Alternate Format

What is Alternate Format?

 

Alternate Format is the process of making information available in an accessible format for individuals with visual and other print-related disabilities. The most common formats we convert material into is PDF, Word, and .Kesi (Kurzweil). This service is available through the Disability Resource Center (DRC) at no cost to students at UIC.

 

A few important things to keep in mind when requesting Alternate Format Services:

  • An alternate format request form must be submitted every semester
  • Turn-around time for this service can be up to 15 business days from the date the form is received by the alternate format tea,, depending on the nature of the request
  • The alternate format team will convert and upload requested books and scanned PDF readings.
  • If course readings include digitally created PDFs (PDFs that you can drag your curser along individual lines of text), then they are already compatible with text-to-speech programs such as Kurzweil and the alternate format team will not upload these readings.
    • We recommend you use the built in Blackboard Ally text-to-speech format, Immersive Reader (more information in the accordion below).
  • The DRC will upload converted material for students on Fridays, the week they are required by the course. Example: Week 4 readings will be uploaded by Friday of week 3
    • If you do not see course material uploaded you expect, email accesstext@uic.edu
  • Requested course materials due prior to DRC receipt of request form will be converted only if the student requests past material be converted for the purpose of cumulative midterms/finals

If you have any questions or comments about alternate format procedures, you can contact the alternate format team via email at accesstext@uic.edu

Request Alternate Format

Student Guide to Alternate Format

Faculty Guide to Alternate Format

If a student provides you with a Letter of Accommodation that includes an accommodation for alternate format, you can help facilitate the process of making your course material accessible.

To upload PDFs to Kurzweil:

Articles/texts published electronically should convert to .kesi (Kurzweil) with no problems as long as they are “readable” meaning you can highlight lines of text by dragging your curser across the page. If you would like to upload documents to Kurzweil, follow these instructions:
  1. Login to your Kurzweil account
  2. To create a folder in Kurzweil, right click on an existing folder (ex: “private” or spring_2024) and select “add folder,” name the folder for the course or week (ex: bio_203 or w1) NOTE: Kurzweil does not recognize capitals/spaces in titles
  3. Click on the folder you want to upload to (ex: bios_110 or w1) so that it is highlighted in an aqua blue color.
  4. Click the orange upload button on the top right corner which will open your computer and you can choose the document you’d like to upload
  5. Opening the file in the pop up window will start the upload into Kurzweil and soon after, a window will pop up to say “upload successful!”
  6. You can read the document as soon as it is fully loaded into Kurzweil and able to be opened
  7. To rename a document, you click on the little white box next to the title and click the white “rename” button on the right side of the screen.
*If you select the “Google Drive, One Drive, or Computer” to upload a document, it will upload to your “recently_opened_files” folder. If this happens, you can create a folder and move the document from recently_opened_files into the new folder.
If when opening a document to Kurzweil you get an error that reads “There is no text available to read on this page,” it likely means the PDF is a scanned PDF (picture) rather than a readable PDF. Try navigating to the second page of the document (past the cover page, onto a page with written content), if you still get this message, email the alternate format team at accesstext@uic.edu so that we can remediate the document and ensure it is compatible with Kurzweil.

Use Kurzweil's Read the Web with Web-Based Content:

Kurzweil Read the Web is a web extension that operates like the web platform or desktop platform of Kurzweil, but for websites.
Install Read the Web
Please note: the plugin is only compatible with a personal gmail account not your UIC gmail

Watch the Kurzweil tutorial video to learn how Read the Web extension gets installed and can be enabled/disabled on different websites (you click the button like a light switch, to turn it on/off)

Read the web should generally work with websites and if you encounter a URL that ends in .pdf, the red PDF button will appear on the Kurzweil menu and when you select it, you’ll be able to open the PDF into your account within the web version of Kurzweil

Kurzweil Tutorials

This video walks users through how to access their material on Kurzweil and how to optimize the usability of the program.

This video provides more in depth instructions on how to upload material and move material around your account.

Overview of the Alternate Format Process

For courses that only require textbooks
  • The alternate format team will acquire your requested texts via publishers or accessible libraries and post them onto Kurzweil or Box within the course folder or subfolder within the course folder as they become available.
For courses that post assigned PDF readings on Blackboard
  • The alternate format team will verify the compatibility of the PDF readings with your professors and if necessary, convert the readings to make them compatible with text-to-speech programs
  • Scanned PDFs that the alternate format team converts will be uploaded for students onto Kurzweil or Box by Friday evening before the week the reading are required by the course. Example: Week 4 readings will be uploaded by Friday of week 3
  • If the alternate format team determines the PDF readings provided by professors are already compatible with text-to-speech programs (PDFs that are digitally created and readable meaning you can drag your curser along individual lines of text), then the alternate format team will not upload these readings
    • We recommend you use the built in Blackboard Ally text-to-speech format, Immersive Reader (more information in the accordion below). Alternatively, you can download the readings from Blackboard and upload to your preferred text-to-speech program

Learn more about the alternate format process

Blackboard Ally's Built-In Text-to-Speech Format, Immersive Reader

Youtube tutorial demonstrating how to find and access immersive reader (text-to-speech) on Blackboard which allows students to enable text-to-speech on documents uploaded to Blackboard.