National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard

The National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS) helps facilitate timely access to alternate formats of instructional materials for students with visual impairments or other print disabilities. NIMAS (pronounced NYE-mas) outlines a set of consistent and valid XML-based source files created by K-12 curriculum publishers or other content producers. These well-structured source files can be used to create accessible specialized formats (i.e., braille, audio, e-text, large print, etc.) of print instructional materials. The full set of files includes XML content files, a package file, images, and a PDF file of the title page (or whichever page contains ISBN and copyright information).

In a significant step forward for students with disabilities, the U.S. Congress adopted NIMAS as part of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004, a reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.