Educational Technology
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act requires districts to provide accessible instruction materials
to students with disabilities who need them. To help schools meet this requirement, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary
& Secondary Education is partnering with Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic (RFB&D).
For additional information about this program, contact Jeanne Guiney, Regional Director of Educational
Outreach at the New England Regional Unit, 617-577-1111, ext. 18, jguiney@rfbd.org or Susan Hargrave at the
Massachusetts Department of Education, 781-338-6844, shargrave@doe.mass.edu. From the Department of Elementary & Secondary Education website: http://www.doe.mass.edu/news/news.asp?id=3621
NIMAC Information: Susan
Hargrave is Mass. Department of Elementary & Secondary Education Nimas/NIMAC Coordinator. Contact her at the
Massachusetts Department of Education, 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148 , 781- 338-6844 or shargrave@doe.mass.edu
National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS) Additional Assurance Required for IDEA Part
B Grant
To: Superintendents and Administrators of Special Education
From: Marcia Mittnacht, State Director of Special Education
Date: May 15, 2006 (Edited memo)
There
is a NIMAS technical advice website which provides a detailed explanation of the NIMAS provision and its background. The website
is http://nimas.cast.org....
Massachusetts
has decided to "opt in" and has provided an assurance to OSEP regarding our participation in NIMAC. Even though
Massachusetts does not order textbooks for districts, choosing to participate in NIMAC will help districts aquire student-ready
versions in a more timely and cost-efficient manner. We will provide further information on this process in the fall of 2006-7.
Districts' Responsibilities : Each district has the option of participating in NIMAC. Whether a district does
or does not participate in NIMAC, the district will be responsible for ensuring that each child who requires instructional
materials in an alternate format will receive it in a timely manner. The Massachusetts DOE recommends that districts choose
to participate in NIMAC, because this national effort to centralize the distribution of instructional materials in alternate
formats will help guarantee timely provision of such materials to students.
For districts that choose to participate
in NIMAC, contracts with publishers executed on and after December 3, 2006 for textbooks and other printed core materials
must include a provision that requires the publisher to produce NIMAS files and send them to the NIMAC (this will not add
any cost to the contract). Curriculum publishers have been involved in discussions relating to NIMAS and are well aware of
its requirements.
Model contract language is "By agreeing to
deliver the materials marked with "NIMAS" on this contract or purchase order, the publisher agrees to submit a valid
NIMAS file set to the NIMAC at the American Printing House for the Blind, Inc. (APH). Should the vendor be a distributor of
the materials and not the publisher, the distributor agrees to immediately notify the publisher of its obligation to submit
NIMAS file sets of the purchased products to the NIMAC. This is page ___ of ___ of this contract or purchase order."
In lieu of, or in addition to choosing to participate in NIMAC, each LEA may contract with curriculum publishers directly
to purchase accessible, student-ready versions. In most cases, however, you will find that publishers will not have such versions
for sale.
Required
Documentation : As part of the FY2007 Grant Assurances Document provided by all districts, there is an additional certification
dealing with the NIMAS provisions of IDEA in "SECTION I" at I-5, entitled National Instructional Materials Access
Center (NIMAC). Your district is required to review this assurance, check YES or NO to indicate if you will "opt-in"
to the NIMAC or provide materials in an alternate but timely manner, sign the assurance, and return it with your FY2007 grant
application package.
• NIMAS: http://nimas.cast.org
• NIMAC: http://nimac.us
NIMAC Language: Please reference the language for ordering books in the
future through the NIMAC and your local school system. This is also on the DOE website:
For districts that
choose to participate in NIMAC, contracts with publishers executed on and after December 3, 2006 for textbooks and other printed
core materials must include a provision that requires the publisher to produce NIMAS files and send them to the NIMAC (this
will not add any cost to the contract). Curriculum publishers have been involved in discussions relating to NIMAS and are
well aware of its requirements. Model contract language is included below:
"By agreeing to deliver the materials
marked with "NIMAS" on this contract or purchase order, the publisher agrees to submit a valid NIMAS file set to
the NIMAC at the American Printing House for the Blind, Inc. (APH). Should the vendor be a distributor of the materials and
not the publisher, the distributor agrees to immediately notify the publisher of its obligation to submit NIMAS file sets
of the purchased products to the NIMAC. This is page ___ of ___ of this contract or purchase order."
Please
keep your Program Quality Assurance Liason informed so they can remind the Special Edication Directors in their region.
