Text Conversion

Accessible Media Services (AMS) is the unit of the Division of Disability Resources and Educational Services (DRES) responsible for providing course materials in alternative formats to University of Illinois students with documented disabilities.

Students must sign the Text Conversion Unit Accessible Media Format Agreement to receive services.

  1. Student Requirements
  2. Process to Receive E-Text Services
    1. Courses with E-Reserves and Web-Based Materials
    2. Optional materials
    3. Due dates
    4. Archived materials
    5. Alternate Formats Available

Student Requirements

DRES works to ensure that appropriate accommodations are provided for students who are eligible for services. In order to maintain the integrity of the services offered in accordance with the law, the following rules apply to students who use Accessible Media Services:

  • The student must qualify as having a disability that is covered by 2 U.S.C. Section 135a; 46 Stats. 1487. Students' disabilities shall be verified by providing DRES with an application for service and appropriate documentation of their disability per DRES documentation guidelines.
  • Students must show a receipt for the purchase of their copy of the textbooks to be converted before 1st day of classes, or students will be denied access to the Compass2g website.
  • The student must currently be registered at the University of Illinois at the time of the student's request for alternative formats. Materials that are for a qualified graduate student, who is teaching a class will also be converted, provided that a syllabus with due dates is provided.
  • The student agrees to keep their user name and password private, and also agrees that they will not copy or reproduce any e-text materials received, nor allow anyone else to do so. Sharing of materials that have been produced solely for a student with a print disability will be reported to the appropriate campus personnel, as this is a violation of the student code of conduct and Copyright law.
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  • Process to Receive E-Text Services:
  • Students submit their schedules to the Accessible Media Services Office (DRES-Accessible-Media@illinois.edu) immediately after they Advance enroll.  Students will be notified via email of the policy and procedures and the due date for each semester.

STUDENTS WILL NEED TO DO THESE NEXT TWO ITEMS SIMULTANEOUSLY:

  • Students will email their professors to request book lists as soon as they register for classes.  Students who have difficulty getting a response from instructors should contact their DRES case manager for help.  An example of the SUMMER 2013 and FALL 2013 REQUEST LETTER can be found here.

AND

FOR SUMMER AND FALL 2013, DISREGARD THE FOLLOWING:  FOLLOW THESE PROCEDURES DUE TO UNEXPECTED CIRCUMSTANCES

 

  • Email Bonnie Scott, who is our contact at Illini Union Bookstore at scott5@illinois.edu in the following manner:
  • CC:  dres-accessible-media@illinois.edu
  • Subject Line: DRES STUDENT (you will get priority attention only if this is in the Subject Line)
  • Give Bonnie your schedule, complete with Section Numbers
  • She will reply with either a book list, or that no book list has been submitted.
  • You will send booklists to the Accessible Media Office (dres-accessible-media@illinois.edu) as soon as you receive the information. 
  • Bonnie will let you know if the bookstore has any of the books in the warehouse – IF THEY DO, PURCHASE THEM IMMEDIATELY AND ASK TO HAVE THEM DELIVERED TO DRES.  IF THEY ARE NOT AVAILABLE FROM IUB, PURCHASE THEM ONLINE (AMAZON, BARNES AND NOBLE, etc) AND HAVE THEM SENT TO DRES IN THE QUICKEST METHOD AVAILABLE.

***Books for the SPRING 2013 Session MUST arrive in our office BEFORE NOVEMBER 16 at 5pm to be guaranteed to be completed for the start of the SPRING Session (January 14, 2013).***

NEW FOR ALL ILLINOIS DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES/DIVISION OF REHABILITATION SERVICES (DHS)/STUDENTS WHOSE BOOKS ARE PAID FOR BY DHS:

  • Students who have their books paid for by DHS will need to sign a form giving DRES permission to share your UIN with the Illini Union Bookstore.  You may print it and bring it our office, email it back or fax it to our office.  Any books that are purchased for a class that are dropped are your responsibility. (Form attached) 

Books that arrive AFTER November 16, will be put into a first-come, first-serve queue, and will be converted in that order.  All books arriving after the November 16 deadline MUST be sent with an Alternate Request Form indicating what chapters are to be converted and the due dates for each chapter.   Students can check on the status of their books by checking the following queue web page here.

Book receipts will need to be turned in to the Accessible Media Office by the first day of class in order to access your materials on Compass2g.

  • Books that are turned into Accessible Media Services by the posted due dates for each semester will have their materials ready for the beginning of the semester,  given available resources and expertise. Braille, tactile graphics, and other technical materials may need to be handled on a different schedule and would be negotiated with the student, the student's case manager, and the Accessible Media Supervisor. Any book turned in after the posted due date will be placed on a wait list and completed in its entirety in a first come/first served manner. 
  • In the case of e-reserves or web-based materials, the student must notify Accessible Media Services that the information is available and needs to be converted.  Then the office will let the student know to either download the materials and bring them in on a CD or e-mail them to the Accessible Media Supervisor, if the materials are not posted on the library's website within the first 2 weeks of class.
  • There are instances where an item is in very poor condition and cannot be scanned. We will inform the student of the situation and ask if they wish for us to do a library search for the item in order to get a better scan. The student will be given the option of having the materials converted after their due date or not to have it converted.
  • In order to obtain previously scanned materials from other entities (e.g., other colleges, LearningAlly, Bookshare, AccessTextNetwork) it may be necessary to share the student's name with that entity for legal purposes. The student gives DRES permission to share their name with only those entities sharing a scanned copy of the textbook. If the student refuses to share their name, any book that could be received from another source will not be scanned.
  • Web downloads are monitored during the semester. Students who do not access their website to download materials will need to discuss their future alternate format needs with their DRES case manager to ascertain whether alternate format materials should continue to be produced.

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Course Materials

Courses with E-reserves and web-based materials

Many courses include E-reserves, and other web-based materials (e.g., Compass2g, Blackboard, Moodle) that might contain PDF's and PowerPoint presentations that are not readily accessible to students with screen readers. In cases where that information is known prior to the start of the semester, AMS staff will try to obtain the materials so that they can be converted prior to the start of the semester.  In those cases where it is not possible, it becomes the students responsibility to obtain the materials from the instructor, or download them from the internet and forward them to the AMS staff for convertion.  AMS staff is NOT responsible for monitoring individual course sites for new postings.

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Optional materials

Professors will often list optional textbooks or journal articles that can be read by the student if they choose. The student MUST inform staff if they wish optional materials to be converted. We will, however, convert journal articles or book chapters that are necessary for research papers for courses, but the student must provide the materials to be converted and a due date must be mutually agreed upon.

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Due dates

It is our goal to have materials that have been brought to the AMS by the stated deadline for each semester, converted and ready at the start of the semester.  Any books or articles brought in after the state deadline will be placed on a wait list and converted on a first come/first served basis.  All books arriving after the stated deadline for each semester MUST be sent with an Alternate Request Form indicating what chapters are to be converted and the due dates for each chapter.   Students can check on the status of their books by checking the following queue web page here.

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Archived materials

The Accessible Media Services Office agrees to provide materials in an electronic format for the semester that the student is enrolled in class. Previous semester's materials are not archived, and will be removed from the website at the end of every semester, with the exception of graduate students who make prior arrangements to have their materials remain on the site.

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Alternate Formats Available

  • Word (.doc)
  • Adobe Portable Document Format (.pdf)
  • Braille
  • Large print
  • DAISY

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