In 2002, the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) at the U.S. Department of Education funded the National Center on Accessing the General Curriculum (NCAC) at CAST to "establish technical specifications for a voluntary National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS)."1 The purpose of the NIMAS is to "facilitate the provision of accessible, alternate-format versions of print textbooks to pre-K–12 students with disabilities."2 In order to accomplish this goal, the National File Format (NFF) Technical Panel was formed. During a series of public meetings, the Panel brought together a comprehensive group of representatives of the K–12 educational community, in its broader sense, made up of "educators, publishers, technology specialists, and advocacy groups"; as well as interested members of the public such as parents and others, specifically in order to develop the NIMAS through an inclusive and a consensus-building process.3 For example, emphasis was placed on including members from both general and special education communities.
As a result of this effort, the Panel achieved a general and a specific set of recommendations for the creation of accessible instructional materials with an unprecedented level of consensus among its representative groups. Essentially, NIMAS is "a standard of guidelines for the production of digital source files for print-based materials based on XML and the DAISY Consortium's ANSI/NISO 239.86 file format standard, the purpose of which is to enable publishers and others to provide standardized source files of their content from which a variety of outputs can be produced."4
The practical component of the NIMAS is its Baseline Element Set made up of XML elements derived from the DAISY standard and the instructions and best practices guidelines provided in the technical specifications and elsewhere on the NIMAS web site (see below). Preparers of NIMAS-conformant files are strongly encouraged to use full DAISY mark-up whenever possible.
NIMAS @ CAST
This is the official site of the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS). The NIMAS' technical specification describes what the NIMAS is and how it is and will be implemented. Vital for creating NIMAS-conformant files is the listing of the Standard's Baseline Element Set. Those new to the NIMAS will benefit from the site's FAQ page.
NIMAS and Federal Legislation
In June of 2005, the U.S. Department of Education published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for IDEA 2004 in the Federal Register that included the NIMAS. During the comment period that ensued, the NIMAS Technical Committee took the opportunity to recommend that the current Standard be updated to reflect the more current DAISY/NISO Z39.86 2005 specification. Changes were minimal but did include several corrections and additions. While it is expected that these recommendations will be accepted, changes to the NIMAS cannot be considered official or final until the full specification (with or without recommended changes) is posted by the U.S. Department of Education.
NIMAS Exemplars
These NIMAS exemplars are samples available for download and include basic required files as well as supplementary materials. Examine a NIMAS XML file to see its structure and mark-up first-hand.
XML is a mark-up language that codes text and other information for a variety of uses. XML stands for eXtensible Mark-up Language. XML is made up of a series of elements, most of which have two tags. These tags go around pieces of content, say, text or numbers, with one tag of the element at the start of a piece of content and the other tag at its end. In this way, XML is similar to HTML. To create an XML file, a piece of content is coded with XML elements and saved as an -.xml document. XML elements can also have other components to make the use of them more versatile and complex (for example, attributes and their values). XML also includes entities, which stand for specific characters, such as the carets used in XML tags.
XML is particularly suited to content intended for publication, for example, content that prior to XML technology would be print-based (books, articles, manuals); yet XML is also appropriate for use with databases, web sites, etc. XML allows different systems to communicate through the use of it. A major benefit of XML is its ability to provide for single-source publishing. An XML file serves as a source file, and, from it, many different output files (versions or formats) can be produced. An example of this would be using a single XML file to create outputs in Word, PDF, and HTML.
An important characteristic of XML is the fact that it allows content to be prepared entirely separate from formatting or other content manipulations. This separation permits the greatest number of outputs with the least amount of work and enables corrections, changes, new editions, updates, and so on to be made easily and efficiently. It is also readable in its proper form—being largely self-explanatory, especially in context, means that a reader, user, and interpreter of an XML document need not be its author. XML is also highly valuable because it is not tied to a single software application or operating system, making it free of application and computer upgrades; it is widely used and accepted internationally; and users can create XML tags if necessary, thereby making XML flexible, adaptable, and unlikely to become obsolete.
A snippet of NIMAS-conformant XML code, taken from one of CAST's exemplars, appears below:
<level1 id="L001" class="chapter">
<h1 id="L001.H01" class="chapter">Chapter 24: The Great Depression</h1>
<pagenum id="page_1" page="normal">1</pagenum>
<level2 id="L001.001" class="mainsection">
<h2 id="L001.001.H01" class="mainsection">Overview</h2>
<p id="L001.001.P001">During the 1920s, the United States saw a time of great prosperity. However, that would all change with the stock market crash of 1929. The country and the world would be plunged into an economic and social depression.</p>
<p id="L001.001.P002">Companies were going bankrupt, banks were shutting down, and unemployment was skyrocketing.</p>
<imggroup>
<img id="L001.001.P002-001" src="./images/p002-001.jpg" alt="Black and white photo of a makeshift home during the Depression"/>
<prodnote id="L001.001.longdesc002-001" imgref="L001.001.P002-001"><p>This black and white photo shows a makeshift home during the Depression. Two clotheslines are strung across the center of the picture in front of a wooden shed. Three children play on the ground in front of the shed and beneath the clothes hanging from the clotheslines. A small table with a large wooden bucket can be seen on the left. The ground is dirt or sand and is littered with scraps of wood and metal, baskets, and other debris. A leafless tree can be seen in the background on the left.</p></prodnote>
<caption id="L001.001.C01" imgref="L001.001.P002-001">The Great Depression caused immediate hardship on everyday life. Hundreds of thousands of people lost their homes, their jobs, and their dignity. Families, like the one shown above, were forced to live in make-shift camps that were overcrowded and unsanitary.</caption>
</imggroup>
</level2>
</level1>
To see all of this exemplar, as well as others, go to CAST's NIMAS Exemplars page.
