[Blindmath] Lead time for providing braille

[Richard Baldwin]

Unlike many colleges and universities, textbooks must be approved at the
department level and can't simply be selected on an ad hoc basis at the last
minute by the professor teaching the course at the college where I teach.

Such approvals usually occur three or four months prior to the beginning of
the semester in which they will be used.

However, a very large percentage of textbook changes in my field occur as a
result of a new edition of a textbook being published. (This is the
mechanism by which the publishers attempt to compete with the used textbook
market -- frequent new editions, often involving very minor changes.)

It is often true that publishers don't actually begin selling a new edition
of a textbook until late July or early August for classes that begin the
last week of August.

Therefore, the lead time for converting many textbooks to Braille is
extremely limited under the best of circumstances.

For those colleges and universities that allow each professor to select the
textbook that will be used in her section of the course at the last minute,
I suspect that the lead time situation may even be worse.

Dick Baldwin

On Tue, Jul 19, 2011 at 2:05 PM, qubit <lauraeaves at yahoo.com> wrote:

> I remember taking a math class once on noneuclidian geometry whose textbook
> was delivered to us chapter by chapter in draft form as the prof was
> writing
> it on the fly.
> This was kind of extreme, but aren't textbooks not always known before
> start
> of class? I found this especially true for grad classes and advanced
> undergrad math class.
>
> Actually, the piecemeal textbook wouldn't be so difficult to deal with if
> the contents was online.
>
> Anyway, I'm just musing.
> Happy reading/transcribing.
> --le
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Susan Jolly" <easjolly at ix.netcom.com>
> To: <blindmath at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, July 19, 2011 1:27 PM
> Subject: [Blindmath] Lead time for providing braille
>
>
> I've passed on the question about lead time to my experts.
>
> I know the general advice given to students is to let your DS office know
> as
> far in advance as possible what courses you are going to take. (I am aware
> that course registration procedures may play a role.) I have no idea if
> professors have any legal obligations other than what I wrote about
> textbook
> choice in California. Remember I am not a lawyer and cannot give legal
> advice.
>
> It doesn't have to take months to produce braille, even braille math.  It
> just takes the proper resources, i.e. money and trained people.
>
> Years ago when the only way to produce certain needed braille materials was
> via direct entry on a Perkins brailler, teams of certified volunteer
> transcribers would share a Perkins so it could be used twenty-four seven.
> It's ridiculous for turnaround to be slower now.
>
> Susan
>
>
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-- 
Richard G. Baldwin (Dick Baldwin)
Home of Baldwin's on-line Java Tutorials
http://www.DickBaldwin.com

Professor of Computer Information Technology
Austin Community College
(512) 223-4758
mailto:Baldwin at DickBaldwin.com
http://www.austincc.edu/baldwin/