SB 638

Under current state law, the University of Wisconsin System (UW System) and

the Technical College System (TCS) may not deny to a student admission to,

participation in, or the benefits of, or discriminate against a student in, any service,

program, course, or facility because of the student's disability. In addition, under

current federal law, a college, university, or other postsecondary institution,

including a private postsecondary institution, may not exclude a student from

participation in, deny a student the benefits of, or subject a student to discrimination

under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance. Federal

regulations specify that a postsecondary institution receiving federal financial

assistance must ensure that no student with a disability is denied the benefits of,

excluded from participation in, or otherwise subjected to discrimination because of

the absence of educational auxiliary aids for students with impaired sensory,

manual, or speaking skills.

This bill permits an institution or college campus within the UW System or a

technical college within the TCS (institution of higher education), on behalf of a

student who is blind or visually impaired, or who has a specific learning disability

or other disability affecting the activity of reading, and who needs reasonable

accommodations to read (student with a disability), to request a publisher to provide

instructional material in electronic format by submitting to the publisher a request

for that material that complies with the bill and a request for permission to convert

or to arrange for the conversion of that material into Braille, large print texts, audio

recordings, digital texts, digital talking books, or any other medium or format for the

presentation of instructional materials, other than standard print, that a student

with a disability needs to make those materials accessible to the student (alternative

format). Within 15 working days after receipt of the request the publisher must

provide the instructional material to the institution of higher education at no

additional cost.

Under the bill, a request for instructional material in electronic format must

certify that: 1) a copy of the instructional material in a standard format has been

purchased for use by a student with a disability; 2) the student has a disability that

prevents the student from using instructional material in a standard format; and 3)

the instructional material is for use by the student in connection with a course at the

institution of higher education in which the student is enrolled. In addition, the

publisher may require the student to sign a statement agreeing that the student will

use the electronic copy of the instructional material solely for his or her own

educational purposes and that the student will not copy or distribute the

instructional material for use by others.

Under the bill, instructional material provided by a publisher in electronic

format must: 1) maintain the structural integrity of the original instructional

material, which means that all of the information provided in printed instructional