+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
<<< HARNESSING
NEW TECHNOLOGIES FOR BETTER/FASTER SERVICE>>>
As folks gear up for the start of a new academic year, cyberspace has been
filled with urgent pleas for information about how best to resolve the immediate
needs of students for materials in alternate media. The DSSHE-L listserv has
recently entertained lengthy discussions about institutional responsibility
in providing taped texts, tape recorders, braille, and the like. People are
looking for this-or-that book in Nemeth code, and asking colleagues about
how best to juggle priorities, determine appropriate accommodations, and explore
new options all at the same time.
This issue of the DAIS Newsletter is dedicated to sharing some information
that may be useful in answering those questions. This issue also provides
a "first" for the DAIS Newsletter -- a first-ever article by an outside contributor.
My sincere appreciation to David Sweeney for taking the time to share his
expertise in this critical arena, and for allowing me to pass the information
on to you.
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
<<< AN INTRODUCTION TO ELECTRONIC
TEXT FOR DISABILITY SERVICE PROVIDERS >>>
(EDITOR'S NOTE: This EXCELLENT introduction to the world of E-text was provided
by my friend and colleague David Sweeney from Texas A & M University. It is
important information for DSS personnel to be aware of, and to (begin to?)
understand. Towards the end of the article, there is a place where I removed
a section containing an example of accessible text formatting. I refuse to
publish something in the newsletter that I don't understand myself! But for
those who are much more computer savvy/literate than I, the ENTIRE text of
the article, including the example I removed, are posted online at the DAIS
Website in the Technology Corner of the Dining Room at http://www.janejarrow.com/dinroom/html.index)
DEFINITION:
Adaptive Technology - a novel solution which compensates for a poorly designed
information system.
-David Sweeney
Introduction
The move toward e-text as an accommodation has recently become popular as
a viable alternative to analog recordings such as books-on-tape. The proliferation
of the personal computer, improvements in the reliability and cost of scanning
devices, new copyright legislation, and the recent growth of the Internet
have produced an ideal environment for the creation and distribution of electronic
format material. Electronic text (e-text) is simply an information format
that is readable by computer.
E-text provides persons with disabilities access to information that would
otherwise be inaccessible. E-text can be used to accommodate persons with
visual impairments, ADD/ADHD, neurological disabilities, and learning disabilities.
For the most current semester (Spring, 1999), students in these disability
classes at Texas A&M University (TAMU) account for 66.5% of the students registered
with SSD.
One traditional accommodation solution for these disability classes has
been audiocassette recordings of text materials. Organizations such as Recordings
for the Blind and Dyslexic (RFB&D), State Libraries, and Vocational Rehabilitation
field offices provide numerous texts on audiocassette tape and/or alternate
format services. As textbook adoptions frequently change each semester, it
is difficult, if not impossible for these organizations to keep up with the
demand.
To provide accommodation in cases where recordings are not available, institutions
of education traditionally initiate a recording program of their own which
utilizes paid personnel or volunteers to record text material to audiocassette
tape. This type of program is understandably even more costly than using a
service such as RFB&D. Although the employment of human readers is another
accommodation option, the availability, time requirements, and expense limit
its effectiveness.
E-text opens the door to numerous technologies such as text-to-speech, screen
magnification, and braille. Text-to-speech allows e-text to be processed and
then synthesized or "spoken" by the computer. The use of screen magnification
software allows e-text to be displayed in a magnified size. For example, a
typical sentence could be magnified and displayed one word at a time. Specialized
printers allow e-text to printed braille. E-text can also be utilized through
the use of a refreshable braille display. In order to make use of these adaptive
technologies, the information must be in a digital format.
This poses a problem for disability service providers (DSP) because much
of the information we must provide access to is in the printed realm only.
To add further insult to injury, instructors routinely do not decide to adopt
a textbook until late in the game, thus imposing further restrictions on a
DSP's ability to accommodate. The DSP is now faced with the task of creating
an alternative format quickly, efficiently and accurately. Scanning technolo
gy appears to fit the bill, but is it really the solution we expect?
The truth is that e-text promises to be a first rate alternative format solution,
but it's full potential has yet to be realized. To examine this topic, let's
talk about the strengths and weaknesses of e-text.
STRENGTHS OF E-TEXT
* Currently, e-text can be used to accommodate students in situations where
the material is narrative in nature; that is when the material does not contain
mathematics or chemistry. These formats are used in conjunction with "client-side"
rendering hardware/software such as text-to-speech, braille, refreshable braille
displays, and screen magnification. There are methods to provide science,
engineering and math (SEM) material in an accessible format (such as Nemeth
coded braille), but they are extremely disability specific and are beyond
the scope of this article.
