Accessible Textbooks

Below is the full text of the California law that will require publishers
to provide a digital version of a textbook to a state-supported
institution for the accessibility of print impaired persons.  The
legislation was signed into law last week by Governor Gray Davis.  It is
the first law in the nation to place accessibility provisions on textbook
publishers in post-secondary education.

kelly  


BILL NUMBER: AB 422     CHAPTERED
        BILL TEXT

        CHAPTER   379
        FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE   SEPTEMBER 15, 1999
        APPROVED BY GOVERNOR   SEPTEMBER 15, 1999
        PASSED THE ASSEMBLY   AUGUST 26, 1999
        PASSED THE SENATE   AUGUST 23, 1999
        AMENDED IN SENATE   JUNE 30, 1999
        AMENDED IN SENATE   JUNE 16, 1999
        AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   MAY 25, 1999
        AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   APRIL 5, 1999

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Steinberg
   (Coauthors:  Assembly Members Aroner, Corbett, Kuehl, and Thomson)

                        FEBRUARY 12, 1999

   An act to add Section 67302 to the Education Code, relating to
instructional materials.


        LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 422, Steinberg.  Instructional materials:  disabled students.
   Under existing law, a publisher or manufacturer of instructional
materials offered for adoption or sale in California is required to
comply with specified requirements, including providing to the state,
at no cost, the right to transcribe, reproduce, and distribute the
material in braille, large print, recordings, or other accessible
media for use by pupils with visual disabilities.  This right
includes computer diskette versions of instructional materials if
made available to any other state, and those corrections and
revisions as may be necessary.
   This bill would require every individual, firm, partnership or
corporation publishing or manufacturing printed instructional
materials, as defined, for students attending the University of
California, the California State University, or a California
Community College to provide to the university, college, or
particular campus of the university or college, for use by students
at no additional cost and in a timely manner, any printed
instructional material in unencrypted electronic form upon the
receipt of a written request, provided that the university or college
complies with certain conditions.
   This bill would require that the computer files or electronic
versions of printed instructional material maintain their structural
integrity, as defined, be compatible with commonly used braille
translation and speech synthesis software, and include corrections
and revisions as may be necessary.
   This bill would authorize the Chancellor of the California
Community Colleges, the Chancellor of the California State
University, and the President of the University of California to each
establish one or more centers within their respective segments to
process requests for electronic versions of instructional materials,
as prescribed.
   This bill would also require an individual, firm, partnership or
corporation that publishes or manufactures nonprinted instructional
materials for students attending the University of California, the
California State University, or a California Community College to
provide computer files or other electronic versions of the nonprinted
instructional materials for use by students, subject to the same
conditions for printed instructional materials, when technology is
available to convert these nonprinted instructional materials to a
format that maintains the structural integrity of the nonprinted
instructional material that is compatible with braille translation
and speech synthesis software.
   This bill would provide that willful failure to comply with these
requirements would be subject to sanctions under the law relating to
full and equal access of disabled persons to public accommodations.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  Section 67302 is added to the Education Code, to read:

   67302.  (a) An individual, firm, partnership or corporation that
publishes or manufactures printed instructional materials for
students attending the University of California, tthat require the availability of electronic equipment in
order to be used as a learning resource, including, but not
necessarily limited to, software programs, video disks, and video and
audio tapes.
   (4) "Structural integrity" means all of the printed instructional
material, including, but not limited to, the text of the material,
sidebars, the table of contents, chapter headings and subheadings,
footnotes, indexes, glossaries, and bibliographies.  "Structural
integrity" need not include nontextual elements such as pictures,
illustrations,  graphs, or charts.  If good faith efforts fail to
produce an agreement pursuant to subdivision (a) between the
publisher or manufacturer and the university, college, or particular
campus of the university or college, as to an electronic format that
will preserve the structural integrity of the printed instructional
material, the publisher or manufacturer shall provide the
instructional material in ASCII text and shall preserve as much of
the structural integrity of the printed instructional material as
possible.
   (5) "Specialized format" means braille, audio, or digital text
that is exclusively for use by blind or other persons with
disabilities.
   (f) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit a
university, college, or particular campus of the university or
college from assisting a student with a disability by using the
electronic version of  printed instructional material provided
pursuant to this section solely to transcribe or arrange for the
transcription of the printed instructional material into braille.  In
the event a transcription is made, the campus or college shall have
the right to share the braille copy of the printed instructional
material with other students with disabilities.
   (g) The Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, the
Chancellor of the California State University, and the President of
the University of California may each establish one or more centers
within their respective segments to process requests for electronic
versions of instructional materials pursuant to this section.  If a
segment establishes a center or centers, each of the following shall
apply:
   (1) The colleges or campuses designated as within the jurisdiction
of a center shall submit requests for instructional material made
pursuant to paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) to the center, which
shall transmit the request to the publisher or manufacturer.
   (2) If there is more than one center, each center shall make every
effort to coordinate requests within its segment.
   (3) The publisher or manufacturer of instructional material shall
be required to honor and respond to only those requests submitted
through a designated center.
   (4) If a publisher or manufacturer has responded to a request for
instructional materials by a center, or on behalf of all the centers
within a segment, all subsequent requests for these instructional
materials shall be satisfied by the center to which the request is
made.
   (h) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to authorize any use
of instructional materials that would constitute an infringement of
copyright under the Copyright Revision Act of 1976, as amended (17
U.S.C. Sec. 101 et seq.).
   (i) The governing boards of the California Community Colleges, the
California State University, and the University of California shall
each adopt guidelines consistent with this section for its
implementation and administration.  At a minimum, the guidelines
shall address all of the following:
   (1) The designation of materials deemed "required or essential to
student success."
   (2) The determination of the availability of technology for the
conversion of nonprinted materials pursuant to subdivision (d) and
the conversion of mathematics and science materials pursuant to
paragraph (4) of subdivision (e).
   (3) The procedures and standards relating to distribution of files
and materials pursuant to subdivisions (a) and (b).
   (4) Other matters as are deemed necessary or appropriate to carry
out the purposes of this section.
   (j) Failure to comply with the requirements of this section shall
be a violation of Section 54.1 of the Civil Code.


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