Accessible instructional materials for students with disabilities enrolled in institutions of higher education

This bill permits an institution or college campus within the UW System, a technical college within the TCS, or a private, nonprofit institution of higher education that is a member of the Wisconsin Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (institution of higher education), on behalf of a student who is blind or visually impaired, or who has a specific learning disability or other physical condition that prevents the student from using instructional material in standard print format, and who needs reasonable accommodations to read (student with a disability), to request a publisher to provide instructional material in either of the following formats:

1. Braille, large print texts, audio recordings created with the use of text-to-speech technology, electronic formats used with screen reader devices or other assistive technology, or digital talking books that are required by a student with a disability to make instructional material accessible to the student (alternative format).

2. A computer file or other digital medium embodying instructional material that can be made into an alternative format or that is capable of serving as an alternative format, if used with a screen reader device or other assistive technology (electronic format).

Under the bill, a request for instructional material in alternative format or electronic format (request) must certify: 1) that a copy of the instructional material in a standard format has been purchased for use by a student with a disability; 2) that the student is a student with a disability; 3) that 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; and 4) whether the institution of higher education has in its possession a copy of the instructional material in electronic format and, if so, whether that copy is capable, if used with assistive technology, of serving as an alternative format suitable for the needs of the student with a disability or of being converted, using generally available technology, into the particular alternative format needed by the student. In addition, the publisher may require the student to sign a statement agreeing that the student will use the instructional material in alternative format solely for his or her own educational purposes and that the student will not copy or distribute the instructional material in alternative format for use by others.

Provision of instructional material in alternative or electronic format.

The bill requires a publisher, in response to a request, to do one of the following:

1. Provide to the requester a copy of the instructional material in alternative format by delivering a computer disk or file.

2. Provide to the requester access to the instructional material in alternative format by providing an Internet password or by providing that access in any other appropriate matter.

3. Provide to the requester a copy of the instructional material in electronic format.

4. At its option, grant to the institution of higher education permission to convert the instructional material into the particular alternative format needed by the student with a disability.

5. If the publisher believes that it is unable to provide the instructional material in alternative format or electronic format or grant permission to convert the instructional material into alternative format because the publisher does not own or control some or all of the copyright in the instructional material, provide to the requester the name of the person that, to the best of the publisher's knowledge, is able to fulfill the request.

Within seven days after receiving a request, the publisher must respond to the request by providing a notice advising the requester as to which of the actions, if any, permitted under the bill the publisher intends to take. If the publisher provides notice that the publisher intends to provide a copy of the instructional material in electronic format, the publisher must provide the material in that format no later than seven days after providing that notice. If the publisher provides notice that the publisher intends to provide a copy of, or access to, the instructional material in alternative format, the publisher must provide that material or that access no later than 14 days after providing that notice.

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 material, including the text of sidebars; the table of contents; chapter headings and subheadings; footnotes; indexes; glossaries; bibliographies; nontextual elements, such as pictures, illustrations, graphs, charts, and screenshots; and any other data that are pertinent to the instructional material, is included when that printed instructional material is provided in alternative format or electronic format; 2) be compatible with an assistive technology that is suitable for the needs of the student with a disability or, if the student needs an embossed Braille version of the instructional material, be compatible with commonly used Braille translation software; and 3) include corrections and revisions that have been generally published with respect to the instructional material.

Use of instructional material in alternative or electronic format.

The bill permits an institution of higher education to create an alternative format of instructional material for which a request has been made if any of the following apply:

1. The publisher provides a copy of the instructional material in electronic format.

2. The publisher grants permission to convert the instructional material into alternative format.

3. The publisher indicates that the publisher does not intend to provide a copy of the instructional material in alternative format or electronic format because the institution of higher education already possesses a copy of the instructional material in electronic format that is capable of serving as an alternative format or of being converted in an alternative format.

4. The publisher does not respond to a request within seven days after receipt of the request as required under the bill or does not fulfill the request within 7 or 14 days after providing notice of its intent as required under the bill.

The bill requires an institution of higher education that has in its possession a copy of instructional material in alternative format or electronic format that has been provided by a publisher or an alternative format of instructional material that has been created by the institution to satisfy all subsequent requests for instructional material in that format from its own students without requesting the publisher to provide that material and permits the institution, if requested, to provide instructional material in that format to another institution of higher education for use by a student of that other institution. The bill, however, requires the institution of higher education to provide to the publisher, for each student for whom the instructional material is provided, the same certification and statement that is required for an original request.

Nonapplicability of bill.

The requirements and prohibitions created in the bill, however, do not apply to a person that is a member of a nationwide exchange network that facilitates the delivery of instructional material in alternative format to students with disabilities, if that material is delivered within seven days after a request for the material. The bill also does not apply if instructional material in the particular format needed by a student with a disability is commercially available from the publisher of the material.