* E-text is very portable. Since it is electronic in nature, it can be distributed
quickly and cheaply. This is both an advantage and a disadvantage . It is
the main reason why publishers (as a whole) have been reticent to adopt e-text
formats for their publications.
* E-text is easily produced. Several commercial optical character recognition
(OCR) packages are available that do the job of converting the printed page
into computer readable format. These software packages are certainly not perfect,
but can do a reasonably good job when coupled with human correction.
* E-text is searchable and indexable. Navigational cues (called markup)
in the file allow for quick location of material. The digital nature of the
format allows for searching and indexing.
* E-text is cost effective when compared to other accommodation strategies.
This will be especially true when publishers routinely distribute electronic
copies of their books to institutions as a matter of course.
WEAKNESSES OF E-TEXT
* E-text cannot offer full access to SEM materials (yet!). There are several
format technologies that will address this issue such as eXtensible Markup
Language (XML), Math Markup Language (MathML), Universal braille Code (UBC),
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), and Synchronized Multimedia Interface Language
(SMIL). All of these technologies are still in development at the time of
this writing.
The software used to access these formats is also problematic. There have
been small projects that address the SEM question, but nothing in the mainstream
yet. (Check out T.V. Raman's AsTeR project http://www.cs.cornell.edu/Info/People/raman/aster/demo.html)
* Client-side rendering devices are still in their infancy. This is true
of text-to-speech (TTS), which has been virtually unchanged in the last 10
years. There are many brands of TTS but little difference in functionality.
Generally, TTS is mechanical, programmatic and prone to errors. Screen magnification
technology is more developed and is very promising to the visually impaired
community when combined with TTS technology.
* E-text currently provides little access to graphical material such as
the level of access provided by tactile graphics and verbal description. The
next wave of file formats will address this issue in some respects, but the
accessibility of graphical material will always be an issue for the visually
impaired community.
* E-text is very portable. As mentioned earlier, the ubiquity of e-text is
a barrier to our relationships with publishers. Publishers are hesitant (and
rightly so) to provide a universally accessible electronic copy of their intellectual
property when such a work can be transmitted instantly to millions of people
without their knowledge.
THE NEXT WAVE
We are truly on the verge of an information revolution as evidenced in the
explosion of new file formats such as those listed above that are designed
to address accessibility issues. One of the fundamental principles of accessible
information design is to separate content from rendition. This technique allows
disability specific hardware/software clients (referred to as user agents)
to adapt the rendition to a format appropriate to the user. Rather than embed
the formatting inside of the document (which is generally true of HTML), multiple
content documents will reference a single style sheet for formatting information.
This allows the information to transform gracefully from one format to another,
and thus enhances accessibility.
Another accessible information design principle is the concept of metainformation.
Metainformation is simply information about the information. For example,
(SNIP -- example removed to save face for the Editor)...
RESOURCES:
I have a fairly comprehensive list of resources at :
http://tte.tamu.edu/resources1.php3
Please feel free to contact me at:
David@stulife2.tamu.edu
http://tte.tamu.edu/
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
David Sweeney is currently coordinator of Adaptive Technology Services at
Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. David founded the Texas Text
Exchange; an online digital library of text material for use exclusively by
students with disabilities. David is also president-elect of the Texas Association
of Higher Education and Disability, and has been involved in that organization
as well as National AHEAD for some time.
David is invited to speak each year at numerous regional and national conferences
on the subject of disability services, information and adaptive technology.
Recently, David has been consulting with institutions of higher education
on the subject of information accessibility and offers numerous presentations
and training curriculae. He will be team-teaching (with DAIS Webmaster Charley
Tiggs) the DAIS course entitled "Building In (Not Adding On) Technology Access."
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
<<< MORE ABOUT TECHNOLOGY
RESOURCES OF TOMORROW -- HERE TODAY! >>>
Now that David has set the stage and whetted your appetite, let me share
some exciting information I had the good fortune to learn about at the recent
AHEAD conference. I heard a WONDERFUL presentation by Skip Stahl from the
Center for Applied Special Technology, Inc. (CAST). The title of the session
was "Working Wired: Online Courses and Students with Disabilities." Skip talked
about everything from how to design courses to make the best use of the internet
and web-based technology, to how to design websites to make the best use of
assistive technology. In between, he talked about the future of E-text as
a means of providing access to education for students with disabilities. And
that future looks very bright, and not so very distant!
David has already explained what E-text is and its current advantages and
limitations. But I had no idea that there were so many already existing options
for accessing E-text materials. Here are a few of the sites that Skip shared
with us:
The On-Line Books Page
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/books/html
The On-Line Books Page is a directory of books that can be freely read right
on the internet. It includes an index of thousands of on-line books, pointers
to significant directories, and archives of on-line texts and Special exhibits.
