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Special Education

Office of Special Education

Accessible Instructional Materials (AIM) and Unified English Braille (UEB)

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires school districts to provide accessible versions of instructional materials to students who are blind or otherwise unable to use printed materials.  Students with disabilities should receive materials in accessible formats at the same time as their peers receive their textbooks.

Instructional materials include textbooks and related core materials such as workbooks Accessible formats of instructional materials include Braille, large print, audio and digital text.  Accessible instructional materials afford the flexibility to meet the needs of a broad range of students, even those without disabilities. For more information and resources about accessible formats, please review the National Center on Accessible Educational Materials.

NIMAS/NIMAC

The acronym NIMAS stands for the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard.  It is a technical specification used by publishers, endorsed by the U.S. Department of Education.  NIMAS files are then sent to the National Instructional Materials Access Center (NIMAC), as requested by a school district. 

NIMAC is the repository where all NIMAS files are stored.  It is funded by the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) and was created through amendments adopted to IDEA.  The purpose of NIMAC is to make it easier for districts to obtain materials for students with disabilities, and to do so in a more timely manner. 

NIMAS files are not student-ready. Once a NIMAS file is downloaded from NIMAC by an authorized user, it must be transformed into the required accessible format for the student.  NIMAC houses files for printed textbooks and related core instructional materials published primarily for use in elementary and secondary school instruction.

School districts should note that there is no obligation on the part of a publisher to create NIMAS files or upload them to NIMAC unless specific language is included in the contract/purchase agreement with publishers. The National Center on Accessible Educational Materials has a resource page for including language in contracts or purchase orders.  

Anyone can search the NIMAC, but only authorized users (AUs) of NIMAC can download NIMAS files.  New York’s AUs are the Resource Center for the Visually Impaired, Bookshare, and the New York City Department of Education.

Students eligible to use materials from NIMAC

NIMAC relies on an exemption to copyright law, and as such materials are only available to elementary and secondary students who are blind, visually impaired, have a physical disability, or have a reading disability resulting from an organic dysfunction.  In addition, these students must have an individualized education program (IEP).

Students with a 504 plan and NIMAC

Students who have a 504 plan are not allowed to use materials from NIMAC.  Only students with a qualifying disability and an IEP can use these materials.

Students who are not eligible to use materials from NIMAC

School districts are responsible for providing accessible instructional materials to students with disabilities who need them, regardless of whether the students are eligible for materials from NIMAC.  Schools can purchase accessible materials directly from the publisher, make their own or use materials in the public domain.

School districts should note that all students can access materials purchased directly from publishers or through other commercial options.

Obtaining accessible instructional materials in New York State

NYSED has developed two flowcharts that demonstrate the acquisition process.  There is one flowchart for obtaining Braille and large print, and another flowchart for obtaining audio and digital text.  

Questions may be directed to:

Lisa DeSantis
(585) 343-5384, ext 207 
lisa.desantis@nysed.gov
Fax: (585) 343-0652

Annual Registration of All New Students Classified as Legally Blind for Procurement of Adapted Educational Materials Produced by the American Printing House for the Blind

The Federal Act to Promote the Education of the Blind was enacted by Congress in 1879. This act is a means for providing adapted educational materials to eligible individuals.  The annual registration form is for individuals who are legally blind and newly enrolled in your school/agency by January 1, 2024. Please do not re-register an individual if he/she was previously registered by you or another school/agency unless the individual is new to your school/agency prior to January 2, 2024.

Questions may be directed to:

Lisa DeSantis
(585) 343-5384, ext 207 
lisa.desantis@nysed.gov
Fax: (585) 343-0652

Unified English Braille

The purpose of this memorandum is to provide information to school personnel regarding the timeline for the transition of State assessments to Unified English Braille (UEB) as well as to provide information on the ordering of textbooks and instructional materials in UEB code.

The New York State Education Department (NYSED), Office of Special Education released a field advisory in October of 2015 detailing background information regarding the transition to UEB, along with training resources and the production of instructional materials in the UEB format. 

Additional information regarding the availability of previously released New York State Testing Program Assessments in Unified English Braille (UEB) can be found on the Office of State Assessment website.