Alternate Format Accommodations for Students
Alternate format accommodations are determined on a case-by-case basis, in consideration of an individual’s disability documentation or presentation of the functional limitations of a print related disability preventing them from reading traditional text material.
Students may use text-to-speech technology (i.e. electronic reader) to have alphabet based format text read aloud. Therefore, alphabet based format text material (PDF, word documents, online articles, etc.) must be accessible to text-to-speech programs.
Alternate Format of Course Material Provided by Instructor: Enlarged Print
Paper documents provided to the student need to be printed in a minimum of 16 point font. Enlarging some material (manipulatives/ images/charts, etc.) may impact the integrity of material, or may not be possible. Personal portable magnification may be a better alternative to manual enlargement for the student. Please communicate with ODR if you have material which cannot be enlarged.
Alternate Format of Course Material Provided by Instructor: Accessible Electronic Version
All course materials, including documents, tests, articles, etc. provided to the class needs to be accessible to assistive technologies via an accessible electronic version.
Photocopies from books are generally not accessible, unless they have been converted using optical character recognition(OCR). Best practices for making and converting accessible documents and creating accessible course content can be found at accessibility.appstate.edu
Alternate Format of Materials
The following formats are generally available:
Electronic text through ODR:
Electronic text from the publisher
Text scanned and edited
Audio version through outside sources (many require personal memberships):
Individuals may use university equipment to scan and convert text or request materials through ODR. Training is available to assist individuals in conversion of materials.
Electronic Format of Books Procedure
For non-rental textbooks individuals should first attempt to purchase accessible versions of books, if available.
Once approved by ODR for alternate format individuals are encouraged to contact the course instructor or the University Bookstore (www.bookstore.appstate.edu) to obtain the following information for each textbook: title, author, publisher, edition, and ISBN number.
To request an electronic format individuals must complete anElectronic Format Text Request. ODR contacts publishers to obtain electronic format versions, or permission to convert, therefore early submission of requests is vital to ensure timeliness of material. If the publisher is unable to provide an electronic format, ODR will contact individuals to discuss alternative options.
Before ODR can release the electronic format of textbooks individuals must sign an Electronic Format Textbook Agreement in ODR and submit proof of purchase/rentals.
After obtaining electronic format from ODR individuals may useassistive technology such as text to speech or screen magnification to read the material. Alternate format materials are for individual use only and may not be shared; any duplication of materials is prohibited.
Alternate Format of Other Materials Procedure
Individuals requesting other materials such as articles, booklets, manuals, etc. to be converted to alternate format (e.g., accessible PDF) should seek to determine if an accessible version is available. If an accessible version is not readily available, a request should be to ODR by completing the Alternate Format of Other Materials Request. ODR will contact individuals to discuss alternative options.
Individuals requesting an alternate format of other materials should complete an Alternate Format of Other Materials Request.
For all other requests individuals should contact ODR directly.