Dolphin lead winning consortium for Government altformat pilot
Consortium appointed to develop accessible curriculum materials for visually impaired and dyslexic pupils
21st Jul, 2009
The Department for Children, Schools and Families has signed a contract agreement with a Dolphin Computer Access led consortium to deliver a small scale pilot project over two years (2009-11), to develop and trial different curriculum formats for visually impaired and dyslexic pupils.
The consortium is now undertaking the necessary preparatory work to identify local authorities and schools to participate in the project, with the aim of piloting the materials in the identified schools and local authorities from November 2009. Noel Duffy, Managing Director of Dolphin said that "this exciting pilot has the potential to enable future generations of people with vision and print impairments to learn using their preferred formats. This will support people's right to learn. Equally exciting is the prospect of supporting lifelong learning self-sufficiency for people with vision or print impairments"
This pilot project is a key aspect of the Department's drive to narrowing the overall attainment gap between children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities and their peers. It also forms the Department's response to the RNIB Report "Where's My Book?" which demonstrated that the current system of providing accessible versions of textbooks to blind, partially sighted and dyslexic pupils is ineffective.
The Report supported anecdotal evidence that suggests that school teachers and support staff often have to spend time photocopying text from curriculum materials and blowing them up for visually impaired or dyslexic pupils, meaning children with visually impairments or dyslexia often received their materials later than their peers and stagnation of educational and social progress.
One solution to this is to ensure that curriculum materials are made available in electronic form to enable the efficient production of formats, accessible to all learners with print disabilities. Working with other Government Departments, key stakeholders and the Publishing Licensing Authority the Department for Children, Schools and Families drew up a specification and asked bidders to set out proposals for a project to produce and trial alternative formats in a small number of schools and local authorities; evaluate the effectiveness of the approaches used and produce best practice recommendations and outline plans for long-term sustainability.
The then Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform were instrumental in the development of this project: having already undertaken a Book Expansion Project and in bringing together the RNIB and representatives from the book trade to explore options for developing accessible materials. The Book Expansion Project used digital resources to develop a new model for the production and distribution of accessible books, with the RNIB and publishing organisations working in partnership to take this opportunity to make a real difference to the lives of blind, visually impaired and dyslexic pupils. The project has now reached the stage where additional large print books and other formats are becoming available through the book trade and the RNIB.
A spokesperson from BIS said that "BIS will continue to support the DCSF in their new project for textbooks, which will extend the lessons learned in the Book Expansion Scheme to investigate how publisher files can be used to improve learning resources in schools."
The Publishers Licensing Society and the Publishers Association also played a key role in garnering support for this pilot project from individual publishers of educational material. Kate Harris, Chair of the Publishers Council, Chair of the Educational Publishers Council and Managing Director of the Education and Children's Division of Oxford University Press said: "It is vitally important that children with print disabilities have the books they need in accessible formats. The outcomes from this project will help us all - Government, parents, publishers, specialist support staff, teachers and more importantly the students themselves, to work together to understand the best ways to meet this objective for more children."
This pilot project has been welcomed by key organisations representing visually impaired and dyslexic people. Lesley-Anne Alexander, Chief Executive of the RNIB said: "Access to basic curriculum materials remains a major issue for many blind and partially sighted pupils. The RNIB knows this because parents, pupils and teachers tell us their experiences all the time. Blind and partially sighted children must have the same chances to learn as their sighted classmates. This means getting curriculum materials in the appropriate format at the same time as the rest of the class, so we welcome this pilot project as a crucial step forward in achieving a solution to the current inequalities.
The British Dyslexia Association also welcome the pilot project a representative said: "The British Dyslexia Association has been working with the DCSF in the development of this project and is delighted at this step forward. Accessible formats are vital in helping young dyslexic people raise their educational attainment. This pilot project will make a difference to the lives of many dyslexic children and we hope it will be rolled out nationally."
Further information on the pilot project can be found on our Teachernet website.
