[nabs-l] College Course Material: Accessible eTextBooks, Braille, and Tactile Graphics

[Kevin Chao]

I would like to share two fantastic resources for any college student
or instructor, which I think should be advocated for, encouraged, and
utilized by all.

Like most, I've used human readers, scanned books, used RFB&D, and
worked with disabled students services to get eTextBooks from
publisher. All these things served their purposes and time, and it's
time to move on.

In fall of 2010, I broke away from the status quo, which includes: not
using RFB&D, not scanning textbooks,  and not having to be so reliant
on disabled student services. Two companies have made this possible:
CourseSmart and AMAC.  This has allowed equal access, independence,
and a true forward studying experience.  It's never been possible for
us as blind students, instructors, or even providers to use an
innovative eTextBook service.

* CourseSmart for mainstream, accessible, and highly marked-up 60% off
eTextBooks
* Alternative Media Access Center (AMAC) for affordable, high-quality,
and efficient braille and tactile graphics for textbooks, exams,
handouts, assignments, etc

http://www.CourseSmart.com is a mainstream accessible eTextBook rental
service, which all students can take advantage of. This includes
students with or without print-related disabilities (blind, low
vision, learning disabled).

http://www.amac.uga.edu Alternative Media Access Center (AMAC) will
work with institutions to provide braille, tactile graphics, and
remediated eText. AMAC has very high-quality and standards and will lift
stress off DSS, allowing DSS to focus on providing service, not
content.

This is the now and future of how students, instructors, and all in
post-secondary education will obtain, work with, and enjoy accessible
course material.

Thanks,

Kevin