Alternative Digital Formats
MIT students needing alternative digital formats of printed or online (i.e., PDF) materials have the following options and resources available to them:
- Requesting free alternative formats.
Sometimes, e-text, DAISY (Digital Talking Books), or audio format can be requested and received directly from a Book Publisher, from RFBD
(Recordings for the Blind and Dyslexic) or from
Bookshare.org - Scanning Options and Resources.
Where alternative text cannot be requested or received in time, students may need to have materials scanned and converted on campus. - ATIC scanners are available free of charge to students who are
approved by Disabilities Services. Current scanners
include 2 high-speed document feeder scanners (for loose pages) and 2
flatbed scanners (for bound books). ATIC staff provide training on how to
use the scanners, but students are responsible for scanning their own
materials.
- MIT Libraries Document Services will scan books and other
printed materials, run optical character recognition (OCR), and provide you
with a ASCII or Rich Text File on CD. They charge $0.25-$0.35/page,
depending on whether pages are loose or bound and on if you require the book
be broken up into separate chapters or provided as one file.
- MIT CopyTech provides these services:
Scanning to image (TIFF or PDF only) for $0.10-0.25/page.
Removal of a book's binding; Attaching a new tape binding to a book that was
torn apart for scanning.
- Reading Options and Resources
ATIC provides software applications to convert to and read alternative formats. These applications are available for in-lab use only. ATIC does not provide copies for use outside the lab. The most common applications for scanning and reading are: Kurzweil 3000, recommended for all students unless they are visually impaired; JAWS and Kurzweil 1000, recommended for blind students; ZoomText Magnifier/Reader, recommended for low-vision students.
Please note: Students requesting e-text or other alternate media from a publisher are usually required to verify that they have purchased a print copy of the text, which is protected by copyright law. If electronic files are not provided by the publisher, a qualifying student may be given permission by the publisher to scan his/her own print copy of the text. Books that are scanned are reproduced by permission of the publisher. Any further reproduction or distribution in a format other than a specialized format is an infringement of copyright law.
Questions about scanning resources can be directed to atic@mit.edu or 617-253-7808.