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 permits an institution or college campus within the UW System or a
technical college within the TCS (institution of higher education), on behalf of 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 (student with a disability), to request a publisher to provide
instructional material in electronic format by submitting to the publisher a request
for that material that complies with the bill and a request for permission to convert
or to arrange for the conversion of that material into 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 (alternative
format). Within 15 working days after receipt of the request the publisher must
provide the instructional material to the institution of higher education 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 for use by a student with a disability or to otherwise assist such
a student. 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 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:
SB638, s. 1 1Section 1. 106.52 (1) (e) 1. of the statutes is amended to read:
SB638,3,82 106.52 (1) (e) 1. "Public place of accommodation or amusement" shall be
3interpreted broadly to include, but not be limited to, places of business or recreation;
4lodging establishments; restaurants; taverns; barber or cosmetologist, aesthetician,
5electrologist or manicuring establishments; nursing homes; clinics; hospitals;
6cemeteries; publishers, as defined in s. 106.57 (1) (h); and any place where
7accommodations, amusement, goods, or services are available either free or for a
8consideration, subject to subd. 2.
SB638, s. 2 9Section 2. 106.52 (3) (a) 6. of the statutes is created to read:
SB638,3,1110 106.52 (3) (a) 6. Refuse to provide instructional material in electronic format
11in violation of s. 106.57 (2) (a).
SB638, s. 3 12Section 3. 106.57 of the statutes is created to read:
SB638,3,14 13106.57 Postsecondary education; accessible instructional material for
14students with disabilities. (1)
Definitions. In this section:
SB638,3,1815 (a) "Alternative format" means Braille, large print texts, audio recordings,
16digital texts, digital talking books, or any other medium or format for the
17presentation of instructional materials, other than standard print, that a student
18with a disability needs to make those materials accessible to the student.
SB638,4,1
1(b) "Board" means the technical college system board.
SB638,4,32 (c) "Board of Regents" means the Board of Regents of the University of
3Wisconsin System.
SB638,4,64 (d) "Institution of higher education" means an institution or college campus
5within the University of Wisconsin System or a technical college within the technical
6college system.
SB638,4,97 (e) "Instructional material" means any material that the instructor of a course
8of study at an institution of higher education includes in the syllabus of that course
9of study.
SB638,4,1610 (f) "Maintain the structural integrity" means to include all of the information
11provided in the original printed instructional material, including the text of sidebars;
12the table of contents; chapter headings and subheadings; footnotes; indexes;
13glossaries; bibliographies; nontextual elements, such as pictures, illustrations,
14graphs, charts, and screenshots; and any other data that are pertinent to the
15instructional material, when that printed instructional material is provided in
16electronic format.
SB638,4,1817 (g) "Printed instructional material" means instructional material in a book or
18other printed form.
SB638,4,2019 (h) "Publisher" means a person that publishes or manufactures instructional
20material.
SB638,4,2421 (i) "Student with a disability" means a student enrolled in an institution of
22higher education who is blind or visually impaired, or who has a specific learning
23disability or other disability affecting the activity of reading, and who needs
24reasonable accommodations to read.
SB638,5,2
1(j) "Working day" means a day that is not a Saturday, a Sunday, a holiday
2designated under s. 230.35 (4) (a), or a legal holiday under federal law.
SB638,5,11 3(2) Provision of instructional materials in electronic format. (a) An
4institution of higher education, on behalf of a student with a disability, may request
5a publisher to provide instructional material in electronic format by submitting to
6the publisher a request that complies with par. (b) and with any additional
7requirement imposed by the publisher under par. (c) and a request for permission to
8convert or to arrange for the conversion of that instructional material into
9alternative format. Within 15 working days after receipt of the request the publisher,
10subject to par. (e), shall provide the instructional material in an electronic format
11that complies with par. (d) to the institution of higher education at no additional cost.
SB638,5,1912 (b) A request under par. (a) for instructional material in electronic format shall
13be prepared and signed by the coordinator of services for students with disabilities
14at the institution of higher education, by another employee of the institution of
15higher education who is responsible for monitoring compliance with the federal
16Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 USC 12101 to 12213, or the federal
17Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 USC 701 to 796L, or by a representative of the division
18of vocational rehabilitation in the department on behalf of the institution of higher
19education, and shall certify all of the following:
SB638,5,2220 1. That a copy of the instructional material in standard format has been
21purchased for use by a student with a disability by the student or by the institution
22of higher education in which the student is enrolled.
SB638,5,2423 2. That the student has a disability that prevents the student from using
24instructional material in standard format.
