Text Conversion Office (TCO) Policy
printable TCO Policy and Final Format Agreement (pdf)
Disability Resources and Education Services (DRES) works to ensure that appropriate accommodations are provided for students who are eligible for services. In order to maintain the integrity of the services offered in the state within the letter of the law, the following rules apply to students who use Text Conversion Services:
The students must qualify as having a disability that is covered by 2 U.S.C. Section 135a; 46 Stats. 1487. Students' disabilities shall be verified by providing DRES with an application for service and appropriate documentation of their disability per DRES documentation guidelines.
The student must own a physical copy of the textbook or coursepack they are requesting in alternative format. The Text Conversion Office (TCO) will typically purchase a second copy of a textbook so that the student can hold on to their own personal copy. In such cases, students must show a receipt for the purchase of their copy of the textbooks to be scanned before the 6th week of classes, or students will be denied access to the website/mp3's. ORS students who have their books bought for them are excluded from providing a receipt.
The student must currently be registered at the University of Illinois at the time of the student's request for alternative formats. Materials that are for a qualified graduate student, who is teaching a class will also be converted, provided that a syllabus with due dates is provided.
The student agrees to keep their user name and password private, and also agrees that they will not copy or reproduce any e-text materials received, nor allow anyone else to do so. Text Conversion service will be discontinued if files are shared or passwords given out.
Communication: The student agrees to notify the Text Conversion Office immediately of a course add/drop situation. The student also agrees to monitor their website for missing materials and to let the Text Conversion Office know of any items that they feel are missing. The matter will be resolved as quickly as possible.
The Text Conversion Office agrees to communicate with the student several times during the semester regarding the status of their materials, including: reminders of dates for Advance Enrollment, notification of the status of materials prior to the beginning of the semester, and 2 weeks into the semester to let students know of materials that they will need to bring to the Text Conversion Office to be converted because they were not previously available. This contact will be through e-mail.
The Text Conversion Office makes every attempt to obtain books and other materials as early as possible by obtaining them from publishers, the Illini Union (IUB) Bookstore, Bookshare, or other universities, when possible. In the event that any item (book/coursepack/e-reserve article, syllabus) cannot be obtained from one of the above mentioned sources by the beginning of the 2nd week of the semester, it is the student's responsibility to bring the materials in to be scanned. As per #5 above, the student will be informed of these missing materials via email. The materials will be returned, in most cases, within 24 hours. The binding will be cut from the book, and replaced with a plastic, spiral binder, which will be "bought back" by IUB, by special arrangement. In the case of e-reserves or web-based materials, the students must either download the materials and bring them in on a CD or e-mail them to the Text Conversion Staff, if they are not posted on the library's website within the first 2 weeks of class.
There are instances where an item is in very poor condition and cannot be scanned. The text conversion office will inform the student of the situation and ask if they wish to us to do a library search for the item in order to get a better scan. The student will be given the option of having the materials converted after their due date or not to have it converted.
COURSES WITH WEB-BASED MATERIALS - many courses include materials that are web-based such as Blackboard, WebCT, etc., that might contain PowerPoint presentations that are not readily accessible to students with screen readers. The Text Conversion Office tries to ascertain early on whether or not a course uses these materials and will contact the student. If instructors cannot provide the materials to the Text Conversion Office prior to the 2nd week of class, it is the student's responsibility to download and send those items to the Text Conversion Office for document conversion. If a student finds that they cannot access web materials for a course, their Resource Facilitator (case manager) should be contacted as soon as possible so that a solution can be arrived at so that the materials can be accessed.
E-RESERVE ARTICLES - Text Conversion Staff will download e-reserve articles from the library website up until the 2nd week of class. In some instances, instructors may not give all articles to the library staff at the beginning of the semester, or they may add articles as the semester progresses. Text Conversion Staff will notify the student if there are items on the syllabus that are not on e-reserves at the time that it is noticed. After the 2nd week of class, it is the student's responsibility to monitor the e-reserves site and forward on any new articles that they wish to have converted.
OPTIONAL MATERIALS - Professors will often list optional textbooks or journal articles that can be read by the student if they choose. The student MUST inform the Text Conversion staff if they wish optional materials to be converted. We will, however, convert journal articles or book chapters that are necessary for research papers for courses, but the student must deliver the materials to the Text Conversion Office to be converted and a due date must be mutually agreed upon.
DUE DATES - It is the goal of the Text Conversion Staff to have materials converted at least 7 days prior to the Date Due on the course syllabus. This can only occur if a syllabus has been received by the TCO from either the instructor or the student. Materials are converted sequentially by due date. Materials brought in during the course of the semester should either be on the syllabus or, in the case of research materials, will be converted usually within 1 week of the date it was delivered. Books and other materials that do not have a syllabus cannot be guaranteed of a due date.
ARCHIVED MATERIALS - The Text Conversion Office agrees to provide materials in an electronic format for the semester that the student is enrolled in class. The TCO does not maintain a web archive of past course materials, and will remove course materials from the website at the end of every semester, with the exception of graduate students who make prior arrangements to have their materials remain on the site.
In order to obtain previously scanned materials from other entities (other colleges, RFB&D, Bookshare) it may be necessary to share the student's name with that entity for legal purposes. The student gives DRES permission to share their name with only those entities sharing a scanned copy of the textbook. If the student refuses to share their name, any book that could be received from another source will not be scanned.
Materials that are provided either by the student or the bookstore to the Text Conversion Unit at least six (6) weeks prior to the start of class should be ready at the beginning of the semester. Converting highly technical material into Braille or tactile graphics will typically require more time.
Any materials arriving at the Text Conversion Office after the six-week deadline are exempt from the above statement and will have the first three chapters converted only. Full production of the material will not occur until a syllabus arrives. No guarantees can be made as to when material will be completed unless a syllabus with due dates for assignments is received. While the Text Conversion Office will sometimes receive syllabi early from a professor, it is the student's responsibility to contact departments or professors to obtain a copy of the syllabus for the course.
Web downloads and mp3 pickups are monitored during the semester. Students who do not access their website to download materials or pickup mp3 cd's will need to discuss their future text conversion needs with their Resource Facilitator to ascertain whether text conversion should be continued.
