US Department of Education NEWS

FOR RELEASE Contact: Elaine Quesinberry
July 27, 2004 (202) 401-1576

STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES TO GAIN IMPROVED ACCESS TO LEARNING New
standard expected to help students who are blind, print-disabled.

Students with blindness, low vision and print disabilities are expected to
gain improved access to textbooks under a voluntary standardized format
for electronic files, U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige announced today.
On behalf of Secretary Paige, Deputy Secretary of Education Gene Hickok
discussed the new standard at an event commemorating the 14th  anniversary
of the Americans with Disabilities Act.  The event was co-sponsored by the
Departments of Commerce and Education in Washington, D.C.

 "President Bush believes that every single child can learn and deserves
the opportunity to learn-that's why he pushed for the historic education
reforms of the No Child Left Behind Act," Secretary Paige said.  "Today,
we're taking another step toward this goal with a new, voluntary standard
that will enable students and teachers to more quickly access general
curriculum materials, thereby opening more doors of opportunity to
students."

 When textbooks and classroom materials are produced using this voluntary
standard, they will be in a standard electronic format that can be adapted
to products ranging from Braille editions of textbooks to on-screen displays
of text and graphics.  In past years, the lack of a standardized format
meant that publishers had to produce materials in multiple formats- often
causing delays that meant students with disabilities did not receive their
textbooks in time for the beginning of the school year.

 To address these challenges, the Department of Education's Office of
Special Education Programs provided funding to the National Center on
Accessing the General Curriculum at the Center for Applied Special
Technology, Inc. to convene an expert panel to establish a voluntary,
standardized format for materials.  The 40-member panel included educators,
> publishers, technology specialists and advocacy groups.

 In addition to establishing the new standard, the Department of Education
will fund two centers to support further development and assist states
with implementing the voluntary standard, thus improving academic results
for students with disabilities.

 The No Child Left Behind Act is the bipartisan landmark education reform
law designed to change the culture of America's schools by closing the
achievement gap among groups of students, offering more flexibility to
states, giving parents more options and teaching students based on what
works.  Under the law's strong accountability provisions, states must
describe how they will close the achievement gap and make sure all
students, including students with disabilities, achieve academically.

 For more information on the National Instructional Materials Accessibility
Standard, please visit:  http://www.cast.org/NFF/NIMAS/ # # #



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