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The following information was submitted by the American Printing House for the Blind and is used with permission.
The APH ACCESSIBLE TEXTBOOK INITIATIVE AND COLLABORATION PROJECT (ATIC) is the embodiment of the American Printing House's (APH) commitment to provide accessible textbooks to students who are blind or visually impaired. As designed by its original mission, APH is responsible for providing accessible materials that allow visually impaired students to fully participate in their education.
Until recently, the practice has been for APH to produce a range of specific textbook titles selected by the Ex Officio Trustee Publications Committee. These titles have been produced, cataloged, and made available for educators to purchase for their blind and visually impaired students. The complexity of this task lay largely in garnering the resources to produce the needed textbooks.
In recent years, however, this task has been drastically complicated by changes in how textbooks are designed, selected, and used in general education. New requirements have been created by extensive changes in educational service delivery models and the widespread use of whole language instruction, as well as societal factors such as education reform and site based management. Now, instead of predetermining the titles it will produce and offer, APH is faced with the task of providing accessible versions of the books that are used by each blind student's sighted classmates. This requires the adaptation of a vast number of different textbooks and with very little lead time to produce them. Obviously, the traditional methods for selecting and producing accessible books no longer meet student needs and the requirements of their educational programs.
To effectively address this dilemma, we have renewed our commitment by establishing the ATIC Project. Through it, we will revamp our existing structures and create new systems to provide accessible textbooks in an expanded variety of media and to do so in a customer-responsive manner. In addition to traditional "hard copy" textbooks, this commitment will provide textbooks through on-demand transcription or enlargement as well as in electronic media that can be downloaded from a file repository on our web site. ATIC is a critical undertaking that involves major systems change, not only within APH, but also within the entire field of education of blind and visually impaired students!
A Textbook Division of APH will effectively respond to the textbook needs of blind and visually impaired students by delivering custom-produced accessible textbooks in a variety of media in a timely manner.
Textbooks will be produced in:
In order to accomplish this mission and the specific goals of this multi-phase project, APH made a substantial commitment of resources - financial, human, and intellectual. While this effort began as an initiative to address the need for braille textbooks delivered in a timely manner, it has wisely been expanded to address the need for accessible textbooks in a variety of media. We anticipate that research and development will lead to the implementation of a universal format that will assist project staff in more readily achieving the goals of the project.
APH has hired a director for the project and has established an electronic file repository of electronic textbook files on the APH web site. ATIC has established parallel tracks of focus on which we are working concurrently. Each track is designed to accomplish specific goals of the project and to interface with other tracks as appropriate. Each track plays an integral part in the success of the project and will be woven into the comprehensive effort at appropriate intersections. This approach provides a scaffold to support the staff in the early stages of their work, yet it remains plastic enough to be shaped by their research and decisions.
APH is convinced that this effort is not only essential if we are to meet the needs of visually impaired students, but that it is within the role and responsibility of our mission.
For more information please contact Jane E. Thompson, director, at jthompson@aph.org or visit our web site at www.aph.org.
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