FR Doc 06-6340
[Federal Register: July 19, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 138)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 41083-41089]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr19jy06-23]
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Part III
Department of Education
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34 CFR Part 300
National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard; Final Rule
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
34 CFR Part 300
RIN 1820-AB56
National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard
AGENCY: Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services,
Department of Education.
ACTION: Final regulations.
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SUMMARY: The Secretary of Education establishes the National
Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS or standard) as
required under sections 612(a)(23)(A) and 674(e)(4) of the Individuals
with Disabilities Education Act, as amended by the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (Act). The purpose of
the NIMAS is to help increase the availability and timely delivery of
print instructional materials in accessible formats to blind or other
persons with print disabilities in elementary schools and secondary
schools. The Secretary establishes the NIMAS by amending the
regulations governing the Assistance to States for Education of
Children with Disabilities Program in 34 CFR part 300 to include an
appendix that sets forth the technical elements and specifications for
the standard.
DATES: These regulations and the standard are effective August 18,
2006.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alexa Posny, U.S. Department of
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., Potomac Center Plaza, room 4109,
Washington, DC 20202-2641. Telephone: (202) 245-7597.
If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you may
call the Federal Relay System (FRS) at 1-800-877-8339.
Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an
alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer
diskette) on request to the contact person listed under FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 674(e)(3)(B) of the Act defines the
NIMAS as the standard established by the Secretary to be used in the
preparation of electronic files suitable and used solely for efficient
conversion into specialized formats. On June 29, 2005, we published a
notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) in the Federal Register (70 FR
37302) to establish the standard and to include it as an appendix to 34
CFR part 300. A description of the proposed standard can be found on
pages 37302 through 37303 of the NPRM and the text of the proposed
NIMAS can be found on pages 37304 through 37306 of the NPRM.
On June 21, 2005, the Department published a notice of proposed
rulemaking in the Federal Register (IDEA NPRM) to amend 34 CFR part 300
to implement other recently enacted changes made to the Individuals
with Disabilities Education Act, as amended by the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (70 FR 35782). The
Department intended to codify the final NIMAS as an appendix to the
amended regulations in 34 CFR part 300. However, in an attempt to
expedite the implementation of the NIMAS, the Department establishes
the NIMAS through these final regulations and codifies the NIMAS as an
appendix to the current regulations in 34 CFR part 300. The Department
plans to re-publish the NIMAS as an appendix to the amended regulations
in 34 CFR part 300 when it publishes final regulations in response to
the IDEA NPRM.
In the preamble to the NPRM, the Secretary discussed the need for
the NIMAS and the efforts of the Department that supported the
establishment of the NIMAS. Specifically, the Secretary addressed the
national need to increase the availability and timely delivery of print
instructional materials in accessible formats to blind or other
students with print disabilities in elementary and secondary schools.
The Secretary also described the inception of the NIMAS, which was
developed by the National File Format Technical Panel (NFF Technical
Panel), a panel convened by the Department-funded National Center on
Accessing the General Curriculum. The NFF Technical Panel developed the
NIMAS as a standard for digital source files that can be used to
accurately and reliably produce instructional materials in a variety of
alternate formats using the same source file.
Changes in the NIMAS
As more fully explained in the Analysis of Comments and Changes
section of this notice, the final standard contains a few changes from
the standard proposed in the NPRM. Most significantly, the NIMAS
Development and Technical Assistance Centers funded by the Department
noted that inadvertent errors were made in the technical standards of
the NIMAS when the NIMAS was posted on the NIMAS Web site at http://nimas.cast.org/about/technical/index.html
and published in the NPRM on
June 29, 2005. At the request of the Department, the NIMAS Development
and Technical Assistance Centers reported these errors and submitted
their proposed corrections and updates to the Department through the
formal public comment process established in the NPRM. The NIMAS
Development and Technical Assistance Centers also posted their proposed
corrections, additions, and deletions on the NIMAS Web site at http://nimas.cast.org/about/proposal/changes.html
.
Analysis of Comments and Changes
In response to the Secretary's invitation in the NPRM, 17 parties,
including the Department-funded NIMAS Development and Technical
Assistance Centers, submitted comments on the NIMAS. An analysis of the
comments and of the changes in the standard since publication of the
NPRM follows.
