Alternative Formats
Providing Printed Materials in Alternative Formats.
People with a wide range of disabilities can find it difficult to read printed documents for a variety of reasons. Dyslexic people frequently experience visual discomfort when reading.
A large percentage of the population have visual impairments with over 2 million in the UK with a 'seeing difficulty'. There are also those not deemed to have a 'seeing difficulty' i.e. wear glasses for reading.
People with colour blindness, tunnel vision or side vision often have problems reading text. People with various other disabilities find it tiring or exhausting to read large amounts of text and prefer information in alternative formats ie listen instead of read.
Under disability legislation is would be deemed reasonable to be able to provide information in various formats without necessarily having all these formats constantly available. Obviously if a document is designed for people with disabilities in the first place then there should be fewer requests for alternatives. For further information you may find the Printed Materials page useful.
It would also be appropriate to state on documents that ‘ This document is available electronically or in other formats on request' to advertise your willingness to provide alternatives.
The University expects anyone who is asked to provide information in alternative formats to be able to do so. The following information may help.
Alternative Formats
Electronic documents:
An electronic alternative (eg Word document) is useful, as many people with disabilities have access to computers with specialist software. With such software a text document can be read via a speech synthesiser or can be magnified via magnification software (later versions of Windows has magnification software as standard). Colours may also be changed to improve clarity or font sizes increased to improve readability. Electronic copies can be either e-mailed or copied to floppy disk or CD for posting.
Large Print:
Either ask what font size is required and change the source document and print it or if the source is not available then photocopy on to A3 paper. You could also enquire if an electronic copy is an acceptable alternative or possibly scan documents and send them electronically.
Braille:
Braille is less frequently used today due to IT alternatives. Braille alternatives are also extremely bulky; expensive to produce, difficult to use and postage is expensive due to bulk and weight. For example a braille alternative to a text only copy of the prospectus would fill a very large box and come in multiple sections. If other alternatives are completely unsuitable then you should ask about specific areas of interest and provide a braille copy of the subset of information. You may have to provide advice to the person making the enquiry so they know the parameters of their choices.
Audio:
Audio cassettes or disks are more frequently requested than braille and are quicker and easier to produce and use than braille. See below for details of a provider of this service.
Braille & Audio Transcription and Large Print Provision:
The RNIB has a recording and transcription service at RNIB and Glasgow City Council Transcription Centre contact :
Centre for Sensory Impaired People
17 Gullane Street,
Glasgow, G11 6AH
Tel/Fax: 0141 334 5530
Text to Speech
Certain types of software can convert text to speech, thereby allowing the user to hear text being spoken back to them. In addition, the user can also create audio files which they can then copy onto an mp3 player or cd-rom.
DAISY (Digital Accessible Information System) Readers
Audio players which are used specifically to play text which has been converted to a DAISY format; specific software must be used to convert text to DAISY.
DAISY is a much more accessible format as it provides direct access to specific points such as pages and enables readers to move from heading to heading, page to page, paragraph to paragraph, phrase to phrase and/or word to word. Mostly used by the visually impaired.
Both types of software are available in the Enabling Support Assistive Technology Suite in the Ayr Campus. However, text-to-speech is available using the Read and Write Gold software which is available on every student pc.
Tactile Drawings :
Some visually impaired people may request a tactile copy of a diagram. The Enabling Support Assistive Technology Suite can produce tactile drawings in A4 size.
For further information, email:
enablingsupport.paisley@uws..ac.uk
The Publisher Lookup UK site also provides a useful guide for academics wishing to know more about alternative formats.
