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Funding and governance of library and information services for visually impaired people: international case studies

Part2:Country studies

USA

Publishers'involvement

At the moment there is much more involvement by publishers in the education area, driven by the legislation in 2004.

NIMAC

Repository for electronic files from publishers to be used by alternative format producers, under the American Printing House for the Blind.

Publishers submit files to the NIMAC in XML conforming to the referenced DTD. Files can be submitted via the portal, FTP or on CD/DVD. Files are validated by the publisher prior to submission using the validation tool provided by NIMAC.

Post-secondary initiative by the Association of American Publishers (AAP)

AAP members were active participants in a federal solution for students in grades K-12, supporting the development and passage of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) of 2004. Building on that collaborative effort, the Association and its higher education publishers initiated their post-secondary efforts in April 2005 at a meeting of stakeholders in Washington, D.C. In December 2005, AAP hosted a meeting held by the Association on Higher Education And Disability (AHEAD) with publishers, college and university personnel, and other advocacy groups to gather input on how to move the process forward. At this meeting, AHEAD's E-text Solutions Group identified the Look-Up Service as a priority.

The Look-Up Service

This site has been established to help college and university Disability Support Services (DSS) professionals find the appropriate contacts at publishing houses from whom to request electronic formats of textbooks, and/or scanning permissions, to facilitate the DSS office's provision of alternate format instructional materials to students with print disabilities.