The analysis generally does not address minor changes, including
the specific technical changes made to the language published in the
NPRM or comments that express concerns of a general nature about the
Department or other matters that are not directly relevant to the
technical specifications of the NIMAS.
Comment: The NIMAS Development and Technical Assistance Centers
funded by the Department noted that inadvertent technical errors were
made in the version of the NIMAS that was published by the Department
in the NPRM and posted on the NIMAS Web site at http://nimas.cast.org/about/technical/index.html.
The centers provided the Department with
proposed updates to correct these technical errors. The centers also
posted their proposed updates on the NIMAS Web site at http://nimas.cast.org/about/proposal/changes.html
.
A significant number (16 of 17) of commenters expressed support for
the NIMAS. Of these commenters, nine commenters expressed support and
approval of the updates to the NIMAS that were proposed by the NIMAS
Development and Technical Assistance Centers, approved by the NIMAS
Development Center's Technical Group, and posted on the NIMAS Web site.
No negative comments were received regarding the updates. One commenter
stated that errors occurred during a file conversion using the NIMAS
and that corrections are needed in order to ensure that the NIMAS
results in valid files. The commenter recommended that the NIMAS
Development and Technical Assistance Centers' proposed corrections
become part of the NIMAS.
Discussion: We agree that the version of the NIMAS that was posted
on the NIMAS Web site and published in the
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NPRM contained technical errors. We believe that the updates proposed
by the NIMAS Development and Technical Assistance Centers should be
made to the NIMAS in order to correct these errors.
Changes: We have revised the NIMAS to incorporate the corrections,
deletions, and additions proposed by the NIMAS Development and
Technical Assistance Centers and posted on the NIMAS Web site.
Comment: Many commenters recommended continual maintenance and
improvement of the NIMAS. These commenters suggested that the
Department establish a method for updating the NIMAS so that it will
remain current with technological advances and be consistent with the
ANSI/NISO Z39.86 standard [renamed DAISY/NISO Z39.86 2005 as of April
2005]. One commenter suggested that the Department accept new reports
from the NIMAS Development Center's Technical Group at regular
intervals so that the standard will continue to expand to meet the
needs of students with disabilities. One commenter recommended
requiring that the NIMAS be updated at least every three years to
ensure that it reflects improvements in technology and best industry
practice. One commenter expressed concern that the technical
specifications of the NIMAS are a minimum set of requirements and that,
over time, the bar should be raised through proposed changes or
additions to the NIMAS.
Discussion: The Department's Office of Special Education Programs
(OSEP) funded the NIMAS Development Center in fiscal year (FY) 2004.
One of the main responsibilities of the NIMAS Development Center is to
engage in an ongoing process to ensure that the NIMAS is maintained and
remains current with technological advances, and is aligned and
consistent with the DAISY/NISO Z39.86 standard. When technological
advances suggest the need for a new version of the NIMAS, the NIMAS
Development Center, with the concurrence of its Technical Group, will
submit recommendations for revised NIMAS specifications to the
Department. The NIMAS Development Center is required to report on the
need for changes at least once at the end of its 5-year project period,
but may make recommendations regarding revisions more often, if it
deems necessary. The Department will propose any revisions to the NIMAS
and seek public comment on the proposed changes through a notice of
proposed rulemaking published in the Federal Register.
OSEP also funded the NIMAS Technical Assistance (TA) Center in FY
2004. After the NIMAS has been adopted by State educational agencies
(SEAs) and local educational agencies (LEAs) (coordinating agencies),
the NIMAS TA Center will maintain an errata Web page for use by
publishers, coordinating agencies, and other entities. The errata Web
page will be available at http://nimas.cast.org and will contain
notifications of errors and omissions in the NIMAS that are detected
through the implementation process.
Changes: None.
Comment: A few commenters stated that NIMAS PDF file requirements
for images need better definition.
