Nasta_Specs_for_Web

National Association of State Textbook Administrators

What are electronic instructional
materials?


On
-
line textbooks


E
-
books


Integrated Learning Systems


Skill building programs


Portals


Video


Software


PDAs


Other handheld devices


National/State Issues

Updates & Substitutions

Privacy

Contracts and Pricing

Quality & Instructional
Design

Reliability

Security

Accessibility

Technical Accessibility

Depositories

Reliability


Technical support


Warranty


Pro
-
rata refund of subscription fees for failure to perform


On
-
site servers


CDs and DVDs etc.

Security


Copyright violations


Unauthorized access


Hackers


Viruses

Accessibility


Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)


Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)


Instructional Materials Accessibility Act
(IMAA)

ADA and IDEA establish the principal that people with
disabilities have the right to the same public
accommodations granted to those without disabilities.
These laws clearly call for students with disabilities to have
timely access to the same instructional materials that
students without disabilities have. IMAA will specify exactly
how we achieve equality in these accommodations.

Accessibilities Standards Organizations



W3C
–

World Wide Web Consortium

-
Develops interoperable technologies (specifications, guidelines, software,
and tools) to lead the Web to its full potential


WAI
–

Web Accessibilities Initiative

-
In coordination with organizations around the world, pursues accessibility
of the Web through five primary areas of work: technology, guidelines,
tools, education and outreach, and research and development


DAISY Consortium

-
Digital Accessible Information System for Talking Books



Open

Ebook Forum

-
An international trade and standards organization. Hardware and software
companies, publishers, authors, users of electronic books, and related
organizations whose common goals are to establish specifications and
standards for electronic publishing


CAST

-
A not
-
for
-
profit organization that uses technology to expand

opportunities
for all people, especially those with disabilities (NIMAS)


Technical Accessibility



System Requirements

•
Processor speed

•
RAM

•
Bandwidth

•
Compatibility with assistive technologies

•
Braille reading technologies

•
Emerging Technologies


Interoperability

•
Two or more systems can exchange information directly
in a way that is satisfactory to the users


Fidelity

Updates and Substitutions


Updates and revisions

•
Assurance students will not access inappropriate
material

•
Right to terminate contract/services if updated
material is inappropriate


State substitution policies

Depositories


State laws requiring depository delivery


Role of depository?


Application Service Providers?

Privacy


COPPA

(Children's Online Privacy Protection Act )


FERPA

(Families Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974)


What information is being collected about students?


How it is used?


Who has access to it?


Is the information being transferred to third parties?

Contracts and Pricing



Existing models are for traditional printed materials and are generally
thought of as a one time expenditure every six years


Time factor, per student per year


Volume discounts


Most favored nations


Protection from losing pre
-
paid subscription fees if an online publisher
goes out of business

Quality & Instructional Design


Content must be aligned to State standards


Accurate, error free


No advertising


Non
-
bias


Current


Instructional Design

-
Does the product help lead students to
interaction, collaboration, inquiry, problem
solving, higher order thinking skills, mastery,
etc.?

Concerns

•
Accessibility for Students with Special Needs

•
Contracts and Pricing


•
Security, Reliability, Technical Accessibility and Infrastructure

•
Review Process

•
Instructional format

•
Dynamic medial updates



NASTA Technical Specs
Committee

•
Dan Blackwood
—
WV

•
Charlie Carraway Diane Vaccari
—
FL

•
Charlotte Hughes
—
NC

•
Marcie Coupel, Jackie Bobbett, Brenda Neff
—
LA

•
Linnie Lee
—
KY

•
Anita Givens
—
TX


1.

All content adheres to
current W3C guidelines.


2.

Content is IMS Content
Packaging Specification (at
least 1.0) conformant.


3.

All Content Is 508
Conformant.


4. All content follows the current
Web Accessibility Guidelines
(i.e., Web Content Accessibility
Guidelines [WCAG] 1.0).

5. Two
-
dimensional graphics
conform to current
Scalable
Vector Graphics (SVG) format.


6.
Rich media are provided in
the user’s choice of format, or the
source code is provided to enable
the user to convert the media to
the format of choice.


7.
Rich media are available in
low and high bandwidths.


8.
Copyrighted rich media and
images are protected by technology
that prevents them from being
downloaded, saved or copied by
students once they are placed in the
course.


9.
Multiple authentications are not
required for users to access content
through a secured Web site
(Learning Management System,
Content Management System, etc.).


10.
Coding will not disable LMS
features when the content is used.


11.
Content does not contain
code that limits full functionality
in other delivery environments,
such as cell phones and PDAs
.

12.
Content adopts a file naming
convention that is unique,
descriptive, meaningful and
consistently applied as it relates to
the organization of the content.


13.
Test/question item banks are
organized by the learning outcomes
they are intended to assess.


14.
Content maintains the
privacy of users, security of
information about users and
security of users’ content.


15.
Publisher provides the
ability for the institution to
archive user interactions,
usage logs, record of work
completed and performance.


16. At a minimum, technical
support is provided for system
technology administrators
during standard business
hours for the duration of the
license.