What Does an Alternative Media Specialist Do?
Students who are blind, have low vision or have a learning disability such as dyslexia need their course readings in a form they can use, and they need them when classes start. As an alternative media specialist you'll convert textbooks, repair scanned files and produce accessible course materials. This might involve braille, tagged PDFs, audio files or large print.
Also known as: Accessible Media (AMAC) Services Professional, Accessible Media (AMAC) Services Specialist
Alternative Media Specialist Duties and Responsibilities
The primary responsibilities of an alternative media specialist include:
- Scan print textbooks and run text-recognition (OCR) software to produce clean, searchable digital text.
- Proofread converted files against the original page, fixing misread words, math and footnotes.
- Tag PDFs and Word files so screen readers announce headings, lists and tables in order.
- Produce braille files with Duxbury Braille Translator and send them to the braille embosser.
- Request accessible e-text from publishers or through services such as Bookshare and the AccessText Network.
- Write alt text for charts, diagrams and photos in course readings.
- Record or generate audio versions of readings with text-to-speech tools such as Kurzweil 3000.
- Caption lecture videos and check automatic captions for errors in names and technical terms.
- Track each student's request list for the term so no reading arrives after it is assigned.
- Advise faculty on choosing accessible materials and posting readable files in the course site.
Required Skills and Qualifications
To succeed as an alternative media specialist, you will need the following skills and qualifications:
- Adobe Acrobat Pro accessibility tools
- ABBYY FineReader or similar OCR software
- Duxbury Braille Translator; reading braille is a plus
- JAWS, NVDA and other screen readers for testing
- Working knowledge of WCAG accessibility guidelines
- Patience for page-by-page proofreading
- Math notation in MathML or LaTeX for science and math texts
- Respect for student privacy and disability records
Education and Training
Graduates of any major can apply, since disability services offices hire from many fields. A bachelor's degree is the usual requirement, and only a few offices hire without one. Reading braille or having built accessible files before puts applicants ahead, and the conversion software is mostly learned on the job.
Salary and Job Outlook
Typical pay: varies widely for this role, and BLS does not publish pay for it separately. In the wider BLS group it belongs to (Educational Instruction and Library Workers, All Other), the middle half of earners made $36,050 to $73,920 a year, and the median was $50,890.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, Educational Instruction and Library Workers, All Other.
BLS files this work under educational instruction and library workers, all other, and projects that group to grow about 2 percent from 2025 to 2035. The group sees roughly 12,700 openings a year, though posts in this specialty are far fewer and usually sit inside disability services offices. And, as long as colleges enroll students with print disabilities, specialists will be needed to make sure every assigned reading has an accessible version.
Outlook source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections, 2025 to 2035, Educational instruction and library workers, all other.