Wikipedia's XML page
This page contains information on what XML is, its history, features, requirements, extensions, and more. It is written without an assumption of knowledge base. It also lists several good introductory tutorials.
The XML FAQ
This page is intended as a "resource for users, authors, developers, and the interested reader."5 It includes basic as well as more detailed information for those who are progressing to using XML in their work. This FAQ list is quite popular in the XML community and is frequently cited as a resource on a variety of web sites.
XML Glossary
This XML glossary, provided by the German company Software AG, is a useful alphabetical listing of XML and related information. It would serve as a good starting point for browsing for knowledge and understanding, as well as a way to find definitions and explanations of software, terms, organizations, etc.
W3C Recommendation
The World Wide Web Consortium's XML Recommendation (2nd edition, 2004) provides exhaustive XML standards content from some of those who developed it. Relatively technical in nature, it provides specific requirements information regarding XML standards.
XML.org
XML.org is a huge web site geared toward XML and standards. Its About page states its purpose as "for those interested and involved in XML-related standards and specifications." Service-architecture.com describes a primary goal of XML.org as the effort "to minimize overlap and duplication in XML languages and XML standard initiatives by providing public access to XML information and XML schemas"—a point worth noting, as XML.org currently succeeds as the XML industry's standards information clearinghouse.
"Integrating a publishing business using XML," by Alex Brown
This presentation article from the XML Europe 2003 Conference proceedings provides an in-depth background piece on publishing and XML as a commercial enterprise. Readers new to the use and benefits of XML within a publishing company will find it useful.
Practical XML
From the introduction: "a presentation on the overview of and practical uses for XML. Various XML standards and tools are covered, including XSLT, a language for transforming XML. Two real-world uses of XML are surveyed…." (provided copyright-free by Jeremy Mates).
See the Creating NIMAS Files document for more information about NIMAS mark-up and the development of NIMAS-conformant files and the Content Development and Design page for information about production/tools and the development of accessible content.
DAISY stands for Digital Accessible Information SYstem and refers to a way to create works called DTBs or Digital Talking Books. This means "digital textbooks, or a combination of synchronized audio and text books."6DAISY is based on the ANSI/NISO Z39.86 standard for formatting (encoding) information. The National Information Standards Organization, NISO, has developed over two dozen standards for various purposes, of which Z39.86 is incorporated into DAISY. The DAISY specification is made up of rules and requirements necessary to create digital/audio books, specifically, XML and SMIL files requirements. The DAISY specification is used to create DTBs according to agreed-upon standards. In this way, DAISY-compliant files, and the products made from them, can be used by the widest possible audience. To date, the DAISY 2005 specification is the latest version of this standard.
The primary purpose of DTBs is to provide alternate versions of print-based works that include synchronized audio. More specifically, DTBs allow an alternate version that functions in much the same way as a print-based work. For example, a traditional tape cassette recording of a book in audio does not allow users to access its content efficiently; these tapes must use cumbersome fast-forward and rewind functions, leading to built-in hit-or-miss access to content. DTBs eliminate this and other content-access difficulties. Another advantage of a DTB version of a work is accessing its content through the use of a computer and computer mouse; this allows users to be free of many physical constraints involved in accessing print-based content, such as lifting and holding a book and turning its pages. DAISY books outputs are usually web-based, server-based, or CD-ROMs.
The audience for DTBs is large and varied and includes—
The DAISY Consortium
"The DAISY Consortium was formed in May, 1996 by talking book libraries to lead the worldwide transition from analog to Digital Talking Books." DAISY's official web site serves as an important source of information for all things related to this standard. Their guidelines publication is particularly useful for anyone creating DTBs and is available on site and for download, free of charge.
"A Rosy Future for DAISY Books," by Jay Leventhal and Janina Sajka, Access World, Vol. 5, No. 1, 2004.
This short article gives a good overview of the history and nature of a DTB.
CNIB DAISY Demo
The Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) offers a free DAISY demo on their web site. Users can download a portion of a DTB as well as free software to use to read it. This is an easy way to gain first-hand knowledge of what a DAISY book is.
NIMAS web site DAISY resources
The NIMAS web site Resources page includes a section of DAISY resources focused on DTB-related items, including descriptions of play-back software and hardware, DAISY-capable play-back and production options, and reviews and comparisons of DTB products.
1 - _____. National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard Report, Version 1.0. (2004.) CAST, Inc., Wakefield, MA., p. 2.
4 - Jackson, R. Curriculum Access for Students with Low-Incidence Disabilities: The Promise of Universal Design for Learning. (2005.) NCAC, Wakefield, MA., p. 117.
5 - Flynn, P. (2006). The XML FAQ. http://xml.silmaril.ie/.
6 - DAISY Consortium, http://www.daisy.org/about_us/g_faq.asp#a_17
7 -DAISY Consortium, http://www.daisy.org/about_us/default.asp
The NIMAS Development and Technical Assistance Center, supported by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), works with states, TA systems, disability advocates, national associations, technology experts, publishers and content conversion houses to improve the timely delivery of high quality accessible educational materials to students with disabilities.The NIMAS Center was launched on October 1, 2004.The project officer for both the Development and TA Centers is Bonnie Jones, Ed.D. Opinions expressed herein do not necessarily represent the Department of Education's position or policy.