National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard, 41084-41089 [06-6340]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 138 (Wednesday, July 19, 2006)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 41084-41089]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-6340]



[[Page 41083]]

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Part III





Department of Education





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34 CFR Part 300



National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard; Final Rule

Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 138 / Wednesday, July 19, 2006 / 
Rules and Regulations

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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 https://
nimas.cast.org/about/technical/ 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 https://
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 https://nimas.cast.org/
about/technical/. 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 https://
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 https://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 https://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 https://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 https://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 https://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 https://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: 
https://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: https://www.gpoaccess.gov/
nara/.

(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: ).
    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 https://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 https://
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 https://
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  is by yyy''''>.
                                     [Attribute id].
p.................................  Contains a paragraph, which may
                                     contain subsidiary  or 
.

[[Page 41088]]

 
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 https://
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 https://
www.daisy.org/z3986/.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

e. Tables

------------------------------------------------------------------------
              Element                            Description
------------------------------------------------------------------------
table.............................  Contains cells of tabular data
                                     arranged in rows and columns. A
                                      may have a s or groupings of
                                     several in . A
                                     simple 
. It
                                     may have descriptions of the
                                     columns in 
 
 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 https://
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 
, (2) multiple 
 if
                                     several captions refer to a single
                                      where each caption
                                     has the same 
, (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 .
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 https://
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 (https://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 https://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 seehttps://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 https://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 https://www.daisy.org/
z3986/ to learn more about modular extensions.

End

[FR Doc. 06-6340 Filed 7-18-06; 8:45 am]
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