Discussion: The NIMAS Development Center, through its Technical
Group, has had extensive discussions on the issue of NIMAS PDF file
requirements since the publication of the NIMAS in the NPRM on June 29,
2005. The Technical Group members agreed that PDF file requirements in
the NIMAS were in need of greater clarification due, in part, to
current limitations of transcription and conversion practices,
hardware, and software. As a result, the Technical Group's
recommendations on changes in the baseline elements related to PDF
image files have been added into the NIMAS and are also publicly
available on the NIMAS Web site at http://nimas.cast.org.
Changes: We have revised the NIMAS to clarify the requirements for
PDF image files, as recommended by the NIMAS Development Center's
Technical Group and posted on the NIMAS Web site.
Comment: One commenter expressed concern that the standard does not
include a statement of the metadata that needs to be included in the
package file.
Discussion: The metadata elements are defined in the NIMAS package
file section. We agree that certain metadata elements may need to be
clarified. However, we believe that it would be premature to attempt to
clarify the metadata elements without first evaluating how they are
implemented in practice. Accordingly, the NIMAS Development Center and
its Technical Group will determine whether the metadata elements
require clarification after the NIMAS is adopted and actually used, and
then will provide technical assistance, as necessary, to clarify those
metadata elements on the NIMAS Web site at http://nimas.cast.org/. To
the extent the NIMAS Development Center and its Technical Group
determine that changes should be made to the metadata requirements in
the NIMAS itself, they will submit their recommendations to the
Department. The Department will then propose any revisions to the NIMAS
and seek public comment on the proposed changes through a notice of
proposed rulemaking published in the Federal Register.
Changes: None.
Comment: Two commenters expressed concern that there is nothing
preventing publishers from preparing NIMAS files that contain only
partial books, rather than entire books. They stated that NIMAS files
will not be helpful if publishers omit important information.
Accordingly, they recommended that the Department establish standards
requiring publishers to use the NIMAS to convert entire books.
Discussion: The purpose of the NIMAS is to provide access to print
instructional materials in a timely manner. Delivery of partial books
would unduly delay the delivery of instructional materials in
specialized formats in a timely manner and would be contrary to the
intent of the Act. Accordingly, SEA and LEA contracts with publishers
should clearly specify that entire books must be converted into NIMAS
files. In addition, we expect that the procedures established by the
National Instructional Materials Access Center (NIMAC) will specify
that publishers must use NIMAS to convert entire books (and not partial
books) into NIMAS files. The Department expects to make NIMAC
procedures available on the NIMAC Web site at http://www.nimac.us.
Changes: None.
Comment: Two commenters expressed concern that optional elements
are not mandatory in the NIMAS. These commenters recommended that the
NIMAS should require the full DAISY markup, that is, both baseline and
optional elements.
Discussion: Although the NFF Technical Panel's report, which is
available on the NIMAS Web site at http://nimas.cast.org/, encouraged
publishers to use both baseline and optional elements, only baseline
elements are required in the NIMAS. The NFF Technical Panel reported
that requiring both baseline and optional elements would be too costly
for publishers. Optional elements are typically added by coordinating
agencies and other entities. In any case, SEAs and LEAs contract with
publishers for their instructional material needs and can specify
whether they need files beyond the baseline elements.
Changes: None.
Comment: Two commenters made recommendations about two elements in
the NIMAS. The commenters recommended that the NIMAS tag, which
specifies that all pages must be
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numbered in a consistent manner, be placed at the beginning of each
print page before all print text. The commenters also expressed concern
that more information in the present tag set is needed to adequately
identify a specific book. The commenters recommended that the NIMAS
include a well-defined method of identifying multiple versions of the
same book. The two commenters stated that publishers are best suited to
make this identification because they produced the textbooks and have
access to all versions of the textbooks.
Discussion: The Department views the issues raised by the
commenters as relating to the implementation of the NIMAS and not the
NIMAS itself. Due to the fact that these issues are the result of
limitations in transcription and conversion practices, hardware, and
software, the Department believes that these issues are best addressed
through technical assistance. Thus, the NIMAS TA Center will provide
technical assistance regarding these and other issues. In the case of
implementation issues pertaining to Braille transcription, the NIMAS
Development and Technical Assistance Centers have already conducted a
series of discussions during January 2006 with Braille transcribers,
which led to a set of clarifying recommendations on the implementation
of NIMAS that will be incorporated into the NIMAS TA Center's Best
Practices Web page at http://nimas.cast.org.
