T-Base Accessible Textbook Catalog: Benefits

Speaker(s)

• Jeff Jullion, Senior Account Manager, T-Base Communications USA, Inc.
• Evan Yamanishi, Accessibility Lead, Director of the Norton Lab, W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Session Details

• Length of Session: 1-hr
• Format: Lecture
• Expertise Level: Intermediate
• Type of session: General Conference

Summary

Industry experts (a publisher and an alternate format provider) present how an accessible textbook catalog is revolutionizing the process for procuring accessible textbooks and benefitting post-secondary institutions and their students who are blind or have low vision.

Abstract

Procuring textbooks in braille or reflowed large print has traditionally been a time-intensive and costly process that has disadvantaged students who must endure long wait times for materials in their preferred format. Finally: there is a new, more efficient process. Hear from two key players in this process (the publisher, who owns the textbook and the company that produces the textbook in accessible formats) on the benefits (e.g. turnaround within 10 business days) of ordering via the T-Base accessible textbook catalog. Learn how to support the growth of the catalog so that more students receive their preferred format faster and how to have your say on the future of the catalog.

Keypoints

1. DSS offices across North America struggle to provide accessible learning materials in a timely fashion.
2. T-Base's accessible textbook catalog speeds up the procurement process and reduces the cost.
3. With help from our partners, the list of titles readily available in accessible formats is expected to grow.

Disability Areas

Vision

Topic Areas

Accessible Educational Materials, Alternate Format, Procurement, Uncategorized

Speaker Bio(s)

Jeff Jullion

Jeff Jullion, Senior Account Manager at T-Base Communications, serves as the primary point of contact for T-Base customers in the education industry. For customers in post-secondary, k-12 and publishing, Jeff delivers high-quality textbooks and other instructional materials in braille, reflowed large print and other accessible formats. Jeff has spent decades in communication with DSS Directors and others tasked with providing accessible textbooks for students who are blind or have low vision at universities and colleges across North America and is familiar with the many challenges they face.

Evan Yamanishi

Evan was W. W. Norton's first accessibility specialist in 2015 when he moved to New York from Michigan, where he previously worked in disability support at Lansing Community College. A brief MI-AHEAD board member, Evan brought a very real-world focus on the user to accessibility at Norton. One of his first initiatives was to gain buy-in by presenting universal design as an imperative for Norton's future. A core member of the ARIA Authoring Practices Task Force and member of the Publishing Working Group in the W3C, Evan's focus has shifted in recent years to building systems of scale through standards and best practices. The Norton Lab, an incubator for the future of publishing, was created in response to Evan's push for innovation through accessibility.