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The following information appears on web pages of the AFB Solutions Forum and is used with permission.
The national need for textbook transcribers to become familiar with publishers' files became widely known through the work of the AFB Solutions Forum's Joint Technology Task Force (JTTF). The AFB Textbooks and Instructional Materials Solutions Forum, in conjunction with AFB's National Education Program and National Literacy Center, has taken a leadership role in offering new skills to current braille transcribers.
With the goal of achieving improved and more efficient braille textbook production from publishers' files, a training opportunity has been created for braille transcribers who are knowledgeable about textbook production and computer software systems, but who are not experienced in working with publishers' files. The end result will be a web-based, self-directed seminar, which will be available in the spring of 2003 on AFB's web site (www.afb.org). The project is associated with two of the work groups of the AFB Solutions Forum: Electronic Files/Research and Development and the Training and Other Needs Work Groups.
Although a single, well-structured file format is not yet in place, there is promise from the Joint Technology Task Force for a universal file format called the American National Standards Institute/National Information Standards Organization/Extensible Markup Language (ANSI/NISO/XML) file format. The JTTF, comprised of publishers, braille production experts and technology specialists in the field of blindness, is analyzing the use of a universal set of standards in formatting publishers' files, which will allow greater information accessibility to both the visually impaired community and the general user of "electronic books" or eBooks.
A key component of this braille textbook transcriber training is a manual. To build the contents of the manual, AFB provided workshops in three U.S. cities in 2002. The pilot session to develop the curriculum was in Houston, Texas at the Region IV, Education Service Center on February 1, 2002. The first hands-on opportunity to experience this training was on March 14, 2002 in conjunction with the California Transcribers and Educators of the Visually Handicapped (CTEVH) Conference held in San Diego, California. Another session was offered April 10, 2002 in conjunction with the National Braille Association (NBA) Conference held in Alexandria, Virginia. Additional training will be offered for the Association of Instructional Resource Centers for the Visually Handicapped (AIRC) in Louisville, Kentucky in October 2002.
The American Printing House for the Blind's (APH) Accessible Textbook Initiative and Collaboration Project (ATIC) partnered with AFB to develop this national training manual. APH is providing staff expertise and is committed to offering the on-site training in typical workshop settings in the future. We want to acknowledge the significant contribution of Betsy Burnham who is writing specific sections, while editing and formatting the manual's contents.
The writing team which developed the state-of-the-art training curriculum includes the expertise of four textbook braille transcribers. Betsy Burnham, with APH; Susan Christensen, independent braille transcriber; Diane Spence with Region IV, Education Service Center in Houston, Texas; and Joanna Venneri, independent braille transcriber represent the experts who are writing the core materials with Mary Ann Siller, AFB's National Program Associate in Education and Project Director of the AFB Solutions Forum.
The national manual and future web-based, self-paced learning project will offer critical skills to a valued profession, America's braille textbook transcribers. For more information, contact Mary Ann Siller at siller@afb.net. or go to www.afb.org/education.asp to locate the AFB Solutions Forum Training Work Group section.
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