CAST: Universal Design for Learning

National Standard Published, Facilitates Access to Instructional Materials
NIMAS 1.1 will benefit K-12 students with disabilities

Wakefield, Mass., Aug. 14, 2006 --Aiming to improve education for K-12 students with disabilities, the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), U.S. Department of Education today published the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS) in the Federal Register.

These final regulations clarify the NIMAS (pronounced NYE-mas) requirements for state and local education agencies as detailed in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004. They reaffirm the responsibilities of these agencies to provide all students with print disabilities accessible, alternate-format versions (braille, audio, etext, and large print) of instructional materials, such as textbooks, in a timely manner. 

 “Publishers will now be required to use the NIMAS standard when preparing source files for content copyrighted as of July 19, 2006 and requested by states and local education agencies,” according to Chuck Hitchcock, project director of the NIMAS Technical Assistance Center.  NIMAS 1.1 will guide publishers in producing and distributing digital versions of instructional materials that can be easily converted to accessible formats.

“These regulations further clarify the obligation of State and Local Education Agencies to meet the needs of students who cannot effectively use print materials,” says Skip Stahl, project director of the NIMAS Development Center. 

The original NIMAS specification was published as part of the 2004 IDEA regulations. This new version corrects technical errors, incorporates updates reflecting international standards, and clarifies some information relating to the inclusion of image and PDF files. Changes were recommended by the NIMAS Technical Committee, a panel of national experts in publishing, disability, and education organized by CAST.  The OSEP-funded NIMAS Development and Technical Assistance Centers are housed at CAST.

2006 is the first year in which publishers are preparing NIMAS files sets for deposit in a national repository of digital materials. The repository—known as the National Instructional Materials Access Center (NIMAC) and hosted by the American Printing House for the Blind—will provide states and local education agencies with appropriate instructional materials for qualifying students. To date, 48 states and the District of Columbia have “opted in” or have stated their intention to “opt in” to the program, essentially endorsing the national standard.

NIMAS 1.1: The Technical Standard is published as Appendix C in the IDEA 2004 regulations and is also available from http://nimas.cast.org/about/proposal/index.html.

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