SB238: Bill Text

LRB-2889/1

GMM:wlj:jf

2007 - 2008 LEGISLATURE

2007 Senate BILL 238

July 18, 2007 - Introduced by Senators Roessler and Schultz, cosponsored by Representatives Seidel, Berceau, Grigsby, Hebl, Hintz, Sheridan and Zepnick. Referred to Committee on Agriculture and Higher Education.

SB238,1,4 An Act to amend 106.52 (1) (e) 1.; and to create 106.52 (3) (a) 6. and 106.57 of the statutes; relating to: accessible instructional materials for students with disabilities enrolled in the University of Wisconsin System or the technical college system.

Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau

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 directs the TCS Board and the Board of Regents of the UW System jointly to do all of the following:

1. Subject to the availability of funds, establish at a location that best meets the needs of students with disabilities enrolled at institutions or college campuses within the UW System or at technical colleges within the technical college system (institutions of higher education) a state repository for the purpose of collecting instructional materials in electronic and alternative formats and facilitating timely access to those materials by students with disabilities. "Student with a disability" is defined in the bill as 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. "Alternative format" is defined in the bill to mean 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.

2. Develop policies and procedures to ensure to the maximum extent possible that a student with a disability has access to instructional material in an appropriate alternative format within the first week of the class for which the material is required.

Under the bill, if a state repository is established, the state repository is required to serve as the central point for processing all requests for instructional materials in electronic format or alternative format from institutions of higher education and, in performing that function, to do all of the following:

1. Compile and maintain a collection of instructional materials in electronic format and alternative format received from publishers, institutions of higher education, and other sources.

2. Receive requests for instructional materials in electronic format or alternative format from institutions of higher education.

3. If the instructional material requested is available in the state repository's collection or is otherwise available to the state repository, provide a copy of the instructional material to the requester.

4. If the instructional material requested is not available in the state repository's collection or is otherwise not available, request the publisher to provide the instructional material in electronic format and obtain permission from the publisher to convert or arrange for the conversion of that instructional material into an alternative format.

5. Receive instructional material in electronic format from publishers, convert or arrange for the conversion of that instructional material into an alternative format, and provide that alternative format version to the requesting institution of higher education at no additional cost.

If a state repository is established, the bill permits an institution of higher education, on behalf of a student with a disability, to request the state repository to provide instructional material in electronic format or alternative format by submitting a request to the state repository. The bill requires the state repository to satisfy the request either by providing a copy that is available in the state repository's collection or is otherwise available to the state repository or, if a copy is not available from those sources, by requesting the publisher to provide the material in electronic format. If it is necessary for the state repository to request instructional material in electronic format from the publisher, within 15 working days after receipt of the request the publisher must provide the instructional material to the state repository 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 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 electronic format; 2) be compatible with commonly used Braille translation or speech synthesis software; 3) include corrections and revisions as necessary; and 4) be in an electronic format that is mutually agreed to between the publisher and the requester or, if the publisher and the requester cannot agree to a format, be in a format that is suitable for the creation of instructional material in an alternative format and that maintains the structural integrity of the original material as much as possible.

The bill permits an institution of higher education to use instructional material in electronic format provided under the bill solely to convert that material into an alternative format. The bill also permits an institution of higher education that converts instructional material into an alternative format to share the alternative format version of the material with the state repository, with any other institution of higher education that is serving a student with a disability, or with an entity that is authorized under the federal Copyright Act to reproduce and distribute previously published works in alternative formats exclusively for use by persons with disabilities and that commonly provides instructional materials in alternative formats to students enrolled in institutions of higher education.

Finally, current law prohibits any person from denying to another the full and equal enjoyment of any public place of accommodation or amusement because of disability (public accommodations law). This bill provides that a publisher of instructional material is considered to be a public place of accommodation or amusement and that any publisher that refuses to provide instructional material as required under the bill is in violation of the public accommodations law.

For further information see the state fiscal estimate, which will be printed as an appendix to this bill.

