FAQ Friday: Online Student Materials & NIMAS
Does your student need access to online materials in braille?
PDF files of the curriculum are available from most publishers. Request the PDF files from the publisher before requesting the material in Athena. Verify with the publisher if there is an ISBN associated with the material.
It’s important to understand that even if NIMAS (National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard) files are provided by the publisher, we still require a PDF file to produce the material in braille.
The NIMAS format is not designed for direct distribution to students; it requires conversion to ensure full accessibility. Publishers send the NIMAC source files that include all the text and images from the curriculum. However, this file format does not capture all the details of the printed layout in the same way that a physical copy or a PDF does. To ensure accurate formatting in braille, the transcriber must reference the printed material.
Questions? Contact IMC Staff at imclibrary@blind.state.ia.us or 515-281-1323.
The IMC Team will provide answers to the questions we have received during the week in our FAQ Friday posts. We hope these are helpful!
