Accessible Instructional Materials (AIM) are specialized formats of curricular content that can be used by and with learners with a print disability. They include Braille, audio, digital text, and large print.

Braille is "a series of raised dots that can be read with the fingers by people who are blind or whose eyesight is not sufficient for reading printed material. …. Braille is not a language. Rather, it is a code by which languages such as English or Spanish may be written and read." (Source: American Foundation for the Blind). More information about Braille AIM.

Audio refers to auditory alternatives to printed text. Originally called "talking books" the new audio format provides users with recorded human narration and some rudimentary navigation. More information about audio formatted AIM.

Digital text, also known as “electronic text” or “e-text,” is what appears in common word processing or text editing programs. Examples of file formats include Rich Text Format (.rtf), ASCII, HTML, Microsoft Word (.doc) and a number of other formats. Digital text is malleable and transformable because it can be formatted (e.g., font, size, color) and converted to accessible form and used with various assistive technology (AT) devices. More information on digital text AIM.

Large print is defined by the American Printing House for the Blind (APH) as “print for text passages that is larger than the print used by that segment of the population with normal vision. APH takes the position that large print for use by the low vision population is print that is eighteen points in size or larger.” More information about large print AIM.

Read Further . . .

• What is a Print Disability?
• How does one identify a student as having a print disability?
• How does one know what kind of AIM a student needs?
• How does one acquire the AIM a student needs?
• How does a teacher know how to use AIM in their classroom?

Other resources

• National Center on Accessible Instructional Materials