Changes: None.
Comment: We received a number of comments relating to the adoption
and implementation of the NIMAS and the purchase of instructional
materials in accessible formats.
Discussion: Requirements regarding the adoption and implementation
of the NIMAS and the purchase of instructional materials in accessible
formats will be addressed in subparts B and C of the Department's final
regulations governing the Assistance to States for Education of
Children with Disabilities Program.
Accordingly, the Department will respond to all comments relating
to the adoption and implementation of the NIMAS and the purchase of
instructional materials in accessible formats in the preamble to the
final regulations for 34 CFR part 300 that it issues in response to the
IDEA NPRM.
Changes: None.
Executive Order 12866
Under Executive Order 12866, we have assessed the potential costs
and benefits of this regulatory action.
The potential costs associated with establishing the standard are
those resulting from statutory requirements and those we have
determined to be necessary for administering this program effectively
and efficiently.
In assessing the potential costs and benefits of this regulatory
action, we have determined that the benefits justify the costs.
We have also determined that this regulatory action does not unduly
interfere with State, local, and tribal government in the exercise or
their governmental functions.
Summary of Potential Costs and Benefits
We summarized the potential costs and benefits of establishing the
standard in the preamble to the NPRM (70 FR 37303).
Paperwork Reduction Act 1995
The NIMAS does not contain any information collection requirements.
Electronic Access to This Document
You may view this document, as well as all other Department of
Education documents published in the Federal Register, in text or Adobe
Portable Document Format (PDF) on the Internet at the following site:
http://www.ed.gov/news/fedregister.
To use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available
free at this site. If you have questions about using PDF, call the U.S.
Government Printing Office (GPO), toll free, at 1-888-293-6498; or in
the Washington, DC area at (202) 512-1530.
Note: The official version of the document is the document
published in the Federal Register. Free Internet access to the
official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of Federal
Regulations is available on GPO Access at:
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/nara/index.html.
(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number does not apply.)
List of Subjects in 34 CFR Part 300
National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS),
Special education, Grant programs--accessible instructional materials,
Technology.
Dated: July 13, 2006.
John H. Hager,
Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.
0
For the reasons discussed in the preamble, the Secretary amends part
300 of title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations as follows:
PART 300--ASSISTANCE TO STATES FOR THE EDUCATION OF CHILDREN WITH
DISABILITIES
0
1. The authority citation for part 300 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1411-1420, unless otherwise noted.
0
2. Part 300 is amended by adding an appendix D to part 300 to read as
follows:
Appendix D to Part 300--National Instructional Materials Accessibility
Standard (NIMAS)
Under sections 612(a)(23)(A) and 674(e)(4) of the Individuals
with Disabilities Education Act, as amended by the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004, the Secretary of
Education establishes the NIMAS. Under section 674(e)(4) of the Act,
the NIMAS applies to print instructional materials published after
August 18, 2006. The purpose of the NIMAS is to help increase the
availability and timely delivery of print instructional materials in
accessible formats to blind or other persons with print disabilities
in elementary and secondary schools.
Technical Specifications--The Baseline Element Set
The Baseline Element Set details the minimum requirement that
must be delivered to fulfill the NIMAS. It is the responsibility of
publishers to provide this NIMAS-conformant XML content file, a
package file (OPF), a PDF-format copy of the title page (or
whichever page(s) contain(s) ISBN and copyright information), and a
full set of the content's images. All of the images included within
a work must be provided in a folder and placeholders entered in the
relevant XML document indicating their location (all images must be
included). The preferred image type is SVG, next is either PNG or
JPG format. Images should be rendered in the same size/proportion as
their originals at 300 dpi. Images should be named with relative
path filenames in XML files (example: < img id=''staricon4'' src=''./
images/U10C02/staricon4.jpg'' alt=''star icon''/>).
