
> content equality and not provision of a separate device or segregated means
> for using educational materials.44 The benefits of technology were to accrue
> to individuals with and without disabilities alike, and presumably as
> comparably to those who are blind as to those with learning and reading
> disabilities, physical and manual-dexterity impairments, and those who speak
> English as an additional language.45
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindlaw [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Laura Wolk
> via blindlaw
> Sent: Wednesday, 7 January 2015 7:47 AM
> To: Blind Law Mailing List
> Subject: [blindlaw] west academic now using "vital source" to distribute
> accessible books--is this platform accessible?
>
> Hello all,
>
> Ironically, given the recent discussion about the ease of using
> publisher-distributed textbooks, I've just received an email from West
> Academic stating that they no longer send PDF files directly to students.
> They instead use a platform called Vital Source. Students are given a
> redemption code, told to "click on the cover of the book"
> and can view the book from within the website. The instructions I received
> also made it seem like you could download an application to view the book
> offline, but the wording leads me to believe that again, this won't give you
> access to a stand-alone file that can, say, be parsed out in Kurzweil.
> Rather, it seems like it just gives you access ot the same proprietary
> file.
>
> I cannot test this hypothesis though, because I can't seem to figure out how
> to 'redeem" my digital books to see if they're accessible. I keep clicking
> on the link but nothing happens. I readily admit I am not the most computer
> savvy person in the world, but I am not  a novice Jaws user either.
>
> Has anyone used Vital Source before? Is it accessible? Does it allow
> off-line access to books?
>
> If it does not allow offline access in a way which allows me to alter the
> file to suit my own needs, I would also appreciate any information about
> options moving forward. i heavily rely on being able to run things through
> Kurzweil and to multi-task by keeping books on multiple computers and my
> iPhone. I also foresee this will add extra time constraints to open book
> exams, etc. If the file is technically "accessible" but not readily usable,
> do I have any leg to stand on regarding insisting that the publisher send me
> a stand-alone PDF file?
>
> Thank you for any help or information.
>
> Laura
>
> Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
> Laura
>
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-- 
Laura Wolk
Notre Dame Law Review
J.D. Candidate, 2016, Notre Dame Law School
(484) 695-8234