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NIMAS Tagging 101

April 2021

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About ScribeConcepts

ScribeConcepts sets the standard for publishing project management expertise. We strategically engineer projects of every size and provision teams of writers, editors, copyeditors, and designers for multi-channel publishing. We make the impossible possible.

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Why do we do this work?

Educational publishers are obligated to provide electronic filesets of student-facing print instructional materials in the NIMAS format
NIMAS developers are responsible for creating and submitting these filesets to NIMAC
NIMAC – National Instructional Materials Accessibility Center
NIMAS – National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard

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Origin of NIMAC/NIMAS

IDEA – Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
IDEA 2004 – Established NIMAS and NIMAC
CAST (Center for Applied Special Technology) – Founded in 1984, CAST is a nonprofit education research organization that works to expand learning opportunities for all individuals through Universal Design for Learning.
AEM (Formerly AIM) – Accessible Educational Materials; Branch of CAST focused on accessibility in education

On November 17, 2004, a bipartisan House-Senate conference committee approved a final special education reform bill that will reauthorize the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and set in motion important reforms that will help teachers, parents, and schools ensure every student with disabilities receives a quality education. The bipartisan agreement is based on legislation authored by House Education Reform Subcommittee Chairman Mike Castle (R-DE) that passed the House in 2003 with bipartisan support. The measure includes reforms recommended in 2002 by President Bush’s special education commission, as well as key elements of the IDEA reauthorization bill passed by the Senate in 2004.
IDEA 2004 established the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS), a technical standard used to prepare electronic files to convert print instructional materials into specialized formats (braille, audio, digital text, or large print). IDEA 2004 also created the National Instructional Materials Access Center (NIMAC), a national center that stores NIMAS files. Students may receive materials through the NIMAC if they: (1) are served under IDEA; and (2) qualify under copyright law. States and districts must ensure that all students who need AIM, regardless of whether they qualify to receive materials through the NIMAC, receive these materials in a “timely manner.”

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What do we deliver to NIMAC?

A NIMAS fileset consists of:

XML content file
A package file (OPF)
A PDF-format copy of title page �and ISBN and copyright information pages
A full set of content images in SVG, JPG, or PNG format.

On November 17, 2004, a bipartisan House-Senate conference committee approved a final special education reform bill that will reauthorize the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and set in motion important reforms that will help teachers, parents, and schools ensure every student with disabilities receives a quality education. The bipartisan agreement is based on legislation authored by House Education Reform Subcommittee Chairman Mike Castle (R-DE) that passed the House in 2003 with bipartisan support. The measure includes reforms recommended in 2002 by President Bush’s special education commission, as well as key elements of the IDEA reauthorization bill passed by the Senate in 2004.
IDEA 2004 established the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS), a technical standard used to prepare electronic files to convert print instructional materials into specialized formats (braille, audio, digital text, or large print). IDEA 2004 also created the National Instructional Materials Access Center (NIMAC), a national center that stores NIMAS files. Students may receive materials through the NIMAC if they: (1) are served under IDEA; and (2) qualify under copyright law. States and districts must ensure that all students who need AIM, regardless of whether they qualify to receive materials through the NIMAC, receive these materials in a “timely manner.”

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What is XML?

XML stands for EXtensible �Markup Language
XML was designed to store �and transport data
XML is a markup language �much like HTML
However, XML was designed to carry data (not display data)

On November 17, 2004, a bipartisan House-Senate conference committee approved a final special education reform bill that will reauthorize the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and set in motion important reforms that will help teachers, parents, and schools ensure every student with disabilities receives a quality education. The bipartisan agreement is based on legislation authored by House Education Reform Subcommittee Chairman Mike Castle (R-DE) that passed the House in 2003 with bipartisan support. The measure includes reforms recommended in 2002 by President Bush’s special education commission, as well as key elements of the IDEA reauthorization bill passed by the Senate in 2004.
IDEA 2004 established the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS), a technical standard used to prepare electronic files to convert print instructional materials into specialized formats (braille, audio, digital text, or large print). IDEA 2004 also created the National Instructional Materials Access Center (NIMAC), a national center that stores NIMAS files. Students may receive materials through the NIMAC if they: (1) are served under IDEA; and (2) qualify under copyright law. States and districts must ensure that all students who need AIM, regardless of whether they qualify to receive materials through the NIMAC, receive these materials in a “timely manner.”

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What is XML?

The same XML data can be �used in many different �presentation scenarios
Specific syntax rules also �set XML apart from HTML �(e.g., closing tags are required, XML tags are case sensitive, XML elements must be properly nested, etc.)

On November 17, 2004, a bipartisan House-Senate conference committee approved a final special education reform bill that will reauthorize the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and set in motion important reforms that will help teachers, parents, and schools ensure every student with disabilities receives a quality education. The bipartisan agreement is based on legislation authored by House Education Reform Subcommittee Chairman Mike Castle (R-DE) that passed the House in 2003 with bipartisan support. The measure includes reforms recommended in 2002 by President Bush’s special education commission, as well as key elements of the IDEA reauthorization bill passed by the Senate in 2004.
IDEA 2004 established the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS), a technical standard used to prepare electronic files to convert print instructional materials into specialized formats (braille, audio, digital text, or large print). IDEA 2004 also created the National Instructional Materials Access Center (NIMAC), a national center that stores NIMAS files. Students may receive materials through the NIMAC if they: (1) are served under IDEA; and (2) qualify under copyright law. States and districts must ensure that all students who need AIM, regardless of whether they qualify to receive materials through the NIMAC, receive these materials in a “timely manner.”

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NIMAS Team Roles

XML Editors: Build the XML structure from the published book and transfer content. They also run validations and troubleshoot issues.
Metadata Packaging & Delivery Team: Builds the “wrap” for each book, which provides the NIMAC system key information, and submit the actual files.
Image Capture Team (Graphic Designers): Process image files in the correct format and stage image structure for alt-text writers.

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NIMAS Team Roles

Style Editors: Create style guides for alt-text and write alt-text and prod-notes (the tag used to explain context of items that cannot be included in alt-text descriptions).
Copy Editors: Review and copyedit alt-text and prod-notes for grammar, typos, and adherence to style guide.
Production Manager: Defines the project infrastructure and manages the process end-to-end.

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Image and Equation Capture

Naming conventions and file hierarchy
XML is a markup language much like HTML
Alt text and long descriptions

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XML Development

Front matter
Body matter (The meat)
Rear matter
Images, tables, etc.

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Final Prep and Delivery to NIMAC

Create OPF file – Mostly metadata (data that describes other data)
Add PDF of cover image
Other miscellaneous tasks
Delivery of fileset to NIMAC point of contact

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NIMAC Certification

Acceptance

Fileset added to their searchable database
Scribe notified of acceptance

Rejection

Fileset returned with error log
Scribe corrects errors and sends back for retesting

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Chris Brasted

Chief Strategist | ScribeConcepts

Chris@ScribeConcepts.com

FOR QUESTIONS CONTACT. . .