student guidelines for alternate textbook formats.

Any student who wishes to request that their textbooks be converted to an alternate format, such as digital or audio, must have that accommodation approved by the Disability Services Office (DSO). Once approved for this accommodation, students are expected to follow these steps to obtain textbooks in an alternate format.

1. Student enrolls in courses using their priority registration date. Usually this date occurs in mid-October and again in early April.

2. Student contacts professor via email or phone several months before the class begins to obtain the following information about each textbook used in the course. Please utilize the UNO Faculty and Staff Directory to locate professor contact information.

TITLE
AUTHOR
PUBLISHER
EDITION
COPYRIGHT YEAR
ISBN

3. If a professor does not respond to the request for information within one week, please inform Kate Clark immediately.

4. Student requests textbook from Disability Services Office by calling or sending an email to Meribeth Jackson with the title, author, publisher, edition, copyright year, and ISBN for each textbook needed. Only those books specifically requested will be supplied.

Phone: (402) 554-2872
Email: mjackson@unomaha.edu

5. DSO staff members contact several organizations including Learning Ally, the textbook publisher, and other possible sources for digital files; the student may be asked to provide purchase information at this time.

6. If unavailable from other sources, DSO will request a copy of the book from the student. The book will be cut apart from its binding and scanned or, in some cases, audio taped. The course syllabus may also be requested from the student or instructor.

7. Student goes to DSO to check-out textbook files the Friday before classes begin or as indicated by their communication with DSO staff members.

8. Please review these other helpful tips to make the textbook request process go smoothly.

PRIORITY REGISTRATION

Priority registration is an accommodation granted to students who, for disability reasons, need to enroll in classes earlier than usual. Students who need their textbooks converted to an alternate format are granted this accommodation to allow plenty of time to contact professors and get the textbooks prepared. It is up to the student to take advantage of this extra time by enrolling on or near the priority registration date and then contacting professors immediately afterward. Keep in mind that most professors are not available for questions during the summer and all inquiries must be sent to them before finals week for best results.

DIGITAL FILES

FORMATS OF DIGITAL FILES
Most of the textbook formats provided by DSO come in one of three forms: DAISY, Microsoft Word, or PDF. Here is a brief explanation of each and some links to helpful web resources. If you're not sure which format works best for you, please discuss your concerns with the DSO Coordinator.

DAISY
DAISY is the format used to make "Learning Ally" discs. Learning Ally is a national, nonprofit organization (formerly known as Recordings for the Blind & Dyslexic or RFB&D) that makes audio recordings of human readers. DAISY format protects the copywritten material and therefore, students need DAISY software or equipment to utilize these discs.

Students are encouraged to obtain a device that reads DAISY files since books are often provided in that format. DAISY is a highly user-friendly format and works well with the reading demands of college courses. Such devices include Book Port from APH, Victor Reader Vibe or Victor Reader Wave from Learning Ally or any other CD player that has DAISY capability. Any student who does not own a DAISY-capable device may request software for their home computer from the Disability Services Coordinator.

WORD
Microsoft Word files can be read with JAWS, ZoomText, ReadPlease, PT Reader and many other text-to-speech computer software programs. JAWS and ZoomText are both available on campus computers and PT Reader and ReadPlease are free downloads from the internet . Please note, PT Reader and ReadPlease are not meant for users with vision impairments.

Students may convert a Word file into an .mp3 by using the free software Balabolka.

PDF
PDF's come in two formats: readable and unreadable. The readable files can be read with the above-mentioned programs and also the AdobeReader program which is embedded in recent versions of Adobe. Unreadable PDF's are just images and cannot be read aloud. These would be helpful for enlargements, but not reading.

Students may convert a Word file into an .mp3 by using the free software Balabolka.

SOURCES OF DIGITAL FILES
Digital files of textbooks may be available from the following sources:

Learning Ally http://www.learningally.org/

Bookshare http://www.bookshare.org/

Internet Archive http://www.archive.org/

Open Library http://openlibrary.org/

Project Gutenberg http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page

EXAMPLE E-MAIL TO AN INSTRUCTOR

Students must contact instructors well in advance to obtain information about the textbook/s used in each course. Many students choose to do so by e-mail. For best results, please send an e-mail similar to this one:

Hello Dr. XXX,

I am an undergraduate student enrolled in HIST 1000-002 this coming Fall 2011. I’m writing to obtain information about the textbook/s used in the course. Due to a disability, I must make arrangements for this book to be converted to an accessible format. Please provide the following information as soon as you can: Title, Author, Publisher, Copyright Year, Edition and ISBN.

I will submit this information to Disability Services for conversion.

Thanks very much for your time,
XXX

For further instructions on the textbook request process, please see the steps listed above.

CHECK-OUT/CHECK-IN PROCEDURES

Students will be contacted via e-mail when the alternate format of a textbook is ready for pick up from EAB 117. However, if a student believes a book should be ready, but has not received notice from DSO, they must call (402) 554-2872 or e-mail the Coordinator to check on the progress of the book.

Sometimes textbook files are delivered via a secure UNO network drive. If this is the case, the student will receive an email with download instructions. This drive is cleared every Sunday night.

Students will be asked to sign a copyright agreement at the time of check-out if DSO has scanned and converted the book.

All Learning Ally CD's must be returned at the end of the semester in which they were used. New textbook files and/or CD's will not be checked out until those materials used in the previous semester are returned to the DSO in Eppley 117. The check-in process may take up to 48 hours so please do not delay in returning materials at the end of a course.

OTHER HELPFUL TIPS

TIME FRAME

Because the conversion process can be very time consuming, students are often asked to bring in a copy of the book well in advance of the semester. For optimal results, please make arrangements to purchase books no less than 4 weeks or more before the semester begins. If the student has their books paid for by a state agency, this may require contacting the Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired or Vocational Rehabilitation well in advance.

ADDING & DROPPING COURSES

One thing that can cause real problems for a student is adding a new class very near the beginning of a semester. Due to the sometimes lengthy time frame for converting a book to an accessible format, the student may be without access if sufficient notice is not given to DSO. If a student adds a class, they must inform the DSO of the books needed immediately.

Likewise, if a class is dropped, please inform the DSO so that resources are not wasted pursuing a book which is no longer needed.

OPTIONAL VS. REQUIRED TEXTBOOKS

Only those textbooks which are required for a course will be provided in an alternate format unless the student specifically requests otherwise.

FREE ONLINE OCR

The following website converts small (less than 2MB) image documents such as PDF and JPG to plain text. This may be helpful to students who have short files that need conversion quickly. Beware that it is new and currently only converts the first page of a document. This is expected to change so please keep checking back at the site for updates. http://www.free-ocr.com/