NIMAS-conformant content must be valid to the NIMAS 1.1 [see
ANSI/NISO Z39.86 2005 or subsequent revisions]. In addition, files
are required to use the tags from the Baseline Element Set when such
tags are appropriate. Publishers are encouraged to augment the
required Baseline Element Set with tags from the Optional Element
Set (elements not included in the Standard) as applicable. For the
purposes of NIMAS,
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appropriate usage of elements, both baseline and optional, is
defined by the DAISY Structure Guidelines. Files that do not follow
these guidelines in the selection and application of tags are not
conformant to this Standard. Both optional elements and appropriate
structure guidelines may be located within Z39.86-2002 and Z39.86-
2005 available from http://www.daisy.org/z3986/. Use of the most
current standard is recommended.
The Baseline Element Set
a. Document-Level Tags
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Element Description
------------------------------------------------------------------------
dtbook............................ The root element in the Digital
Talking Book DTD. contains
metadata in and the contents
itself in .
head.............................. Contains metainformation about the
book but no actual content of the
book itself, which is placed in
.
book.............................. Surrounds the actual content of the
document, which is divided into
, , and
. , which
contains metadata, precedes .
meta.............................. Indicates metadata about the book.
It is an empty element that may
appear repeatedly only in .
For the most current usage
guidelines, please refer to http://www.daisy.org/z3986/
.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
b. Structure and Hierarchy
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Element Description
------------------------------------------------------------------------
frontmatter....................... Usually contains and
, as well as preliminary
material that is often enclosed in
appropriate or
etc. Content may include a
copyright notice, a foreword, an
acknowledgements section, a table
of contents, etc.
serves as a guide to the content
and nature of a .
bodymatter........................ Consists of the text proper of a
book, as contrasted with
preliminary material
or supplementary information in
rearmatter .
rearmatter........................ Contains supplementary material such
as appendices, glossaries,
bibliographies, and indices. It
follows the of the
book.
level1............................ The highest-level container of major
divisions of a book. Used in
, , and
to mark the largest
divisions of the book (usually
parts or chapters), inside which
subdivisions (often
sections) may nest. The class
attribute identifies the actual
name (e.g., part, chapter) of the
structure it marks. Contrast with
.
level2............................ Contains subdivisions that nest
within divisions. The
class attribute identifies the
actual name (e.g., subpart,
chapter, subsection) of the
structure it marks.
level3............................ Contains sub-subdivisions that nest
within subdivisions (e.g.,
sub-subsections within
subsections). The class attribute
identifies the actual name (e.g.,
section, subpart, subsubsection) of
the subordinate structure it marks.
level4............................ Contains further subdivisions that
nest within subdivisions.
The class attribute identifies the
actual name of the subordinate
structure it marks.
level5............................ Contains further subdivisions that
nest within subdivisions.
The class attribute identifies the
actual name of the subordinate
structure it marks.
level6............................ Contains further subdivisions that
nest within subdivisions.
The class attribute identifies the
actual name of the subordinate
structure it marks.
h1................................ Contains the text of the heading for
a structure.
h2................................ Contains the text of the heading for
a structure.
h3................................ Contains the text of the heading for
a structure.
h4................................ Contains the text of the heading for
a structure.
h5................................ Contains the text of the heading for
a structure.
h6................................ Contains the text of the heading for
a structure.
For the most current usage
guidelines, please refer to http://www.daisy.org/z3986/
.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
c. Block Elements
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Element Description
------------------------------------------------------------------------
author............................ Identifies the writer of a work
other than this one. Contrast with
, which identifies the
author of this work.
typically occurs within
and .
blockquote........................ Indicates a block of quoted content
that is set off from the
surrounding text by paragraph
breaks. Compare with , which
marks short, inline quotations.
list.............................. Contains some form of list, ordered
or unordered. The list may have an
intermixed heading (generally
only one, possibly with
), and an intermixture of
list items and . If
bullets and outline enumerations
are part of the print content, they
are expected to prefix those list
items in content, rather than be
implicitly generated.
li................................ Marks each list item in a .
content may be either inline
or block and may include other
nested lists. Alternatively it may
contain a sequence of list item
components, , that identify
regularly occurring content, such
as the heading and page number of
each entry in a table of contents.
hd................................ Marks the text of a heading in a
or \ .
note.............................. Marks a footnote, endnote, etc. Any
local reference to < note
id=``yyy''> is by yyy''''>.
