When I was getting ready to start high school, I realized that I wouldn’t be able to read any of my textbooks because I have low vision and can’t read standard sized print. I couldn’t find digital copies of them anywhere, and wondered if I was just going to go without textbooks that I could read for the entirety of my high school career. Also, I wondered how long my high school career would last if I failed all of my classes due to not having textbooks I would read. Fortunately, there is an organization called NIMAC that distributes accessible textbooks and other educational materials for students with print disabilities like me, and I not only graduated from high school with an advanced diploma, but I got accepted to my dream college where I later worked during undergrad with the state coordinators who helped bring my textbooks to life. Here is a guide to locating information on and receiving educational materials with NIMAC state coordinators, based on my experiences with Virginia’s AIM-VA.
What is NIMAC?
For a high-level explanation, the National Instructional Materials Access Center (NIMAC) is a federally funded online repository of source files for K-12 instructional materials. Within the NIMAC repository are thousands of files and materials that can be converted into accessible formats for students with print disabilities, like large print, braille, and digital formats. NIMAC materials are not available for public use and are only for NIMAC coordinators to access.
Each of the 50 US states, Washington DC, US territories, and additional outlying areas have their own NIMAC coordinator, who is in charge of producing and distributing educational materials for qualifying K-12 students with print disabilities, which impact their ability to read standard print or access classroom materials. Here in Virginia, our NIMAC coordinator is Accessible Instructional Materials Virginia, also known as AIM-VA, which serves public schools across the commonwealth. To find the state NIMAC coordinator, visit the link maintained by the National Center on Accessible Educational Materials below.
Related links
What does the state coordinator do?
NIMAC state coordinators serve as a point of contact for teachers, school staff, and other members of the educational team and create/distribute accessible educational materials (AEM) to K-12 students with print disabilities that also have an IEP across the state or territory. AEM are alternate print materials that are used by students that are unable to use traditional print formats and can consist of large print, braille, audio, and other digital formats for materials.
Examples of materials that are provided by state coordinators to schools include:
- Textbooks
- Worksheets and classroom assignments
- Sheet music/music books
- Books and assigned readings
- Tests (not standardized tests)
State coordinators can create accessible instructional materials for all grades and for all subjects, and strongly recommends that students receive accessible materials for all of their classes. They can also create materials in non-English languages; for example, I received materials for my Spanish class through AIM-VA.
Additional resources from state coordinators
Here in Virginia, AIM-VA also provides free customized trainings and videos about how to use accessible instructional materials in a variety of settings and contexts, as well as resources for parents and teachers that they can share with students who have print disabilities. Users can stay up-to-date on the latest information by visiting the AIM-VA website or subscribing to their newsletter, where I make occasional guest appearances in posts and webinars.
Related links
- Home | Accessible Instructional Materials for Virginia (aimva.org)
- Eight Things You Need To Know About Your Disability Accommodations
- Introduction To Low Vision IEPs: Post Round Up
- My Large Print Music Binder
Who is eligible for NIMAC or AEM materials?
In order to receive accessible educational materials (AEM) from a qualifying NIMAC coordinator, students will need to meet the following criteria:
K-12 STUDENTS
A student is eligible to receive AEM and NIMAC services if they have both an IEP and a qualifying print disability. Examples of print disabilities include:
- Low vision or visual impairment that affects the ability to read standard print
- Blindness
- Physical disability that prevents access to standard print (i.e difficulty holding a book or with eye-tracking)
- Other disabilities that impact the ability to read standard print- for example, dyslexia or a visual processing disorder
Students will also need to reside in the state where they are requesting services, as well as receive special education services through a state public school in order to qualify (such as an IEP). This includes students who attend public schools full-time as well as students who receive special education services provided through a state public school division while attending a private school, homebound instruction, or while being homeschooled.
Students with 504 Plans, Student Assistance Plans, and college students are not eligible to receive AEM services. For students in these situations, I recommend searching the Louis database for accessible materials, which I talk about in my post “How I Find Research Sources in Accessible Formats.”
Certification from a competent authority
In addition to all of the information above, students will also need to have their print disability certified by a competent authority. Examples of school personnel that can qualify as competent authority include:
- Special education teachers
- Speech pathologists
- Reading specialists
- Teachers of the visually impaired
- Occupational therapists
- School psychologists
Examples of other personnel that can qualify as competent authority include:
- Family doctor
- Neurologist
- Optometrist/ophthalmologist
- Psychiatrist
- Staff from National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
- Case manager from state unit for disability services or visual impairment
Related links
- What I’ve Learned About Print Disabilities
- Five Myths About Print Disabilities
- How I Find Research Sources In Accessible Formats
- How To Request Accessible Textbooks In College
- Services Provided By State Department/State Unit for Visual Impairment
- Ten Lessons My TVI Taught Me
Ordering AEM content
Students and parents do not order AEM content, it is the responsibility of the appointed digital rights manager to collect information about the materials that will need to be ordered and place the order/submit files to the state coordinator. AIM-VA accepts requests from DRMs year-round, though recommends that orders for accessible materials are placed as soon as possible to ensure that materials are ready for the first day of school or for the first day of a lesson. AIM-VA has a large library of accessible books available almost instantly, though they can also convert physical copies of books and worksheets into accessible materials in multiple formats.
What is a DRM?
