| Previous Proposal | Return to Schedule | Next Proposal |
Dolphin Easy Converter - An Alt Format Production One-Stop Shop | Proposal No: 870 | Bios & Handouts |
| Length of Session (in hours): 2-hr | Format: Lab | Expertise Level: Not provided | Type of session: Not provided |
Summary of Session |
| The alternate format preferred by students and that best fits their needs depends on several factors, such as the nature of the disability, the type of class, the type of material, etc. Those of us responsible for the production of alt format often find it time-consuming, expensive, cumbersome, and even impossible to manage effective, efficient conversions of a source file to the various formats requested by students with a variety of needs and preferences. This presentation is a hands-on session dedicated to using Easy Converter’s conversion wizard to output 1 source file (MS Word, open EPUB, PDF, HTML, Text, scanned paper documents, NIMAS, DAISY, RTF, Kurzweil 3000, Image file) to 5 alternate formats (DAISY, MP3 Audio, Large Print, Braille, Text). |
Abstract |
| Regardless of the size of our institution and our level of expertise, all of us who are responsible for alternate format production and delivery are challenged with effectively and efficiently converting raw source files to a variety of student-ready alternate formats to satisfy individual access preferences and legal requirements. In this session, we will input 1 source file into Easy Converter, use the intermediate OCR and MS Word editing options to apply some document structuring best practices, and output the edited material to 5 alternate formats. |
Julie K. Balassa earned her BA degree in Psychology from McGill University and MA degree in Education of the Deaf from Columbia University. She started her career in New York City as a teacher of the deaf and subsequently as a nationally certified interpreter for the deaf. She initiated a pilot program to teach deaf children with autism, schizophrenia, and brain injury and served as a consultant regarding the education of this population. She sat on the board of New York Metro Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID). She subsequently became a staff interpreter for the Connecticut Commission on the Deaf and Hearing Impaired, after which she relocated to Florida and worked as a freelance interpreter and desktop publisher. She joined the staff of Valencia College in 2003 as a counselor for a TRIO grant program serving students with disabilities, where in addition to her responsibilities as the grant's academic advisor she was responsible for supervising the grant’s assistive technology services, data collection systems, and tutoring program. She became college-wide coordinator of Valencia's Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services, Assistive Technology Services, and Alternate Format Services in 2005 and has continued oversight of these areas since her reclassification in 2007 as college-wide Assistant Director of the college's Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD). She is the college's point of contact with publishers regarding accessibility, serves as a technical and educational resource for the OSD and for disability service providers throughout the country, and is a frequent presenter on alternate format production, assistive technologies, and on issues impacting access for students who are deaf, hard of hearing, or legally blind. She continues to hold national RID CI and CT certification and sits on the Advisory Committee of the Access Text Network.
to be provided by Jeff Bazer