Alternate Media Facilitator (AMF)

• What is an AMF?
• Office Hours
• Alternate Media Flyer
• Links for Students
• Links for Faculty
• Great Article about Katrina

What does an AMF do?

I work with faculty members who have a student with a disability, so they can provide class handouts and exams in an accessible format, such as Braille, tactile graphics, audio taped text, or electronic text (e-text). If you have a student with a disability who would benefit from having their class handouts, exams, or textbooks produced in an alternate format, please refer him or her to the DSPS Department. You may also contact me directly at kostby@cuesta.edu.

I work with faculty and staff to make our web pages available to both students and the general population. A new federal regulation, Section 508, requires that information be accessible to all people. As an example, if a web page includes an picture, there needs to be a caption or "ALT tag" describing the image. The ALT tag can be read by a screen reading program, allowing a blind individual to learn what is in the picture.

I work with faculty members to make sure that the video tapes they use are available with closed captions. These captions allow students with auditory disabilities to read on the screen what is being spoken or narrated on the video. Cuesta College has a captioning project underway. If you would like to add your course video tapes to the captioning list, please contact me or fill out the online captioning request form.

I prepare materials in alternate formats for students with disabilities. I accept student requests for textbooks, class handouts, exams, and course videotapes in alternate formats.

I teach Flex Activities on Alternate Technology and web accessibility.

When am I here?

My office is located in the new High Tech Center, room 3328. You are welcome to drop by to see me, or call me at extension 2825, or send me an e-mail.

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Links for Instructors

• Course Material Accessibility Guidelines
• Course Material Accessibility Checklist
• Closed Captioning Request Form
• Flex Activities

Links for Students

• DSPS Alternate Media Center
• Alternate Media Request Procedure
• Alternate Media Request Form
• Alternate Formats Page

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Great Article by Serena Philebar!

Meet Cuesta’s Own Indiana Jones

Katrina Ostby has been one of the best-kept secrets of the DSPS Department. Unassuming and soft-spoken, she is a multifaceted woman whose accomplishments and unique interests are as vast as they are diverse. For example, her caving stories are riveting. Mind you, this is not a sport for the squeamish or faint in heart. She has vertically rappelled one hundred and fifty feet into black holes, brushed shoulders with frightened bats, and landed on animal bones. In utter darkness, equipped only with a hard-hat-light, she has slithered on her belly, inched through narrow crawl spaces, and explored caves that very few people have ever laid eyes upon. Truly, Katrina is Cuesta's own Indiana Jones. Her caving adventures began at the tender age of nine when her mom and dad took her to the Carlsbad Caverns of New Mexico for her birthday, and she's been hanging out under rocks ever since. She shares this interest with her husband, Paul, of nine years. Can you imagine the kind of stories her family must swap around the campfire? (Ask her about her killer whale of a tale out on the Bering Sea.) Move over and pass the hot cocoa, please.

As you might expect, she's a nature enthusiast. Over the summer, she turned a group of us (from the DSPS Department) into bird watchers--personally, something I thought could never be done. Out by the track, we witnessed the birth of two Killdeer: we followed their development and marveled at their survival skills and family dynamics.

Although Katrina may have the soul of an explorer, she has the heart of a child. She is the designer and creator of beautifully handcrafted wooden toys, some of which are on display in her office. She also enjoys building large-scale Lego castles—in fact, she just finished one last week, which was a whopping four feet in length. (And I thought that my family's Lego-filled Christmas popcorn tin was an admirable collection.)

As Alternate Media Facilitator, Katrina would like students and faculty members to be aware of the many services she provides here at Cuesta; consequently, she has kindly put together the list that follows. If you should require any of these services, please don't hesitate to contact her at kostby@cuesta.edu.

Alternate Media at Cuesta College

Disabled Student Programs and Services (DSPS) provides alternate media for students with verified disabilities for required textbooks, course materials, exams, other print materials, and video tapes.

What is alternate media?

• Print materials are converted into electronic text, such as Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF files.
• Print materials are translated into Braille.
• Print materials are recorded onto audiotape, either by a person reading the text, or by a computer generating synthetic speech as MP3 files.
• Diagrams and figures are embossed to allow people with vision limitations to feel the images.
• Videotapes are edited to include closed captions.

How does a student request alternate media?

• A DSPS Specialist or Counselor verifies the disability, determines the need, and authorizes the appropriate type of alternate media. This must be done annually.
• All services are requested at the DSPS Support Services Reception Desk.
• The student fills out the "Request for Alternate Media" form or the Request for Taped Texts" form and turns it in at the DSPS Support Services Desk.

How long does it take to obtain alternate media?

• It usually takes about 2 days from the time a student submits a request until he or she receives a course syllabus, course handout, or other short document in an alternate format.
• Tactile diagrams take 2 to 5 days.
• Closed-captioned videotapes take 1 to 2 weeks.
• Textbooks take longer, between 2 and 8 weeks, depending on the size of the book and the format needed. Students are encouraged to submit Alternate Media Requests as soon as they register for classes.
• Production times may be faster or slower depending on the number of requests each semester.

Who creates alternate media?

• The Alternate Media Facilitator (AMF), Katrina Ostby, creates electronic text, Braille, tactile diagrams, and closed-captioned videotapes. The AMF arranges to obtain some materials from the ATPC.
• The Alternative Text Production Center (ATPC) in Ventura obtains electronic text from some textbook publishers, and creates electronic text and Braille.
• The Support Services Coordinator arranges for volunteer readers to record books on audiotape.

What else does the Alternate Media Facilitator do?

• The AMF works with faculty members who have students with disabilities, so they can provide class handouts and exams in an accessible format in a timely manner.
• The AMF works with faculty and staff to make our campus web pages accessible to everyone, including students with disabilities.
• The AMF works with faculty members to make sure that the videotapes they use are available with closed captions.
• The AMF provides training to faculty and staff on Assistive Technology and web accessibility.

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Adobe Acrobat Reader may be downloaded from Adobe's Web Site. If you do not have Microsoft Word version 97, 98, or 2000, a MS Word Viewer may be downloaded from Microsoft's Web Site

Page maintained by dspsweb@cuesta.edu. Last modified: 11/06/2003.