American Printing House for the Blind (APH)
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

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Updated March, 2013

AMP Name: American Printing House for the Blind (APH)
Accessible Textbooks Department
Address: 1839 Frankfort Avenue; Louisville, KY 40206
Phone: (502) 899-2370; (800) 223-1839
Fax: (502) 899-2219
Web: http://www.aph.org

Who should be contacted if there are questions?

For textbook information: Jane Thompson at jthompson [at] aph [dot] org
For student eligibility: Cindy Amback at camback [at] aph [dot] org

Based on the National Library Service regulations at 36 C.F.R. § 701.6(b), which student certification categories do you serve?

Blind
Visually impaired
Physical limitations
Reading disability resulting from organic dysfunction

Describe certification requirements and how they are verified and maintained.

Under the 1879 Federal Act to Promote the Education of the Blind, APH is the official supplier of educational materials for students who are visually impaired in the U.S., who are working at lower than college level. Any person in an educational setting receiving below-college level instruction qualifies for APH products and services.

If a student qualifies, how is the student registered?

Students who are legally blind are registered in the APH annual census as required by The Federal Act to Promote the Education of the Blind, enacted by Congress in 1879. This act is a means for providing adapted educational materials to eligible students who meet the definition of blindness. An annual registration of eligible students determines a per capita amount of money designated for the purchase of educational materials produced by APH. These funds are credited to federal quota accounts which are maintained and administered by APH and its ex officio trustees throughout the country.

There is no registration required for other visually impaired students; although they do not generate federal quota funds. Textbooks and educational materials may be purchased using other funds. Information about the Federal Quota System is available at: http://www.aph.org/fedquotpgm/quickfed.htm.

What types of memberships are available?

Individual student accounts
Institutional/organizational accounts
APH is not a membership organization.

Describe your membership requirements:

Individual student accounts
Institutional/organizational accounts
Other (please specifiy): APH is not a membership organization.

Do you require membership fees for individual student accounts?

Yes  No  Depends on circumstances

Do you require membership fees for institutional/organizational accounts?

Individual student accounts
Institutional/organizational accounts
Other (please specifiy): APH is not a membership organization.

What is the process to access these services?

For services through the federal quota system, contact the ex officio trustee in your state. A list of state ex officio trustees can be found at http://www.aph.org/fedquotpgm/trustees.html. APH also provides products and product-related services outside the federal quota system.

APH Custom Production Services are also available at: http://www.aph.org/custom/index.html.

For currently available educational products, textbooks, and more, check: http://shop.aph.org/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Home_10001_11051.

Please provide a link to your web site where step-by-step instructions on how to access your services are provided.

• Please contact your ex officio trustee in your state for details. If you do not know who your trustee is, please see the list on our web site at http://www.aph.org/fedquotpgm/trustees.html.
• General information about all APH services and products can be found at http://www.aph.org.
• Information about APH’s Accessible Textbooks Department can be found at http://www.aph.org/atic/index.html.

What services do you provide?

XML conversion
Original transcription
Downloads
Scanning
NIMAS file conversion—APH converts NIMAS into braille and LP
Other (please specify): Optical braille recognition (OBR), large print textbooks and materials, image descriptions, tactile graphics, training, database resources, accessible tests, and a wide range of other services

Who can use these services?

Authorized users (AUs)
State agencies (SEAs)
Local education agencies (LEAs)
Teachers
Parents
Other (please specify): All APH products (including textbooks) may be purchased either with federal quota funds or cash.

What specialized formats are provided?

Braille

Embossed contracted braille
Embossed uncontracted braille
Electronic contracted braille
Electronic uncontracted braille
-.brf (braille-ready format) in conformance with BANA guidelines
-.brf (braille-ready format) other
Tactile graphics
Hard copy
Electronic
Other (please specify):

Large Print

Large print (enlarged textbooks)
Font sizes (please specify): 14 point and up
Large print (standard-sized textbooks)
Font sizes (please specify): 18 point and up

Audio

-.mp3
-.mp4
-.wav

DAISY 2002 HTML (digital talking book [DTB])with —

Text
Images
Image descriptions
Human-voice audio
Pre-recorded synthetic audio
Other (please specify):

DAISY 2005 HTML (digital talking book [DTB])with —

Text
Images
Image descriptions
Human-voice audio
Pre-recorded synthetic audio
Other (please specify):

Digital text

-.pdf
-.rtf
Word
HTML
ePUB 2
ePUB 3
Other (please specify): digital large print textbooks; digital large print textbooks with image descriptions

File formats accessible on mobile platforms

iOS
Android
Windows phone
Symbian
Blackberry OS
Other (please speficy):

Are apps needed to use the files on mobile devices? If so, where are they acquired and what is the cost?

Large print digital files can be viewd on personal computers, iOS devices using iBooks, or with Adobe Reader (free apps).

Is assistive technology such as a computer, device, and/or software program needed to deliver the files to the student in a student-ready format? If so, please explain.

No assistive technology is needed to access our print braille or large print books. Braille files do require use of AT such as refreshable braille keyboard and other files benefit from screen reading software. In addition, APH has assistive technology available from our product catalog at http://shop.aph.org, including accessible Braille+ Mobile Manager PDA, Refreshabraille 18, etc. Or visit Fred’s Head at APH at http://www.fredshead.info/.

If assistive technology is needed, do you provide it? Is it provided with membership or for purchase?

AT is not required to access APH large print or braille books. APH does produce a wide variety of AT that can be used to access digital files. APH is not a membership organization.

What assistive technology from other sources might be needed?

N/A

How long will it take to getthe specialized format after an order is placed?

All efforts are made to deliver textbooks in a timely manner. For braille textbook orders, the delivery timeline for new braille transcriptions depends on the complexity of the material, number of tactile graphics included, date original order was made, and the capacity of our transcribers. Textbooks that have already been transcribed are generally delivered within four weeks. For large print textbook orders: APH has two large print production methods. The traditional enlargement process takes an average of three to four weeks for delivery. The new APH large print process may take longer, depending on the time of year the order is placed.

When braille files and other digital files are available in the APH File Repository, they can be downloaded immediately by registered users.

Do you have a digital rights management (DRM) system? What are your policies?

Yes, we have specific agreements with authorized users for downloading files from the APH File Repository and inscription on certain products.

When the instructional materials are no longer needed by the student, do they need to be returned?

Materials purchased from APH are yours to keep. You may loan them to other school systems. Each trustee or instructional materials center has their own guidelines. Please check with them.

How will confidential information about the student be protected?

Aggregate statistics about students registered in the annual federal quota census are reported in the APH Annual Report. APH does not share any identifiable information about individual students or customers.