What is Alternate Media?
Alternate formats include:
- taped text
- large print
- Braille
- tactile diagrams
- closed captioned videos
- electronic text or E-Text (such as Microsoft Word, Adobe PDF, Kurzweil KES, or text files).
Alternate Media simply refers to changing the way information is presented. A print document can be read aloud into a tape recorder. A video tape can have closed captions added. A textbook can be scanned into a computer, proof read, and formatted as a screen reader accessible electronic document. These three methods all change the format of the information, but they do not change the information itself.
Procedure
- A Supportive Services & Instruction Counselor verifies the disability, determines the need, and authorizes the appropriate type of alternate media on the Alternate Media request form. This must be done each year.
- Alternate media services are requested and approved by your counselor.
- Students must sign the Alternate Media Request form, agreeing not to copy or reproduce any alternate media provided by Supportive Services & Instruction, nor to allow anyone else to do so. Student copyright violations, including the improper distribution of electronic text, may result in suspension of Supportive Services & Instruction Services.
- Students need to bring their proof of purchase and their textbook to the Adaptive Computer Technology Lab, during the appropriate Open Lab hours.
- Students may be required to provide their textbook for conversion to an alternate format. The binding may be removed from the book to allow the book to be scanned. If this is necessary, the book will be rebound with a comb binding. This takes from 2 to 4 days.
- Students should submit requests as soon as they register for classes. Requests made after the start of classes will be honored; however, there may be a delay of 1 to 2 weeks, dependent on the alternate media request backlog.
- Students may be required to provide a course syllabus.
- Preference will be given to the requested format; however, the recommendation of Supportive Services & Instruction professionals will be used in determining the specific format for each request.
- The Adaptive Technology Specialist will inform the student of the projected timeline and of the alternate media format that is to be created.
- Students may inform their instructors of their need to receive class handouts in alternate formats at the same time their classmates receive the handouts in print format, and ask the instructors to work with the Adaptive Technology Specialist.
- Students should notify the Adaptive Technology Specialist if they drop or withdraw from a course.
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Alternate Media Request Timeline
- Upon receipt of a request, the Adaptive Technology Specialist will e-mail or phone the student or instructor with a time line for the project. Students will receive another call or e-mail when the material is ready for pick up at the Adaptive Computer Technology Lab. Requests from instructors will be delivered to the instructor's campus mailbox or to the Supportive Services & Instruction Testing Center, as appropriate.
- The amount of time it takes depends on the type of starting material and the number of pages. If the material is already on a computer, such as a MS Word document, alternate media can be created immediately or within in a few hours.
- A printout of a course syllabus, handout, or other short document usually can be done within a day.
- Tactile diagrams take 2 to 5 days.
- Closed-captioned videotapes are out sourced and can take 2 to 6 weeks.
- Textbooks take between 1 day and 4 weeks, depending on the size of the book and the format needed. Students are encouraged to submit Alternate Media Requests as soon as they register for classes.
- Production times may be faster or slower depending on the number of requests received each semester.
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Alternate Media Request Form
The Alternate Media Request Form is available from your counselor or the Adaptive Technolgy Specialist.
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Alternate Media for Faculty
The Adaptive Technology Specialist and Accomodations Specialist work closely with faculty members to insure that students with disabilities get course handouts, quizzes, and tests in alternate formats at the same time as their classmates.
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