BILL REQ. #:  H-4754.1 

READ FIRST TIME 02/06/04.   

     AN ACT Relating to instructional materials for students with disabilities; adding a new section to chapter 28B.10 RCW; and prescribing penalties.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 28B.10 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) For purposes of this section:
     (a) "Instructional material" means textbooks and other textual and nontextual material required or essential to a student's success in a postsecondary course of study in which a student with a disability is enrolled as determined by the instructor of the course in consultation with the official making the request in accordance with guidelines issued pursuant to subsection (9) of this section.
     (b) "Print access disability" means a condition in which a person's independent reading of, reading comprehension of, or visual access to materials is limited or reduced due to a sensory, neurological, cognitive, physical, psychiatric, or other disability recognized by state or federal law. The term is applicable, but not limited to, persons who are blind, have low vision, or have reading disorders or physical disabilities.
     (c) "Structural integrity" means all instructional material, including but not limited to the text of the material, sidebars, the table of contents, chapter headings and subheadings, footnotes, indexes, glossaries, graphs, charts, illustrations, pictures, equations, formulas, and bibliographies.
     (d) "Specialized format" means Braille, audio, electronic, or digital text that is exclusively for use by blind or other persons with print access disabilities.
     (2) An individual, firm, partnership, or corporation that publishes or manufactures instructional material for students attending any public or private institution of higher education in the state of Washington must provide to the public or private institution of higher education, for use by students attending the institution, instructional material in an electronic or specialized format mutually agreed upon by the publisher or manufacturer and the public or private institution of higher education. Computer files or electronic versions of printed instructional material shall be provided; video materials must be captioned or accompanied by transcriptions of spoken text; and audio materials must be accompanied by transcriptions. Structural integrity of material must be maintained. Structural elements, such as headings, lists, and tables must be identified using current markup and tools. If good faith efforts fail to produce an agreement between the publisher or manufacturer and the public or private institution of higher education, as to a specialized format that will preserve the structural integrity of instructional material, the publisher or manufacturer must provide the instructional material in a verified and valid HTML format and must preserve as much of the structural integrity of the instructional material as possible. The instructional material in a specialized format must be provided to the public or private institution of higher education at no additional cost and in a timely manner, upon receipt of a written request as provided in subsection (3) of this section.
     (3) A written request for instructional material in a specialized format must:
     (a) Certify that the public or private institution of higher education has purchased the instructional material in its standard format for use by a student with a print access disability or that the student with a print access disability attending or registered to attend the public or private institution of higher education has purchased the instructional material in its standard format;
     (b) Certify that the student has a print access disability that substantially prevents him or her from using standard instructional material;
     (c) Certify that the instructional material is for use by the student in connection with a course in which he or she is registered or enrolled at the public or private institution of higher education; and
     (d) Be signed by the coordinator of services for students with disabilities at the public or private institution of higher education or by the college or campus official responsible for monitoring compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.) at the public or private institution of higher education.
     (4) An individual, firm, partnership, or corporation specified in subsection (2) of this section may require that, in addition to the requirements in subsection (3) of this section, the request include a statement signed by the student agreeing to both of the following:
     (a) He or she will use the instructional material provided in specialized format solely for his or her own educational purposes; and
     (b) He or she will not copy or duplicate the instructional material provided in specialized format for use by others.
     (5) If a public or private institution of higher education provides a student with the specialized format version of instructional material, the media must be copy-protected or the public or private institution of higher education shall take other reasonable precautions to ensure that students do not copy or distribute specialized format versions of instructional material in violation of the Copyright Revisions Act of 1976, as amended (17 U.S.C. Sec. 101 et seq.).
     (6) Nothing in this section prohibits a public or private institution of higher education from assisting a student with a print access disability through the use of a specialized format version of instructional material obtained under this section or by transcribing or translating or arranging for the transcription or translation of the instructional material into specialized formats that provide persons with print access disabilities the ability to have increased independent access to instructional material. If such specialized format is made, the public or private institution of higher education may share the specialized format version of the instructional material with other students with print access disabilities for whom the public or private institution of higher education is authorized to request instructional material in a specialized format. The addition of captioning to video material by a Washington public or private institution of higher education does not constitute an infringement of copyright.
     (7) A specialized format version of instructional material developed at one public or private institution of higher education in Washington state may be shared for use by a student at another public or private institution of higher education in Washington state for whom the latter public or private institution of higher education is authorized to request instructional material in a specialized format.
     (8) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to authorize any use of instructional material that would constitute an infringement of copyright under the Copyright Revision Act of 1976, as amended (17 U.S.C. Sec. 101 et seq.).
     (9) The governing boards of public and participating private institutions of higher education in Washington shall each adopt guidelines consistent with this section for its implementation and administration. At a minimum, the guidelines shall address all of the following:
     (a) The designation of instructional material deemed "required or essential to student success";
     (b) The determination of the availability of technology for the conversion of instructional material and the conversion of mathematics and science material;
     (c) The procedures and standards relating to distribution and use of instructional material pursuant to this section;
     (d) The procedures for granting exceptions or waivers when it is determined that an individual, firm, partnership, or corporation is not technically able to comply with the requirements of this section; and
     (e) Other matters as are deemed necessary or appropriate to carry out the purposes of this section.
     (10) Failure to comply with the requirements of this section is a violation of chapter 49.60 RCW.