Project Gutenberg
http://www.promo.net.pg
The Project Gutenberg philosophy is to make information, books, and other
materials available to the general public in forms a vast majority of the
computers, programs, and people can easily read, use, quote, and search. It
includes light literature such as "Alice in Wonderland" and "Aesop's Fables",
etc., heavy literature such as the Bible, Shakespeare, "Moby Dick," and so
on, and references such as "Roget's Thesaurus," almanacs, dictionaries, and
the like.
ALEX
http://sunsite.berkely.edu/alex
The Alex Catalogue of Electronic texts is a collection of digital documents
collected in the subject areas of English literature, American literature,
and Western philosophy.
National Academy Press
http://www.nap.edu
The National Academy Press (NAP) was created by the National Academies to
publish the reports issued by the National Academy of Sciences, the National
Academy of Engineering, the Institute of Medicine, and the National Research
Council, all operating under a charter granted by Congress. NAP publishes
over 200 books a year on a wide range of topics in science, engineering, and
health. The NAP website has FREE online versions of over 1350 titles!!!
WizeUp
http://www.wizeup.com
WizeUp digital textbooks are professor-required, publisher endorsed content.
Textbooks are supplied with the "WizeUp" application that features notetaking
inside the book with full search, sort, and print capability, an integral
highlighter, the ability to bookmark hyperlinks to the book, the Web, your
papers, multimedia and more. Collaborating publishers include Wiley, Norton,
Harcourty, Addison-Wesley Longman...
This last site is a terribly exciting concept, as I see it, in terms of potential
for students with disabilities and for DSS offices. As opposed to the other
sites which offer their books for free over the internet, the WizeUp site
is selling the book, generally for less than (but rarely more than ) the hard
copy of the book is sold. It thereby removes the biggest "sticking point"
for textbook publishers in making their materials available in electronic
format -- possible loss of revenue. But the books are being purchased in a
form that is ALREADY USABLE to those using assistive technology to access
traditionally printed materials. And while they certainly don't have all the
books we need available through WizeUp at this point in time, my understanding
is that the company will contact publishers and try to work with them to GET
books available that you may need for students -- that is, they will work
to meet your students' needs as they arise, within the limitations of the
cooperation they receive from the publishers.
Alright, then, the availability of e-text is greater than you thought --
and growing all the time. But how can your students access and make use of
the e-text? There are lots of screen readers and text-to-speech technologies
currently available and advancing all the time. I am certainly no expert in
this area, but there are lots of places where you can learn more about such
technology, not the least of which may be the CAST website (http://www.cast.org).
But I haven't told you the best part yet...
During the presentation, Skip Stahl showed us a new piece of technology called
a Roadrunner. For those as old as I, it is about the size and the weight of
the old transistor radios they had when we were kids that fit in the palm
of your hand or a shirt pocket. The Roadrunner has a text-to-voice speech
synthesizer and it holds up to two thousand pages of e-text! You simply download
the e-text documents into the Roadrunner and you can hold all your books for
the semester in the palm of your hand, readily capable of moving back and
forth through the text and (I believe) able to be indexed as needed. It runs
on standard AA or batteries and costs -- are you ready? -- only about $300-350!
The discussion of the Roadrunner also gave rise to the funniest line I heard
at conference. Skip played a sample of the speech for us from the Roadrunner
he held. It is clearly a synthesized voice, not a warm human being. Skip reminded
us that speech synthesizers are much like dancing bears -- the remarkable
part is not that the bear dances so well, but rather that the bear dances
at all!!! ;-)
E-text is not the end all, be all that will resolve all the needs our students
have for alternate media. It still isn't going to be able to deal with graphs
or charts or formulas or pictures -- at least not in the near future. It isn't
going to replace textbooks-on-tape as the sole mechanism for alternative access.
But it certainly has potential for providing more material, more quickly,
than we have without its use. Make the most of it!!!
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
<< WHAT'S NEW AT THE HOME OF DAIS
>>
This month at the DAIS website, three articles will be posted to the Dining
Room (http://www.janejarrow.com/dinroom/index.html) for sharing with colleagues
(I anticipate they will be available online by 9/7/99):
In the Technology Corner, find the FULL text of the excellent article prepared
by David Sweeney that you read in this issue of the DAIS Newsletter.
In the Faculty Corner, look for an excerpt from "Higher Education and the
ADA: Issues and Perspectives" entitled "Academic Freedom and the ADA."
In the Administrator's Corner you will find last month's article entitled
"Documentation **Guidelines*** -- Or ARE They?"
AND DON'T FORGET...
It is not too late to register for one of several online courses being offered
by DAIS this Fall. Visit http://www.janejarrow.com/academy today and decide
how you and your program/institution can best stretch your professional development
monies through online education.
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