[Attribute id].
p................................. Contains a paragraph, which may
contain subsidiary or .
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sidebar........................... Contains information supplementary
to the main text and/or narrative
flow and is often boxed and printed
apart from the main text block on a
page. It may have a heading .
cite.............................. Marks a reference (or citation) to
another document.
dd................................ Marks a definition of the preceding
term within a definition list
. A definition without a
preceding has no semantic
interpretation, but is visually
presented aligned with other .
dl................................ Contains a definition list, usually
consisting of pairs of terms
and definitions . Any
definition can contain another
definition list.
dt................................ Marks a term in a definition list
for which a definition
follows.
For the most current usage
guidelines, please refer to http://www.daisy.org/z3986/
.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
d. Inline Elements
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Element Description
------------------------------------------------------------------------
em................................ Indicates emphasis. Usually is
rendered in italics. Compare with
.
q................................. Contains a short, inline quotation.
Compare with , which
marks a longer quotation set off
from the surrounding text.
strong............................ Marks stronger emphasis than .
Visually is usually
rendered bold.
sub............................... Indicates a subscript character
(printed below a character's normal
baseline). Can be used recursively
and/or intermixed with .
sup............................... Marks a superscript character
(printed above a character's normal
baseline). Can be used recursively
and/or intermixed with .
br................................ Marks a forced line break.
line.............................. Marks a single logical line of text.
Often used in conjunction with
in documents with
numbered lines. [Use only when line
breaks must be preserved to capture
meaning (e.g., poems, legal
texts).]
linenum........................... Contains a line number, for example
in legal text. [Use only when
is used, and only for lines
numbered in print book.]
pagenum........................... Contains one page number as it
appears from the print document,
usually inserted at the point
within the file immediately
preceding the first item of content
on a new page. [NB: Only valid when
it includes an id attribute].
noteref........................... Marks one or more characters that
reference a footnote or endnote
. Contrast with .
and are
independently skippable.
For the most current usage
guidelines, please refer to http://www.daisy.org/z3986/
.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
e. Tables
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Element Description
------------------------------------------------------------------------
table............................. Contains cells of tabular data
arranged in rows and columns. A
may have a . It
may have descriptions of the
columns in s or groupings of
several in . A
simple may be made up of
just rows . A long table
crossing several pages of the print
book should have separate
values for each of the pages
containing that indicated
on the page where it starts. Note
the logical order of optional
, optional , then one
or more of either or just
rows . This order accommodates
simple or large, complex tables.
The and information
usually helps identify content of
the rows. For a multiple-
page print the and
are repeated on each page,
but not redundantly tagged.
td................................ Indicates a table cell containing
data.
tr................................ Marks one row of a containing or cells. For the most current usage guidelines, please refer to http://www.daisy.org/z3986/ . ------------------------------------------------------------------------ f. Images ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Element Description ------------------------------------------------------------------------ imggroup.......................... Provides a container for one or more and associated (s)
and (s). A may
contain a description of the image.
The content model allows: (1)
multiple if they share a
caption, with the ids of each
in the < caption imgref=``id1 id2 .
. .''>, (2) multiple if
several captions refer to a single
where each caption
has the same < caption
imgref=``xxx''>, (3) multiple
if different versions
are needed for different media
(e.g., large print, braille, or
print). If several refer
to a single , each
prodnote has the same < prodnote
imgref=``xxx''>.
img............................... Points to the image to be rendered.
An may stand alone or be
grouped using . Note that
providing extracted images is not a
requirement of the NIMAS. If they
are included, it is best to refer
to them using within the
container.
caption........................... Describes a or . If
used with it must follow
immediately after the start
tag. If used with it is
not so constrained.
For the most current usage
guidelines, please refer to http://www.daisy.org/z3986/
.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[[Page 41089]]
1. The Optional Elements and Guidelines for Use
Publishers are encouraged to apply markup beyond the baseline
(required) elements. The complete DTBook Element Set reflects the
tags necessary to create the six types of Digital Talking Books and
Braille output. Because of the present necessity to subdivide the
creation of alternate format materials into distinct phases, the
Panel determined that baseline elements would be provided by
publishers, and optional elements would be added to the NIMAS-
conformant files by third party conversion entities. In both
circumstances the protocols for tagging digital files should conform
to the most current ANSI/NISO Z39.86 specification. Content
converters are directed to the most current DAISY Structure
Guidelines (http://www.daisy.org/z3986/) for guidance on their use.
