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AEP Online |
Unresolved Issues Disucssed at NIMAS and NIMAC Implementation MeetingAlthough final rules on NIMAS and NIMAC implementation were published on August 14 and school is starting all over the country, publishers, specialized providers for the blind, technical assistance grantees, and the U.S. Department of Education (USED) are still finalizing details of the new legislation. Questions remain about how far the law will go to provide print instructional materials, and what entities will have access to the NIMAC. On August 24, USED's Office of Special Education Policy held a meeting in Washington, D.C., to help to address these issues. The main issue effecting publishers is the definition of the materials that are covered by the law. According to OSEP and their attorney, textbooks and companion materials were the initial target of the legislation. However, often times these are not the only materials considered core materials and under the current definition, supplementals may also be included in a request for NIMAS files. AEP hopes to reach a compromise with OSEP so that supplemental publishers have more time, such as a phase in period, to prepare for compliance. There is also controversy over who will be served under the NIMAS legislation. Currently, the law serves only those students who meet the Library of Congress definition of blind. States and disability advocates feel that they will have problems explaining to other disabled students and their parents why only blind students can have accessible materials produced from the NIMAS files. The answer from OSEP is that the NIMAC will not have the capacity to serve all of disabled students at this time. Both of these issues emphasize the need for AEP members to prepare to work in the XML environment, find out how to prepare NIMAS file sets, and eventually be able to offer the file set as a value added product asset. Additional meetings with OSEP are planned, but no dates have been set as of yet. AEP plans to continue their work to educate our members and represent their interests in this important development. Questions, ideas, or in need of more information? Please contact Stacey Pusey at 856-241-7772. |
Contact AEP's Government Relations Director Jennifer Hill at 856-241-7772 or jhill@AEPweb.org
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2008 The Association of Educational
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