October 12, 2011 - Introduced by Representatives Knilans, Seidel, Bewley, Bies,
Endsley, Grigsby, Krug, Pope-Roberts, Steinbrink, Turner, C. Taylor
and
Mason, cosponsored by Senators Wirch, Erpenbach, S. Coggs, Lasee, C.
Larson, Risser
and Taylor. Referred to Committee on Colleges and
Universities.
AB322,1,4 1An Act to amend 106.52 (1) (e) 1.; and to create 106.52 (3) (a) 6. and 106.57 of
2the statutes; relating to: accessible instructional materials for students with
3disabilities enrolled in the University of Wisconsin System or the Technical
4College 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 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.

In addition, 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.
The requirements and prohibitions created in the bill, however, do not apply to
a publisher or manufacturer of instructional material that is a member of a
nationwide exchange network that facilitates the delivery of instructional material
in alternative format to students with disabilities, if that material is delivered within
seven days after a request for the material.
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:
AB322, s. 1 1Section 1. 106.52 (1) (e) 1. of the statutes is amended to read:
AB322,3,82 106.52 (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.
AB322, s. 2 9Section 2. 106.52 (3) (a) 6. of the statutes is created to read:
AB322,3,1110 106.52 (3) (a) 6. Refuse to provide instructional material in electronic format
11in violation of s. 106.57 (2) (a).
AB322, s. 3 12Section 3. 106.57 of the statutes is created to read:
AB322,3,14 13106.57 Postsecondary education; accessible instructional material for
14students with disabilities. (1)
Definitions. In this section:
AB322,4,4
1(a) "Alternative format" means Braille, large print texts, audio recordings,
2digital texts, digital talking books, or any other medium or format for the
3presentation of instructional materials, other than standard print, that a student
4with a disability needs to make those materials accessible to the student.
AB322,4,55 (b) "Board" means the technical college system board.
AB322,4,76 (c) "Board of Regents" means the Board of Regents of the University of
7Wisconsin System.
AB322,4,108 (d) "Institution of higher education" means an institution or college campus
9within the University of Wisconsin System or a technical college within the technical
10college system.
AB322,4,1311 (e) "Instructional material" means any material that the instructor of a course
12of study at an institution of higher education includes in the syllabus of that course
13of study.
AB322,4,2014 (f) "Maintain the structural integrity" means to include all of the information
15provided in the original printed instructional material, including the text of sidebars;
16the table of contents; chapter headings and subheadings; footnotes; indexes;
17glossaries; bibliographies; nontextual elements, such as pictures, illustrations,
18graphs, charts, and screenshots; and any other data that are pertinent to the
19instructional material, when that printed instructional material is provided in
20electronic format.
AB322,4,2221 (g) "Printed instructional material" means instructional material in a book or
22other printed form.
AB322,5,323 (h) "Publisher" means a person that publishes or manufactures instructional
24material. "Publisher" does not include a publisher or manufacturer of instructional
25material that is a member of a nationwide exchange network that facilitates and

1supports the delivery of instructional material in alternative format to students with
2disabilities, if that material is delivered to those students through that network
3within 7 working days after a request for that material is made.
AB322,5,74 (i) "Student with a disability" means a student enrolled in an institution of
5higher education who is blind or visually impaired, or who has a specific learning
6disability or other disability affecting the activity of reading, and who needs
7reasonable accommodations to read.
AB322,5,98 (j) "Working day" means a day that is not a Saturday, a Sunday, a holiday
9designated under s. 230.35 (4) (a), or a legal holiday under federal law.
AB322,5,18 10(2) Provision of instructional materials in electronic format. (a) An
11institution of higher education, on behalf of a student with a disability, may request
12a publisher to provide instructional material in electronic format by submitting to
13the publisher a request that complies with par. (b) and with any additional
14requirement imposed by the publisher under par. (c) and a request for permission to
15convert or to arrange for the conversion of that instructional material into
16alternative format. Within 15 working days after receipt of the request the publisher,
17subject to par. (e), shall provide the instructional material in an electronic format
18that complies with par. (d) to the institution of higher education at no additional cost.
AB322,6,219 (b) A request under par. (a) for instructional material in electronic format shall
20be prepared and signed by the coordinator of services for students with disabilities
21at the institution of higher education, by another employee of the institution of
22higher education who is responsible for monitoring compliance with the federal
23Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 USC 12101 to 12213, or the federal
24Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 USC 701 to 796L, or by a representative of the division

