Alternative formats one year on - by E.A. Draffan
This is just a short article to highlight some of the issues I have learnt about over the last year when working with students in higher education and discussing their use of alternative formats.
There seem to be three main points of discussion:
- An increased number of tools and advice available to develop alternative formats
- A growing awareness by students that there are more alternatives to be explored when it comes to the use of alternative documentation.
- Lack of time for those teaching, to explore the issues, with perhaps few requiring specific types of support such as Braille. There is a tendency to depend on the support services, rather than working in anticipation of requiring alternative formats.
There are obviously many other concerns, but here are a few links to support the ideas I have mentioned:
Tools and Advice
Dolphin increased their software support for Daisy and introduced EasyConverter (external link) at the beginning of 2007. This program aims to offer organisations the chance to take paper, scanned or electronic documents, Microsoft Word or accessible Adobe PDFs and automatically convert them into text and audio formats for use on portable players etc. The output formats include DAISY Digital Talking Books , Braille, MP3, large print or ASCII text.
EasyProducer (external link), which has been designed for the individual to convert documents from text into Daisy Digital Talking Books, is incredibly easy to use within Microsoft Word. Press one menu button and the process begins with the final versions being saved to your hard drive in text and MP3 format as well as immediately being offered within EasyReader(external link) as a keyboard navigable piece of text.
Adobe Acrobat accessibility support has been updated for PDF files, but there is still concern that the complexities of adding tags and making sure there is an accurate reading flow is too laborious a task for most users. (see Teaching strategies)
If a student is supplied with audio files such as MP3, WMA or Wav files it may help to use Audio Notetaker (external link) to annotate and organise the files for future use and for example when revising and key points need to be saved. This program is primarily designed for those who may have specific learning difficulties or differences, such as dyslexia. I have found it useful for research work when you are recording several interviews or meetings.
The articles and advice I have linked to tend to be related to Higher Education but they could equally well apply to any organisation working the field.
Dyslexic.com has information on issues relating to providing alternative formats and Copyright Law in UK for those with Visual Impairment and for Dyslexia and, updated in March 2007, the Gowers Review.
Boston University have a very useful training module (external link) for making Daisy Digital Talking Books with a work flow plan.
The ATHEN network (individuals working with Assistive Technologies in Higher Education in USA ) have also put together an electronic journal on the subject - eText and Alternate Media Production.
Another US based group called AHEAD (Association of Higher Education and Disability), has an eText Solutions Group and they also have a series of useful materials that may help those thinking of running training programs.
- Training Outline (external Word document)
- Management and Administration of E-Text Production Programs (external PDF file)
- E-Text Production Strategies and Techniques (external PDF file)
- Alt Format Production Manual (external PDF file)
- Alt Format Equipment Recommendations (external XLS file)
- Equipment Recommendations based on Production Volumes (external XLS file)
Students' strategies
Many more students appear to realise that with enhanced computer technology skills they are able to access documents more easily. Those that already have these skills appear to be more able to request formats that suit their learning preferences. When discussing issues that arise with learning materials, it is often basic concerns such as cluttered PowerPoint slides or diagrams, poor accessibility for text to speech or screen reading and a general lack of alternative documentation when working within a virtual learning environment.
In some cases the student visits a support department with the document and asks how they can read it - it may have to be re-scanned and cleaned up with an optical character recognition program. Some specialist programs are also available with text to speech such as Kurzweil 3000 (external link) , Texthelp Read and Write Gold (external link) , ClaroRead Plus (external link) or Dolphin EasyTutor (external link) .
However, as has been mentioned, some students are making use of mobile players such as the iPod and other MP3 players linked up with their computers. These students are able to download lectures and discussions that are provided as audio files or podcasts. Some students are also using streaming video or vodcasts. Text based wikis and blogs may also be available to collect ideas and post comments.
Once again there is plenty of guidance on usability and accessibility for instance, 'Ten Tips for Blogging and Podcasting' can be found on the ICThub website (external link). EASI (external link) offer an audio and PowerPoint guide on the subject.
Some podcasting listening programs are more accessible than others. It may be worth trying the freely available Juice software orWebbIE (text browser) which is screen reader accessible and has Podcatcher.
Teaching Strategies
It is not easy to keep up with the technologies available to solve some of the issues that arise with making learning materials accessible. It is also true that not all documents are easy to save in a format that can be read aloud on a computer screen for example a .PDF document which has been scanned in from a picture in an old text book. Some useful guides and tools include:
- The 10 TVS Guidelines For Making Your Documents Braille-Ready (external link)
- Illinois Accessible Web Publishing Wizard for Word and PowerPoint. To see the end result of using this very quick addition to publishing accessible documents on the web, I have made a presentation about Usability, Accessibility and e-learning with the tool.
- Texthelp's PDF Accessibility Editor has been designed to make the task of making Adobe Acrobat. PDFs easier, providing an extra toolbar in Adobe Acrobat Reader. It allows the user to add alternative text for graphics, explain equations and mark a pathway for the reader who uses text to speech.
- Webaim also have some helpful pages on the subject, also see the publications from TechDis (external link).
Many institutions and organisations offer guidelines as to how academic staff can ask for support for alternative formats.
Examples include:
- Nottingham Univeristy - Alternative Formats Guidelines (external link)
- Sheffield Hallam University Accessible Assessments - Staff guide (external link)
- Open University - Details of the formats available (external link)
- St. Andrews University - Alternative Format Suite (AFS) (external link)
- University of Paisley - Providing Printed Materials in Alternative Formats (external link)
There is an Alternative format materials overview offered to Library services by Peter Craddock and Margaret Wallace - it is a little dated but still illustrates what may be available in libraries around the country.
E.A. Draffan