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April 8, 2002
This Act may be cited as the Instructional Materials Accessibility Act.
The purpose of the Act is to improve access to printed instructional materials
used by elementary and secondary school students who are blind, as well as other
students who have print disabilities. This will be achieved through the creation
of a system for acquiring and distributing publishers' electronic files of textbooks
and other instructional materials, so that these materials can be made available
in braille, synthesized speech, digital text, digital audio, or large print.
The transition for implementing this new system will occur over three (3) years.
This provision would require the Secretary of Education to establish a National Instructional Materials Accessibility Advisory Committee within three (3) months of the date of enactment.
No later than twelve (12) months after the date of enactment, the Secretary, in consultation with the Advisory Committee and the National Institute of Standards and Technology, would be required to issue technical standards for a "national electronic file format" suitable for efficient conversion into specialized formats, such as Braille, synthesized speech, digital text, digital audio books, or large print.
The national electronic file format would preempt electronic file format requirements,
and publishers would be required to begin using the national electronic file
format no later than two (2) years after the standards are published in the
Federal Register as a final rule.
Within two (2) years of enactment, the IMAA would require each state educational agency receiving federal financial assistance under the Individuals with Disabilities Act ("IDEA") to develop and implement a written statewide plan to ensure that printed instructional materials required for classroom use in elementary and secondary schools are made available in specialized formats to individuals who are blind or have other print disabilities at the same time such materials are provided to individuals without such disabilities.
In addition, each such state educational agency would be required, as part of any adoption process, procurement contract, or other practice or instrument used for the purchase of instructional materials, to enter into a written contract with the publisher of the materials requiring the publisher, in conjunction with its provision of the materials, to also provide such materials to a National Instructional Materials Access Center ("Center") (see below) as electronic files in the prescribed national electronic file format. Such contracts, which would be entered into and take effect not later than three (3) years after enactment, must address the provision of both pupil and requested teacher editions of the materials in electronic files suitable for conversion into specialized formats.
The provisions regarding publisher obligations would preempt any inconsistent
requirements of any state or local government regarding a publisher's provision
of print instructional materials in the form of electronic files for conversion
into specialized formats, except that nothing in the IMAA would impair the right
of any state or local educational agency to enter into a contract with the publisher
for the purpose of obtaining such electronic files directly from the publisher,
rather than obtaining them from the National Instructional Materials Access
Center (see below) which would otherwise receive them from the publisher and
make them available to the agency.
Not later than two (2) years after enactment, IMAA would require the Secretary to establish a "National Instructional Materials Access Center" to coordinate the acquisition and distribution of instructional materials provided by publishers in the prescribed national electronic file format. A contract to operate the Center, renewable on a biannual basis, would be competitively awarded by the Secretary to a nonprofit organization or consortium of such organizations.
These provisions authorize the Secretary to award grants to eligible entities to provide or improve their capacities to prepare or obtain instructional materials in specialized formats as provided under IMAA. They also authorize federal appropriations for this purpose.
These provisions do not create new enforcement mechanisms, but make the rights,
remedies and procedures available to children and parents under the IDEA and
the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 also available to children and parents aggrieved
by violations of the IMAA by any state or local educational agency, without
limiting any right, remedy, or procedure otherwise available under federal law
that "provides greater or equal protection for the rights of blind or other
persons with print disabilities."
These provisions clarify that, for purposes of the IMAA, a publisher's provision
of print instructional materials to a state or local educational agency in the
national electronic file format, and reproduction or distribution of such materials
in a "large print" format by a government agency or nonprofit organization
whose primary mission is to provide
specialized services to blind persons or others with disabilities, will be considered
non-infringing uses of such materials under the Chafee Amendment to the Copyright
Act, 17 U.S.C. Section 121.
This provision requires that any funds made available under the IMAA must be used to supplement, rather than to supplant, any other funds available to carry out the requirements of the IMAA.
This provision requires the Secretary to research the effect of the IMAA on
the timely delivery of accessible instructional materials to the students who
require them, and to report to the appropriate Congressional committees on the
results of such research no later than three (3) years after enactment.
These provisions define key terms as they are used in the IMAA, including "print
disability," "instructional materials," "national electronic
file format," and "specialized format," among others.
This provision establishes that the IMAA will take effect upon enactment, and apply only to instructional materials that are copyrighted and published after the date on which the technical standards for the national electronic files format take effect.
Last Revision: July 30, 2002
textbooks/afb/imaa-step.htm