The Secretary of Education proposes to establish the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS) as required under sections 612(a)(23)(A) and 674(e)(4) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, as amended by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA). The purpose of the NIMAS is to help increase the availability and timely delivery of print instructional materials in accessible formats to blind or other persons with print disabilities in elementary schools and secondary schools.

NIMAS files are XML-based DAISY-3 files, which have similar structure as HTML files, but have the ability to implement enhanced features and capabilities within the file format. DAISY-3 (NIMAS) files are sometimes referred to as Digital TextBook (DTB) files, and have 6 different types:

• Audio with Title Element only (DTBs consisting of audio files with no book structure or book text provided in the file)
• Audio with NCX (DTBs consisting of files containing audio and a file that contains all points in the book to which the user may navigate, but no book text provided)
• Audio with NCX and partial text (DTBs consisting of audio files and containing book structure, and items such as indices and glossaries)
• Audio and full text (The most complete DTBs, consisting of audio files, files that contain book structure, and complete book text, and contain audio and text synchronization)
• Full text and some audio (DTBs containing files that indicate book structure, complete book text, and only some pre-recorded audio files, mostly supplementary, such as dictionary words and pronunciations)
• Text and no audio (DTBs that have electronic text with structure, complete book text, but no audio files)

As a digital textbook format, NIMAS files are transformable, in that they can be changed into speech (for the visually impaired), haptic (for readers of Braille), and can be converted to other languages (such as sign language or other verbal languages). Digital textbooks in the NIMAS format also have the added benefit of being able to incorporate embedded supports, such as supplemental graphics or video, prompts, vocabulary supports, and assessment and feedback.

NIMAS files address some of the problems that standard printed files and books have, such as The NIMAS format was considered because of its incorporation of Universal Design (UD) principles – namely, it is transformable media that allows it to be presented in multiple formats for different abilities and learning styles. By incorporating UD in its architecture, NIMAS file format increases learning opportunities for everyone.

More information about NIMAS can be found at the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) site for NIMAS at: http://nimas.cast.org/

If you have any questions about NIMAS, IDEA 2004, or any other electronic text concerns contact the Great Lakes ADA & IT Center’s Accessible IT Initiative online or toll free at 800-949-4232 (V/TTY).