SB638,6,2
13. That the instructional material is for use by the student in connection with
2a course at the institution of higher education in which the student is enrolled.
SB638,6,53 (c) A publisher may require a request under par. (a) to also be accompanied by
4a statement signed by the student or, if the student is a minor, the student's parent,
5guardian, or legal custodian agreeing to all of the following:
SB638,6,76 1. That the student will use the instructional material solely for his or her own
7educational purposes.
SB638,6,98 2. That the student will not copy or distribute the instructional material for use
9by others.
SB638,6,1110 (d) Instructional material provided by a publisher in electronic format shall
11meet all of the following requirements:
SB638,6,1512 1. Maintain the structural integrity of the original instructional material,
13except that this requirement does not apply to nontextual instructional material
14unless technology is available to maintain the structural integrity of the nontextual
15instructional material.
SB638,6,1716 2. Be compatible with commonly used Braille translation or speech synthesis
17software.
SB638,6,1818 3. Include corrections and revisions as necessary.
SB638,6,2519 4. Be in an electronic format that is mutually agreed to between the publisher
20and the requester. If good faith efforts fail to produce an agreement as to an
21electronic format that will maintain the structural integrity of the original
22instructional material, the publisher shall provide the instructional material in an
23electronic format that is suitable for the creation of instructional material in
24alternative format and that maintains the structural integrity of the original
25instructional material as much as possible.
SB638,7,8
1(e) If providing instructional material in electronic format within 15 working
2days after receipt of a request under par. (a) would impose an undue burden on a
3publisher, the publisher shall, within those 15 working days, submit a statement to
4the requester certifying the date by which the publisher expects to transmit or
5deliver the instructional material. If a publisher has previously responded to a
6request from the institution of higher education for instructional material in
7electronic format, the institution of higher education shall satisfy all subsequent
8requests for that material without requesting the publisher to provide that material.
SB638,7,109 (f) On request of a publisher, an institution of higher education shall provide
10to the publisher all of the following:
SB638,7,1311 1. A summary of all instructional materials published by that publisher that
12the institution of higher education has provided in electronic format or alternative
13format to other institutions of higher education from its holdings.
SB638,7,1614 2. Copies of requests for instructional materials published by that publisher
15that the institution of higher education has received from other institutions of higher
16education.
SB638,8,2 17(3) Use of instructional materials in electronic format. (a) An institution
18of higher education may use instructional material provided by a publisher in
19electronic format solely to convert or arrange for the conversion of that material into
20an alternative format for use by a student with a disability or to otherwise assist such
21a student. If an institution of higher education converts or arranges for the
22conversion of that material into an alternative format, the institution of higher
23education may share the alternative format version of the material with any other
24institution of higher education that is serving a student with a disability or with an
25authorized entity, as defined in 17 USC 121 (c) (1), that commonly provides

1instructional materials in alternative formats to students enrolled in institutions of
2higher education.
SB638,8,83 (b) If an institution of higher education permits a student with a disability to
4directly use an electronic format version of instructional material, the disc or file of
5the electronic format version shall be copy protected, or the institution of higher
6education shall take reasonable precautions to ensure that the student does not copy
7or distribute the electronic format version in violation of the federal Copyright Act,
817 USC 101 to 1332.
SB638,8,119 (c) Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize any use of
10instructional materials that would constitute an infringement of copyright under the
11federal Copyright Act, 17 USC 101 to 1332.
SB638,8,15 12(4) Publisher a public place of accommodation or amusement. A publisher is
13considered to be a public place of accommodation or amusement for purposes of s.
14106.52. Any publisher that refuses to provide instructional material in electronic
15format as required under sub. (2) (a) is in violation of s. 106.52 (3).
SB638,8,20 16(5) Policies and procedures. The board and the board of regents shall jointly
17under s. 20.901 (4) develop policies and procedures to ensure to the maximum extent
18possible that a student with a disability has access to instructional material in an
19appropriate alternative format within the first week of the class for which the
20material is required.
SB638,9,3 21(6) Report. In its biennial report under s. 15.04 (1) (d), the Board of Regents
22shall include an assessment of the need for technical assistance, training, and other
23support to increase the availability and effective use of instructional materials in
24alternative formats by students with disabilities enrolled in the University of
25Wisconsin System. In its biennial report under s. 15.04 (1) (d), the board shall include

1an assessment of the need for technical assistance, training, and other support to
2increase the availability and effective use of instructional materials in alternative
3formats by students with disabilities enrolled in the technical college system.
SB638,9,44 (End)
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