1of vocational rehabilitation in the department on behalf of the institution of higher
2education, and shall certify all of the following:
AB322,6,53 1. That a copy of the instructional material in standard format has been
4purchased for use by a student with a disability by the student or by the institution
5of higher education in which the student is enrolled.
AB322,6,76 2. That the student has a disability that prevents the student from using
7instructional material in standard format.
AB322,6,98 3. That the instructional material is for use by the student in connection with
9a course at the institution of higher education in which the student is enrolled.
AB322,6,1210 (c) A publisher may require a request under par. (a) to also be accompanied by
11a statement signed by the student or, if the student is a minor, the student's parent,
12guardian, or legal custodian agreeing to all of the following:
AB322,6,1413 1. That the student will use the instructional material solely for his or her own
14educational purposes.
AB322,6,1615 2. That the student will not copy or distribute the instructional material for use
16by others.
AB322,6,1817 (d) Instructional material provided by a publisher in electronic format shall
18meet all of the following requirements:
AB322,6,2219 1. Maintain the structural integrity of the original instructional material,
20except that this requirement does not apply to nontextual instructional material
21unless technology is available to maintain the structural integrity of the nontextual
22instructional material.
AB322,6,2423 2. Be compatible with commonly used Braille translation or speech synthesis
24software.
AB322,6,2525 3. Include corrections and revisions as necessary.
AB322,7,7
14. Be in an electronic format that is mutually agreed to between the publisher
2and the requester. If good faith efforts fail to produce an agreement as to an
3electronic format that will maintain the structural integrity of the original
4instructional material, the publisher shall provide the instructional material in an
5electronic format that is suitable for the creation of instructional material in
6alternative format and that maintains the structural integrity of the original
7instructional material as much as possible.
AB322,7,158 (e) If providing instructional material in electronic format within 15 working
9days after receipt of a request under par. (a) would impose an undue burden on a
10publisher, the publisher shall, within those 15 working days, submit a statement to
11the requester certifying the date by which the publisher expects to transmit or
12deliver the instructional material. If a publisher has previously responded to a
13request from the institution of higher education for instructional material in
14electronic format, the institution of higher education shall satisfy all subsequent
15requests for that material without requesting the publisher to provide that material.
AB322,7,1716 (f) On request of a publisher, an institution of higher education shall provide
17to the publisher all of the following:
AB322,7,2018 1. A summary of all instructional materials published by that publisher that
19the institution of higher education has provided in electronic format or alternative
20format to other institutions of higher education from its holdings.
AB322,7,2321 2. Copies of requests for instructional materials published by that publisher
22that the institution of higher education has received from other institutions of higher
23education.
AB322,8,9 24(3) Use of instructional materials in electronic format. (a) An institution
25of higher education may use instructional material provided by a publisher in

1electronic format solely to convert or arrange for the conversion of that material into
2an alternative format for use by a student with a disability or to otherwise assist such
3a student. If an institution of higher education converts or arranges for the
4conversion of that material into an alternative format, the institution of higher
5education may share the alternative format version of the material with any other
6institution of higher education that is serving a student with a disability or with an
7authorized entity, as defined in 17 USC 121 (c) (1), that commonly provides
8instructional materials in alternative formats to students enrolled in institutions of
9higher education.
AB322,8,1510 (b) If an institution of higher education permits a student with a disability to
11directly use an electronic format version of instructional material, the disc or file of
12the electronic format version shall be copy protected, or the institution of higher
13education shall take reasonable precautions to ensure that the student does not copy
14or distribute the electronic format version in violation of the federal Copyright Act,
1517 USC 101 to 1332.
AB322,8,1816 (c) Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize any use of
17instructional materials that would constitute an infringement of copyright under the
18federal Copyright Act, 17 USC 101 to 1332.
AB322,8,22 19(4) Publisher a public place of accommodation or amusement. A publisher is
20considered to be a public place of accommodation or amusement for purposes of s.
21106.52. Any publisher that refuses to provide instructional material in electronic
22format as required under sub. (2) (a) is in violation of s. 106.52 (3).
AB322,9,2 23(5) Policies and procedures. The board and the Board of Regents shall jointly
24under s. 20.901 (4) develop policies and procedures to ensure to the maximum extent
25possible that a student with a disability has access to instructional material in an

1appropriate alternative format within the first week of the class for which the
2material is required.
AB322,9,10 3(6) Report. In its biennial report under s. 15.04 (1) (d), the Board of Regents
4shall include an assessment of the need for technical assistance, training, and other
5support to increase the availability and effective use of instructional materials in
6alternative formats by students with disabilities enrolled in the University of
7Wisconsin System. In its biennial report under s. 15.04 (1) (d), the board shall include
8an assessment of the need for technical assistance, training, and other support to
9increase the availability and effective use of instructional materials in alternative
10formats by students with disabilities enrolled in the technical college system.
AB322,9,1111 (End)
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