If a University of Nebraska-Lincoln student with a disability wants an alternative format for a textbook, it could take a few days, or even weeks, for the textbook to be sent to the student.
A new service called the AccessText Network aims to decrease this amount of time.
The AccessText Network, which was started by the Association of American Publishers in conjunction with the Alternative Media Access Center, is a national online database that makes it easier for students with disabilities, such as blindness or dyslexia, to receive textbooks. Since its launch in August, roughly 750 schools have used the network, according to Kane Stanley, Digital Media Accessibility Specialist for the AccessText Network.
The average amount of time that students can search the database, chose their textbook and receive their file is around four days, Stanley said. The publishers would then send an alternative format, such as a PDF or text file back to the student, who would load it to their screen reader, a computer program that can interpret on-screen text in a variety of ways. From their screen reader, they would be able to “read” their textbook in different ways, such as the text-to-speak option, which reads the words to the student.
Before the service, those wanting textbooks would have wait to find the textbook publisher’s contact information, contact the company directly and then fill out paperwork for each textbook needed.
“It was a generally lengthy form,” Stanley said.
That type of method to obtain a textbook is still used at UNL, and it can take anywhere from two to six weeks to have a book sent to the student from the publisher, according to Jen Wagner, textbook coordinator for Services for Students with Disabilities.
AccessText works directly with the eight textbook providers who publish 92 percent of all college textbooks. Stanley describes the network as a “one-stop shop” and hopes to have more than 1,000 schools registered within the system by June.
“The benefits are communication and the quick response,” Stanley said. “There is less paperwork, and you get the file faster because students need the file as quickly as possible.”
Neither ordering the textbooks in alternative formats nor using the AccessText Network costs anything for those wanting to use the service. UNL usually orders or scans 100 textbooks each year, Wagner said, and the service has proven to be beneficial.
“I think we do a pretty good job in satisfying student demand,” Wagner said. “But the new service could only help.”
paigecornwell@dailynebraskan.com
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