The Louis Database and Cycle of Accessible Textbook Creation

The Louis Database 

The Louis Database of Accessible Materials has existed since the 1960s and is recognized by name in the 2002 Instructional Materials Accessibility Act: Making Instructional Materials Available to All Students. The database features listings of K-12 educational resources contributed by over 50 agencies, including NIMAC, Bookshare, and Learning Ally, enabling a unified search for accessible educational materials (AEM) from a variety of producers nationwide. With over 1.5 million items, the database provides information on materials available in braille, large print, e-files, and recorded media.  

To sort through these materials, the database allows users to utilize subject fields to narrow down searchers and locate materials that fit their specific needs. The database also serves as a resource for downloadable, student-ready braille and large print files produced by APH.   

Cycle of Accessible Textbook Creation 

The Louis Database of Accessible Materials aids in addressing two of the biggest obstacles to delivering accessible materials to students – time of transcription and duplication of effort. It can take over 6 months to produce a braille book, specifically math and science or materials with extensive graphics. This makes The Monarch, APH’s multiline braille device, a vital innovation in speeding up access to materials! Through the Louis Database’s “Cycle of Accessible Textbook Creation” time and labor spent on creating materials is much more efficient.  

When a textbook is needed by a student, an educator begins the cycle by searching the Louis Database. From there, they can either locate the title from APH or a contributing agency, and either purchase the textbook directly through the Louis Database or reach out to that agency directly. The Louis Database cart is integrated seamlessly into the APH shop website, allowing users to purchase from both the APH Shop and the Louis Database, with the same login.  

If the title is not available in a print format, an e-file, either through the APH file repository, the NIMAC, or other producer, can be located and then utilized to produce the materials.  

AMP Database 

If no book is listed in the Louis Database, the user can request APH to produce a Braille or Large Print book. If the text falls outside of the APH transcription qualifiers, the educator can utilize the Accessible Media Producers (AMP) Database to locate a producer.  

The AMP Database is a self-listing directory for accessible media producers of braille, tactile graphics, large print, e-files, and audio. The AMP Database allows users to search and then use subjects to narrow searches by format, location of producers, and other specialties.  

The educator would then contact the producer and order the needed materials. At this stage, it is important to note if there is an available source file or NIMAS file for the text, which speeds up the production time. Most producers will have access to the NIMAC or can use a source file purchased via the Louis Database to create the materials.  

After a producer is located and agrees to create the text, the agency will then send an intention to transcribe notice to the APH READS Librarians, which will be listed in the Louis Database. This listing will be crucial to aid in deduplication efforts and save precious transcription time that can then be allotted to other materials. After an item is completed, the agency will notify APH READS Librarians again that the material has been completed, which will be updated on the database.  

The final, and most important step, is that the materials are delivered to the student on time and allow them to learn along side their peers!  

Louis Website Series 

This blog is part of a larger series that describes the various databases available to users through the Louis Website. Check out the Louis Website Ecosystem blog to learn more about the additional databases!