AccessText Network helps disabled college students

By Denise Dick

Staff report

washington, d.c.

Students with disabilities such as blindness and dyslexia at 61 Ohio colleges and universities, including Youngstown State University, now have quicker and easier access to alternative college textbooks.

It’s a result of an agreement to provide the alternative textbooks to the state’s colleges and universities. The agreement is funded through a joint initiative of the State Board of Regents and the state’s Rehabilitation Services Commission and will provide the schools with a membership in the AccessText Network, a national online database of alternative college materials.

The AccessText Network makes it quicker and easier for students with disabilities such as blindness, dyslexia or physical impairments that prevent the use of traditional hardcover textbooks, to get the alternative electronic textbooks they need for college.

“With this membership in the AccessText Network, Ohio students who used to wait weeks or even months for their alternative textbooks now have a streamlined process, enabling them to receive their course materials in just a few days,” said Tom Allen, president and chief executive officer of the Association of American Publishers, whose higher education members donated almost $1 million to launch the nonprofit venture.

“I congratulate the Board of Regents and the Commission in funding this membership in the AccessText Network. It will help level the playing field for Ohio’s disabled students and help them achieve their higher education goals.”

The AccessText Network is operated by the Alternative Media Access Center in Atlanta. The Network has more than 500 colleges and universities in 49 states enrolled to participate in the system. There are more than 360,000 textbook titles available through the Network.

Christopher Lee, director of AMAC, said the new network is fulfilling orders for students in about four days.

“In the past, the system was so slow and bureaucratic that disabled students were often still waiting for their alternative textbooks several weeks into the semester,” Lee said. “That’s an unacceptable scenario for any student striving to succeed in college.”

An estimated 50,600 Ohioans ages 16 to 20 have a disability, totaling 6 percent of the state’s population of young people either at or nearing college age, according to the most recent statistics compiled by Cornell University.

Ohioans who are disabled are more likely to lack a college education than residents without a disability. Ninety percent of working-age Ohioans with a disability lack a bachelor’s degree, while 72 percent of Ohio residents without disabilities lack a bachelor’s degree.

“Textbook publishers are dedicated to helping all students succeed,” Allen said. “We are proud to see the AccessText Network being utilized in Ohio to make college education a reality for thousands of students in the state with disabilities.”