Adrian
This is enormously helpful, in fact I have shared it in essence with our students, perhaps it would be important for assessment of needs assessors to take note when recommending reading materials for VI students, apologies if many assessors already knew this.
What is interesting is that we have had one good experience of Pearson providing an electronic copy as has Liverpool Hope (was it?) but no-one else mentions that they have had any success. I guess everyone else is busy scanning whole reading lists then?
Chris Baxter
Disability Service Co-ordinator
The Nottingham Trent University
Burton Street
Nottingham
NG1 4BU
0115 8486163 voice and minicom
[log in to unmask]
www.ntu.ac.uk/sss/disability/index.html
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-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion list for disabled students and their support staff. [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Adrian Higginbotham
Sent: 26 October 2005 11:54
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Electronic books
Theoreticly simple but legally quite complex area - we're in the realms of the visually impaired persons copyright act 2002 which means that since 29th of October 2003 visually impaired persons can legally make accessible copies of books which they own. Accessible copies can be loaned, sold, given away etc as long as they remain with the original purchased copy (EG both accessible and in accessible can't be used seperately by different people) and of course the accessible copy can only be used by other people covered by the act.
The act also allows for approved boddies to make accessible copies on behalf of visually impaired persons under licence from applicable licencing boddies. There is no actual approval process, the term refers to trusted 3rd parties such as charities and education institutions. Again same rules in regard to ownership etc. Approved boddies can charge for the accessible copies but not more than the cost of producing that accessible copy.
The licencing body which covers most material in the UK is the Copyright Licencing Authority (CLA) which operates a number of licencing schemes in relation to the copyright (VIP) act 2002. 1. For use within a single education institution (unique legal enterty) EG for students or staff of that institution who are visually impaired - CLA offers a CLA VIP protacol which extends the CLA photocopy licence allowing transcription to accessible formats of owned materials for use within the institution. 2. CLA offer a CLA VIP licence to approved boddies which allows for the sharing of accessible copies between approved boddies for use of members covered by the copyright (VIP) act 2002. CLA licences are free and issued for 12 months upon application from the CLA.
The 2002 act defines a visually impaired person as someone who can not read printed material because of low vision or who is not able to physically "read" EG can move their eye to track, or can not hold / manipulate the pages of a book. This notably excludes Dyslexic people and BSL users for whom the issues is considered as in processing the printed word rather than accessing it although there is some flexibility in relation to certain types of diagnosed Dyslexia - see
http://www.dyslexic.com/copyright
Noteable points in respect of this discussion are that the act places no obligation upon publishers to assist in the production of accessible copies EG they don't need to supply electronic source material. The implication is that to date publishers have done enough by allowing others to transcribe owned materials in to an accessible format.
As others have suggested some publishers have on occasion supplied electronic copies of documents upon request however this is a good will gesture and in actual fact not always as helpful as it would first appear.
In theory an electronic copy is more flexible than the ink-print edition however the only e-version which print disabled persons should be given access to is the final version EG with all corrections and revisions in place. Publishers rarely archive their own E-versions but rather this is held by the printer/designer and is most likely in a form which would present significant access barriers to the end user for straight reading purposes EG the print codes make it "inaccessible" - it isn't in an end user appropriate format etc. The Museums Libraries and Archiving council recently completed a feasibility study of ways of addressing this issue.
Which is the most appropriate E-format is a key question - Daisy is excellent for usability and structure but relatively unknown still - not many supported players, certainly non that support media other than audio away from the PC. PDF still has some accessibility issues although does now at least have the possibility of supporting the needs of print disabled users (including VI) and in some ways is better suited to the needs of many than Daisy. XML is possibly the most flexible but isn't as secure as Daisy or PDF so unlikely to be popular with publishers although as it is the format which many of the largest print houses are now using for format source material (ratehr than pdf) it should have possibilities as the route to for example Daisy.
Finally: as a quick fix in this particular case someone already mentioned safari.oreilly.com which for a low subscription allows you to access E-versions of many titles from O'Reilly themselves, but also Pearson Education (who own Addison Wesley and many other publishers), mainly in the computing, self development, and business sectors. Subscription doesn't let you donwload titles but does let you view them online for up to 30 days. For example up to 5 titles a month costs around £8 per month.
Please note that the above is all my own understanding of the legislation but have not clarified this so you should do so yourself within your institutions legal advice framework before taking any action.
Adrian Higginbotham
Accessibility and inclusion adviser
British Educational Communications and Technology Agency - BECTA
Tel: Direct dial 024 7679 7333 - Internal extension #2287
Email: [log in to unmask]
Web: http://www.becta.org.uk/
BECTA, Millburn Hill Road, Science Park, Coventry, CV4 7JJ
-----Original Message-----
From: Baxter, Chris [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 25 October 2005 14:37
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Electronic books
Has anyone had any success getting books electronically, I've emailed the publishers at permissions @ Pearson and the RNIB library, no response from either, principally I am looking for books to support visually impaired students on Business and computing courses, electronic versions preferable. Anyone got any good ideas?
Chris Baxter
Disability Service Co-ordinator
The Nottingham Trent University
Burton Street
Nottingham
NG1 4BU
0115 8486163 voice and minicom
[log in to unmask]
www.ntu.ac.uk/sss/disability/index.html
[log in to unmask]
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