§1140l Establishment of Advisory Commission on Accessible Instructional Materials in Postsecondary Education for Students with Disabilities

Summary

Creates a commission to study and improve access to accessible instructional materials for college students with print disabilities. The Secretary must appoint up to 19 members within 60 days. The group will include one representative each from several federal offices, the Library of Congress working group, publisher and disability organizations, and national groups for visual and learning disabilities. It will also include two people each from college staff experienced with print disabilities, producers of accessible materials and tech, people with visual impairments (including at least one current student), and people with dyslexia or similar reading disabilities (including at least one current student). The commission picks a chair and vice chair, meets when the chair calls it, must hold its first meeting within 60 days after appointments, and a majority of members is a quorum. The commission must study barriers, technical fixes, and how faculty use accessible materials. It must use existing research when possible and make recommendations to guide federal rules, support model programs, find best practices for producing and sharing specialized-format materials at costs and timing comparable to materials for other students, help faculty use the materials while following copyright law, and suggest changes to certain definitions in federal law. The commission must consider timely and cost-comparable access, standard electronic file formats (such as the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard), a possible national clearinghouse or file-sharing network, market-based collaborations, universal design, and solutions for rare, costly requests. A report with findings and recommendations is due to the Secretary and authorizing committees within one year after the first meeting. The commission must share information through the National Technical Assistance Center and other means, and it ends 90 days after it sends the report.