Indiana Center for Accessible Materials (ICAM)

Mission

Our mission is to assist Indiana's Local Education Agencies (LEAs) in meeting the NIMAS regulations of the IDEA reauthorization of 2004 by securing accessible textbooks and core curriculum materials in accessible formats in a timely manner, for students with a documented print disability.

The ICAM supports literacy by providing access to several libraries where you can order accessible educational materials (AEM) for your students who have a documented print disability.

According to the National Center on Accessible Educational Materials (2023), Accessible Educational Materials (AEM) are defined as print- and technology-based educational materials, including printed and electronic textbooks and related core materials that are designed or enhanced in a way that makes them usable across the widest range of learner variability. Accessible formats provide the same information in another form to address the barriers text-based materials can present for some learners. Examples of accessible formats include audio, braille, large print, tactile graphics, and digital text conforming with accessibility standards.

Students with dyslexia need support in reading skills beginning with decoding words, so text-to-speech and audiobooks offer a multisensory aspect that can keep them from falling behind typical readers. If the identification of dyslexia occurs after 3rd grade, these tools can help them catch up.

Some students will have physical limitations that prevent them from managing a book, turning pages, or sitting at a desk or table for prolonged periods or at all. For these students, it might be more appropriate to use a portable device that is placed within their visual range and has audio features.

Students with visual impairments (VI) may rely on braille or large print for reading. The Indiana Education Resource Center (IERC) provides both formats in hard copy and digital. The IERC works in conjunction with the American Printing House for the Blind (APH), and the Louis Database in Louisville, Kentucky.

Updates

As of 3/1/2021 a medical doctor’s signature is no longer required to obtain NIMAS files/AEM for an eligible student.
Read the details of this change to student eligibility!

NEW! December 2023: Combined ICAM/IERC NIMAS Forms!

The ICAM (Indiana Center for Accessible Materials) has provided the Accessible Educational Materials (AEM) Instructional Guide and ICAM/IERC NIMAS Forms to help the CCC (Case Conference Committee) in the determination of a print disability and in deciding appropriate accommodations. During this process, the ICAM/IERC NIMAS Forms should be filled in and uploaded to the Indiana IEP program.

You may continue to utilize the forms independently, or you may use this new combined forms PDF that contains all of the student data in one document.

In either case, if the DRM is not the student’s Teacher of Record (TOR), then the form(s) must be shared with the DRM in order for the DRM to Add/Update students and place orders in ICAM Web Ordering.

About the Project

Two second grade students sitting at desk. One is reading on a tablet and the other is reading on a computer and taking handwritten notes.

The ICAM was designed to provide support to Indiana Local Educational Agencies in meeting the NIMAS regulations of the Individuals with Disabilities Improvement Act of 2004.

Our mission is to assist Indiana's Local Education Agencies (LEA) in meeting the NIMAS regulations of the IDEA reauthorization of 2004 by securing accessible textbooks and core curriculum materials in accessible formats in a timely manner, for students with a documented print disability.

The ICAM system is owned, maintained, and provided to all Indiana schools by the Office of the Associate Superintendent, the Indiana Department of Education. Access to the system, technical support, and professional training are provided through the ICAM and PATINS projects without a fee.

Project Overview

In October 2006, the Indiana Department of Education, Department of Special Education, established a grant to fund the Indiana Center for Accessible Materials (ICAM) Project with the mandate to provide a state repository to coordinate with the National Instructional Materials Center (NIMAC) for obtaining accessible textbooks and core instructional materials, in the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS), for use by students with print disabilities.

The NIMAC, in Louisville, Kentucky, will receive and catalog publishers' electronic files of print instructional materials in a standard format: the NIMAS. The center will provide these standardized files to those who have been authorized by states to obtain the files to produce textbooks and other core print instructional materials for students who are blind, visually impaired and print-disabled.

The PATINS Project has been appointed by the Indiana Department of Education, to serve as the oversight agency for the ICAM operations and as the authorized agency for coordinating with the NIMAC for the state and its local educational agencies.

ICAM services are available to Indiana educational agencies at no cost, and the staff will work to assist Indiana’s educational agencies in building their capacity to provide access to print instructional materials in accessible formats for the student who has been determined as having a print disability.

ICAM Services to Local Education Agencies (LEA):

  • Offer training and technical assistance on accessible technology tools and the use of accessible content in curriculum delivery.

  • Serve as a state repository for textbooks and core curriculum instructional material in accessible formats and tangibles for K–12 students with qualifying print disabilities.

  • Fulfill requests for accessible formats of textbooks and core curriculum instructional materials in a timely manner.

  • Utilize a statewide tracking system.

  • Assure protection of copyrighted material.

  • Report statewide data on ICAM requests to the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE).