As noted on the Laws and Policy page:
For those SAUs who did assure coordination with NIMAC (“opt-in”), any print instructional material adoption process, procurement contract, or other purchase of print instructional materials must include a written requirement that the publisher:
- Prepare and, on or before the delivery of the print instructional materials, provide to the NIMAC, electronic files containing the contents of the print instructional materials using the NIMAS, and/or
- Produce and provide the print instructional materials in specialized formats. (20 U.S.C. 1412(a)(23)(C) and §300.172(c)).
The print instructional materials covered by such contract or purchase agreement language include print textbooks and related print core materials that are written and published primarily for use in elementary and secondary school instruction and are required by a state or local education agency for use by students in the classroom.
Please note that, in a letter dated June 22, 2012, the U.S. Department of Education encouraged SEAs and LEAs to ask publishers to also use the MathML3 Structure Guidelines recommended by the NIMAS Center, stating that these guidelines reflect the most effective method of providing accessible print instructional materials involving mathematical and scientific content to students who are blind or with print disabilities and do not conflict with the minimum requirements in the NIMAS.
Below is suggested language for inclusion on SAU’s textbook purchase orders. The SAU is free to modify this to suit their needs – use this link for a editable version (MS-Word) that can be downloaded and used.
By agreeing to deliver the materials marked with “NIMAS” on this contract or purchase order, the publisher agrees to prepare and submit, on or before ___/___/_____ a NIMAS file set to the NIMAC that complies with the terms and procedures set forth by the National Instructional Materials Access Center (NIMAC), (IDEA Title I, Part D, sec. 674(e)). The publisher also agrees to mark up materials eligible for NIMAS submission that contain mathematical and scientific instructional content by using the MathML3 (refer to latest applicable version) module of the DAISY/NIMAS Structure Guidelines as posted and maintained at the DAISY Consortium web site. Should the vendor be a distributor of the materials and not the publisher, the distributor agrees to notify the publisher immediately of its obligation to submit NIMAS filesets of the purchased products to the NIMAC. The files will be used for the production of alternate formats as permitted under the law for students with print disabilities (IDEA Title I, Part B, sec. 612(a)).
For additional information about NIMAS, please refer to http://aem.cast.org.
For additional information about the NIMAC, please refer to http://nimac.us.
This is page __ of __ of this contract or purchase order.
** If you need the textbook in September you would write a convenient date similar to 8-1-2017, to assure that you can then access the materials well in advance of the first day they will be used.
For Digital Materials: Purchase Accessible Learning Materials (PALM) – Sample Contract Language
Contract language for the purchase of accessible digital materials could be combined with contract language for the purchase of print materials. A sample statement for digital materials is:
Vendor represents that the materials delivered under this contract or purchase order conform to, at a minimum, the standards for accessibility as set forth in Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended (29 U.S.C. § 794d), and its implementing regulations (36 C.F.R. § 1194), or Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 (minimum of Level AA conformance).
Should any portion of the materials not conform to the aforementioned standards of accessibility, vendor agrees to provide a written explanation of the reason for non-conformance, and grants permission to create accessible versions for students who meet the appropriate copyright criteria.
For additional information, please refer to http://aem.cast.org .
Revised: 9/4/2020 based upon National Center on Accessible Educational Materials documents see: http://aem.cast.org/policies/local-purchase-order-contract-language.html