| NIMAS
– THE BASICS What is NIMAS? NIMAS is the National Instructional
Materials Accessibility Standard. Passed as a part of IDEA 2004 the standard became
mandatory in 2006, and now is intended to be the primary format from which accessible
instructional materials for low-vision and blind students are produced. NIMAS
is a file set that includes all of the information that would normally be prepared
for publishing, including meta data, images and text.
What is the
effective date? State education agencies and Local education agencies
may request the NIMAS file set for materials published after July 2006. This date
is when the final rulemaking authority for IDEA 2004 was published in the Federal
Register. Instructional materials published prior to this date are not covered
by the law.
When must the file set be provided to the SEA or LEA?
The file set must be provided no later than the time of delivery of the
product to the school district. Such an agreement must be part of the contract
or procurement instrument used when the print instructional materials are being
purchased. SEA’s or LEA’s must take all reasonable steps to provide
the accessible materials when other students receive them, with the understanding
that there may be an unexpected delay such as publisher difficulties.
Who is the NIMAS standard intended to serve?
“The purpose of NIMAS
is to help increase the availability and timely delivery of print instructional
materials in accessible formats to blind and other persons with print disabilities
in elementary schools and secondary schools.” In the recently published
rules the Department of Education used the definition from the Library of Congress
regulations (36 CFR 701.6 (b) (1) related to the Act to Provide Books for the
Adult Blind. At this time the standard will only apply to those students who are
blind who are unable to use standard print instructional materials according to
the definition.
What publishers or products does NIMAS affect?
The definition of Core Related Materials is still under consideration by OSEP.
We are working closely with OSEP and AAP to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.
What resources are there for publishers to help them prepare NIMAS file sets?
NIMAS at Cast has the most technical information regarding the XML format, the
file set content requirements. In the About NIMAS section there is a NIMAS resources
section, and on that page a sub heading, Developing NIMAS file sets. There publishers
can learn How to create a NIMAS file set, a list of conversion houses and more
about the technical aspects of preparing your publication for submission to the
NIMAC. Go to http://nimas.cast.org.
How will publishers submit their files to the NIMAC?
The NIMAC, National
Instructional Materials Access Center, is simply the repository or library for
NIMAS files. The NIMAC is opening on December 6, 2006, and is being administered
by OverDrive Inc. The administrators are currently testing the system. Instructions
on how to navigate the website and it’s functions will be available when
the repository opens. When publishers have completed the process of having
files converted into XML in house or by a conversion house they will then submit
the files to the repository, as part of the purchase agreement or contract with
the SEA/LEA. The SEA/LEA will provide the publisher with their account information.
Files will be uploaded into the NIMAC, either over the internet using IE 5.5 or
by CD-ROM or DVD. The NIMAC will certify if file validates or identifies errors
and returns it to the publisher for corrections. Each publisher will have
their own space for content separated and only those with permission to access
the files will be able to do so. For example, if the file will be converted to
Braille, the school may give permission to the Braille transcriber to download
the file for conversion. Publishers will be able to see who downloads the file
through their own portal, and all users must sign LUA (Limitation of Use Agreement)
that reminds them that the files are to be used only for the preparation of accessible
instructional materials for students that meet the definition. The NIMAC
informational website is located at www.nimac.us.
The FAQ section includes information about some of the procedures of the NIMAC.
You may also download an FAQ
for publishers from NIMAC. AEP NIMAS Documents | 