Since the publication of the original National File Format
report from which the NIMAS technical specifications were derived,
ANSI/NISO Z39.86-2002 was updated and is now ANSI/NISO Z39.86-2005.
It may be best to avoid using the following optional elements which
are no longer included in ANSI/NISO Z39.86-2005: style, notice, hr,
and levelhd.
Also, the following new elements were introduced by ANSI/NISO
Z39.86-2005 and should be considered optional elements for the
NIMAS: bridgehead, byline, covertitle, dateline, epigraph,
linegroup, and poem. Please refer to ANSI/NISO Z39.86-2005 for
additional information regarding these elements. To access the ANSI/
NISO Z39.86-2005 specification, go to http://www.daisy.org/z3986/.
2. Package File
A package file describes a publication. It identifies all other
files in the publication and provides descriptive and access
information about them. A publication must include a package file
conforming to the NIMAS. The package file is based on the Open eBook
Publication Structure 1.2 package file specification (For most
recent detail please seehttp://www.openebook. org/oebps/oebps1.2/
download/oeb12-xhtml.htm#sec2). A NIMAS package file must be an XML-
valid OeB PS 1.2 package file instance and must meet the following
additional standards:
The NIMAS Package File must include the following Dublin Core
(dc:)metadata:
dc:Title.
dc:Creator (if applicable).
dc:Publisher.
dc:Date (Date of NIMAS-compliant file creation--yyyy-
mm-dd).
dc:Format (=``NIMAS 1.0'').
dc:Identifier (a unique identifier for the NIMAS-
compliant digital publication, e.g., print ISBN + ``NIMAS''--exact
format to be determined).
dc:Language (one instance, or multiple in the case of a
foreign language textbook, etc.).
dc:Rights (details to be determined).
dc:Source (ISBN of print version of textbook).
And the following x-metadata items:
nimas-SourceEdition (the edition of the print
textbook).
nimas-SourceDate (date of publication of the print
textbook).
The following metadata were proposed also as a means of
facilitating recordkeeping, storage and file retrieval:
dc:Subject (Lang Arts, Soc Studies, etc.).
nimas-grade (specific grade level of the print
textbook, e.g.; Grade 6).
nimas gradeRange (specific grade range of the print
textbook, e.g.; Grades 4-5).
An additional suggestion references the use of:
dc:audience:educationLevel (for the grade and
gradeRange identifiers, noting that Dublin Core recommends using
educationLevel with an appropriate controlled vocabulary for
context, and recommends the U.S. Department of Education's Level of
Education vocabulary online at
http://www.ed.gov/admin/ reference/index.jsp. Using educationLevel obviates the need for a separate
field for gradeRange since dc elements can repeat more than once. A
book used in more than one grade would therefore have two elements,
one with value ``Grade 4'' and another with value ``Grade 5.''
A final determination as to which of these specific metadata
elements to use needs to be clarified in practice. The package
manifest must list all provided files (text, images, etc.). (Note:
For purposes of continuity and to minimize errors in transformation
and processing, the NIMAS-compliant digital text should be provided
as a single document.)
3. Modular Extensions
The most current DAISY/NISO standard, formally the ANSI/NISO
Z39.86, Specifications for the Digital Talking Book defines a
comprehensive system for creating Digital Talking Books. A part of
this standard is DTBook, an XML vocabulary that provides a core set
of elements needed to produce most types of books. However, DTBook
is not intended to be an exhaustive vocabulary for all types of
books.
Guidelines for the correct approach to extend the DAISY/NISO
standard have been established. Mathematics, video support, testing,
workbooks, music, dictionaries, chemistry, and searching are some of
the extensions that have been discussed. Visit http://www.daisy.org/z3986/
to learn more about modular extensions.
End
[FR Doc. 06-6340 Filed 7-18-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P