The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:

SB238, s. 1 Section 1. 106.52 (1) (e) 1. of the statutes is amended to read:

SB238,4,8 106.52 (1) (e) 1. "Public place of accommodation or amusement" shall be interpreted broadly to include, but not be limited to, places of business or recreation; lodging establishments; restaurants; taverns; barber or cosmetologist, aesthetician, electrologist or manicuring establishments; nursing homes; clinics; hospitals; cemeteries; publishers, as defined in s. 106.57 (1) (h); and any place where accommodations, amusement, goods, or services are available either free or for a consideration, subject to subd. 2.

SB238, s. 2 Section 2. 106.52 (3) (a) 6. of the statutes is created to read:

SB238,4,11 106.52 (3) (a) 6. Refuse to provide instructional material in electronic format in violation of s. 106.57 (3) (a).

SB238, s. 3 Section 3. 106.57 of the statutes is created to read:

SB238,4,14 106.57 Postsecondary education; accessible instructional material for students with disabilities. (1) Definitions. In this section:

SB238,4,18 (a) "Alternative format" means 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.

SB238,4,19 (b) "Board" means the technical college system board.

SB238,4,21 (c) "Board of Regents" means the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System.

SB238,5,3 (d) "Institution of higher education" means an institution or college campus within the University of Wisconsin System or a technical college within the technical college system.

SB238,5,6 (e) "Instructional material" means any material that the instructor of a course of study at an institution of higher education includes in the syllabus of that course of study.

SB238,5,13 (f) "Maintain structural integrity" means to include all of the information provided in the original 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, when that printed instructional material is provided in electronic format.

SB238,5,17 (g) "Nonprinted instructional material" means instructional material in a format other than print, including instructional material that requires the availability of electronic equipment, such as a computer software program, videodisc, videotape, or audiotape, to be used as a learning resource.

SB238,5,19 (h) "Printed instructional material" means instructional material in a book or other printed form.

SB238,5,21 (i) "Publisher" means a person that publishes or manufactures instructional material.

SB238,5,23 (j) "State repository" means the state repository for instructional materials established under sub. (2) (a) 1.

SB238,6,2 (k) "Student with a disability" means a student enrolled in an institution of higher education 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.

SB238,6,4 (L) "Working day" means a day that is not a Saturday, a Sunday, a holiday designated under s. 230.35 (4) (a), or a legal holiday under federal law.

SB238,6,6 (2) State repository. (a) The board and the board of regents shall jointly under s. 20.901 (4) do all of the following:

SB238,6,12 1. Subject to the availability of funds, establish a state repository for the purpose of collecting instructional materials in electronic and alternative formats and facilitating timely access to those materials by students with disabilities. The board and the board of regents shall jointly determine the location of the state repository so as to best meet the needs of students with disabilities enrolled at institutions of higher education in this state.

SB238,6,16 2. Develop policies and procedures to ensure to the maximum extent possible that a student with a disability has access to instructional material in an appropriate alternative format within the first week of the class for which the material is required.

SB238,6,20 (b) If a state repository is established under sub. (2) (a) 1., the state repository shall serve as the central point for processing all requests for instructional materials in electronic format or alternative format from institutions of higher education under sub. (3) (a) 1. and, in performing that function, shall do all of the following:

SB238,6,23 1. Compile and maintain a collection of instructional materials in electronic format and alternative format received from publishers, institutions of higher education, and other sources.

SB238,6,25 2. Receive requests for instructional materials in electronic format or alternative format from institutions of higher education under sub. (3) (a) 1.

SB238,7,3 3. If the instructional material requested is available in the state repository's collection or is otherwise available to the state repository, provide a copy of the instructional material to the requester.

SB238,7,8 4. If the instructional material requested is not available in the state repository's collection or is otherwise not available, request the publisher to provide the instructional material in electronic format under sub. (3) (a) 1. and obtain permission from the publisher to convert or arrange for the conversion of that instructional material into an alternative format.