What is ARC-BC?

The Accessible Resource Centre – British Columbia is a BC Ministry of Education funded response to the increasing demand for digital or alternate format alternatives to print in BC classrooms.  The goal of ARC-BC is to provide BC students with perceptual disabilities and the educators supporting them with high quality digital alternate format materials based on the BC K-12 curriculum.

ARC-BC is jointly managed by SET-BC (Special Education Technology – British Columbia) and PRCVI (Provincial Centre for the Visually Impaired) and works in consultation and partnership with BC school districts, other alternate format producers, and publishers to provide recommended and requested materials in a timely manner.

What types of alternate format materials are available through ARC-BC?

The ARC-BC collection focuses on BC Ministry of Education recommended resources for the K-12 curriculum.  The materials are available in a range of electronic formats including electronic text (e.g. .txt, .rtf, .kes), talking books (e.g. .ppt), Braille, and tactile graphics.

Who has access to the ARC-BC collection?

Access to ARC-BC is limited to registered users only.   Registration is available to those individuals in participating BC school districts who are:

  • students with a perceptual disability who are currently enrolled in a BC public or independent K-12 school, or
  • educators supporting such students

Which school districts are currently participating in ARC-BC?

The following BC school districts are currently participating in the ARC-BC Pilot Project.  Specific individuals in these districts will be accessing ARC-BC from September – December 2008 as the trial phase is conducted.  If you are a student with perceptual disability or an educator providing support to such students in these eight school districts, please contact your ARC-BC District Contact for information about registration.

School District ARC-BC District Contact
5 Southeast Kootenay Maggie Lindsay-Tadey
6 Rocky Mountain Shary McTighe
8 Kootenay Lake Doug Van Sickle
10 Arrow Lakes Shelley Thring
19 Revelstoke Jane Morris
20 Kootenay – Columbia Wendy Twible
22 Vernon Cheryl Turner
23 Central Okanagan Robert French
27 Cariboo - Chilcotin Shari Cooper
28 Quesnel Gail Adams
33 Chilliwack Louanne MacDonald
34 Abbotsford Conrad Wiebe
35 Langley Kathleen O’Hanley
36 Surrey George Voros
37 Delta Paul Kerslake
39 Vancouver Catherine Remedios
38 Richmond Kathryn D’Angelo
40 New Westminster Janet Grant
41 Burnaby Pauline Meugens
42 Maple Ridge / Pitt Meadows Deirdre Way
43 Coquitlam Carol Todd
44 North Vancouver Rosemary Ramsay
45 West Vancouver  David Platt
46 Sunshine Coast Sandy Magnussen
47 Powell River Theresa Verdiel
48 Sea to Sky  Marilyn Caldwell
51 Boundary Jennifer Turner
52 Prince Rupert Linda Hikida
53 Okanagan Similkameen Craig Newson
54 Bulkley Valley Leesa Easterday
57 Prince George Karen Hynd
58 Nicola-Similkameen Jane Kempston
59 Peace River South Sue Schnyder
60 Peace River North Kim Boettcher
61 Greater Victoria Marvella Preston-Bain
62 Sooke Diane Dawson
63 Saanich Jeanne Isaac
64 Gulf Islands  Sheila Miller
67 Okanagan – Skaha Dean Bates
68 Nanaimo-Ladysmith Jane Carroll
69 Parksville - Qualicum Kerri Steel
70 Port Alberni Jayne Chase
71 Comox Valley Karen West
72 Campbell River Beth Newman
73 Kamloops – Thompson Don McVicar
74 Gold Trail Patrice Barth
78 Fraser-Cascades Karen Nelson
79 Cowichan Valley Heather Stannard
82 Coast Mountains Mary Kyle
83 North Okanagan-Shuswap Marie Dylke
84 Vancouver Island West Stephen Larre
85 Vancouver Island North Sue Anweiler
91 Nechako Lakes Sandy Anaka
100 Independent Schools Tony Arthurs
102 FNSA Holly Smith

Other BC school districts are invited to begin participating in ARC-BC in January 2009. 
Applications to join the ARC-BC Community are now available!

Where can I go for more information on ARC-BC?

If you would like more information on ARC-BC, please consider attending an online informational meeting.  These are open to anyone and are scheduled throughout the 2008-2009 school year. View schedule

In addition, specific information on the various aspects of ARC-BC can be found on the ARC-BC Support Resources page located in the SET-BC Learning Centre

If you have other questions not addressed in these resources, please contact the ARC-BC team at .