A digital rights manager, or DRM, is the person responsible for the usage of copyrighted accessible instructional materials for students with print disabilities- they typically get information about what to order and what formats to order from the student’s case manager or another member of their educational team. The DRM orders materials for the students in their school and ensures that the following conditions are met (taken from AIM-VA website):
- Copyrighted instructional textbooks, reading books, supplemental materials and curriculum-based materials that are produced in accessible formats and provided by NIMAC coordinators may never be used in lieu of possessing a hard-copy book.
- A purchased copy of the textbook, reading book, supplemental materials or curriculum-based materials must be assigned to, checked out by or owned by the student for the length of time the accessible format is being used.
- Accessible formats assigned to eligible students are exclusively for their use; the accessible format may not be reproduced, distributed, or used by other students.
- Accessible formats provided in Large Print or on CD must be returned to the NIMAC coordinator at the end of the school year/summer school.
- Accessible formats downloaded from the NIMAC coordinator must be removed from all electronic equipment (i.e., computers, tablets, flash drives) at the end of the school year/summer school.
Any public school personnel with a school division email address can become a DRM, and schools can have multiple DRMs as well. However, parents and students cannot serve as a DRM. To find out if a DRM is assigned to the student’s school, contact the NIMAC coordinator for information.
Related links
- File Formats For Low Vision and Print Disabilities
- Learning to Self-Advocate
- How Bookshare Books Come To Life
- How I Document Accessibility Preferences With Low Vision
- Learning To Explain Usable Vision
- Common IEP Terminology For Low Vision
Reading and accessing AEM content
Once the student receives content from the DRM, they can read or access it with their choice of assistive technology devices or operating system, or save it to a cloud storage platform so it can be accessed across multiple devices. Some examples of how students might interact with AEM content include:
- Opening PDFs in Adobe where they can be read out loud with a screen reader or with other assistive technologies in a fully accessible format
- Reading passages of text with a simplified reading display like Microsoft Immersive Reader
- Using pinch-to-zoom to enlarge and write on assignments with Notability
- Reading sideloaded content in the Kindle application with large print
- Adding the file to a reading app like Dolphin EasyReader or Capti Narrator
- Opening HTML files to view in a web browser, where they can be enlarged without having text cut off
- Listening to a textbook read out loud with VoiceOver, complete with alt text and image descriptions for images, or listening to an audio recording track
- Browsing a braille book on a refreshable braille display
- Turning the pages of a large print or braille book
It’s worth noting that DRMs can order the same title in multiple formats- for example, a student with low vision might prefer to have their textbook in an audio format and a large print format, or they might prefer worksheets as an accessible PDF and have their textbooks in a EPUB format. Students are not tied to only having one format!
Related links
- A to Z of Assistive Technology for Reading Digital Text
- My Talk At I’m Determined Summit: Crash Course In Immersive Reader
- Simplified Reading Displays and Low Vision
- Sideloading and Low Vision
- Notability and Low Vision
- Capti Voice Narrator App For Low Vision
My personal testimony of AEM as a student with low vision
Receiving AEM content profoundly changed my life in many ways that go beyond the page, as learning about this process and the materials I received inspired me to pursue degrees in assistive technology at George Mason University, where many of my professors also worked with AIM-VA. While my two school districts made an effort to produce accessible materials in-house, the ones I received from AIM-VA were of a much higher quality and came at no cost to my school district.
The accessible educational materials I received as a student with low vision made these tasks not just easier, but made them possible:
- Having accessible materials means that I can focus on what I am learning in class, and I don’t have to try and balance learning about accessibility and assistive technology with learning about math or whatever subject that was being covered. Having that cognitive load taken off meant that I wasn’t thinking about whether I would be able to see something that was being covered in class.
- I am able to work on assignments and readings independently without having to ask another teacher or student to help me with reading things
- My grades are higher because I can more clearly see what is written or what is in a picture- no more guessing letters or numbers because I didn’t want to bother anyone
- I don’t feel like an inconvenience because my teachers or paraprofessionals have to take time out of their day to try and create accessible materials for me. Instead, they can order them in an accessible format and receive them before a lesson so they don’t have to think about creating materials for me.
Admittedly, my school districts didn’t use AEM services to their fullest potential when I was a student, but I am glad I was able to introduce other students to the service. Some of the services I wish they had known about include making more assignments and classwork accessible, ordering textbooks for virtual classes, and enlarging sheet music, as these all would have made a huge difference.
Related links
- Why I Prefer My Schoolwork Digitally: Updated Edition
- Adapting Digital Equations: Math Problems and Low Vision
- My Talk At A Future Date: What I Wish I Learned About AT Before Starting College
- How To Make Music Accessible With Microsoft PowerPoint
More resources for accessible educational materials for K-12 students
- Students with print disabilities can also qualify for additional accessible libraries, including Learning Ally, Bookshare, and BARD NLS. I’ve used Bookshare the most frequently because it has EPUB books for my eReader, which I talk about in Fast Facts About Bookshare
- Looking for classroom videos in accessible formats, such as captioning and audio description? Read Described And Captioned Media Program Review
- Accessible picture books are available from NIMAC coordinators, and I also have a round up of other sources in How To Find Accessible Picture Books For Low Vision
- Want to learn more about accessible digital text? In a full circle moment, I presented this project I created as part of my M.Ed in Assistive Technology to the AIM-VA project director who first introduced me to the world of accessible text so many years ago (hi Cindy!). Read more at A to Z of Assistive Technology for Reading Digital Text
- Interested in more posts that cover topics related to print disabilities and low vision? Browse Reading And Writing Archives | Veronica With Four Eyes (veroniiiica.com)
Published March 27, 2017. Updated June 2024