Another step towards accessible text books. See the e-mail from Steve
Noble below:
>Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2003 11:50:59 -0500
>Subject: KY Higher Ed Textbook Bill Passed
>I wanted to let you know about the "brand new" accessible textbook law in
>Kentucky. You may remember that last year Kentucky passed a very strong
>accessible textbook bill for K-12 textbooks. This year Kentucky decided to
>address college textbooks as a follow-up to that legislation. The new law
>is Senate Bill 85, the Kentucky Postsecondary Textbook Accessibility Act.
>The Kentucky General Assembly passed this bill earlier this week, and the
>Governor signed it on March 12.
>
>This bill is modeled, in large part, after the California AB 422 legislation
>passed in 1999, and the Arkansas Act 701 passed in 2001, both of which
>require that publishers provide electronic versions of textbooks upon
>request. Some changes were made to address matters of timeliness of file
>transmission and file format language, which have been problems in
>California. Although language addressing such matters as "structural
>integrity" and a "mutually agreed upon format" were kept essentially intact
>in the Kentucky statute, in cases where a mutual agreement on file format is
>not reached, the files are required to be provided in XML "utilizing an
>appropriate document type definition suitable for the creation of
>alternative format materials." This would provide for the current ANSI/NISO
>DTD, as well as leave the room open for the future CAST National File
>Format, or a DTD devised under the Instructional Materials Accessibility
>Act, once enacted.
>
>However, this bill addresses more than just the provision of electronic
>files. Some additional important provisions of this bill include:
>(1) This bill allows the Council on Postsecondary Education, to the extent
>funds are available, to establish or otherwise designate a consortium to
>serve as a state repository for alternative format materials.
>(2) The Council on Postsecondary Education is required to work with
>representatives of each postsecondary institution to develop policies and
>procedures designed to ensure to the maximum extent possible that students
>with disabilities have access to instructional materials in appropriate
>alternative formats within the first week of class.
>(3) The Council on Postsecondary Education is required in this statute to
>work with appropriate entities in the state (explicitly including entities
>such as the state tech act project, RFB&D, AHEAD, and the Department for the
>Blind) to do an ongoing assessment of the need for statewide technical
>assistance, training, and other supports needed to increase the availability
>and effective use of alternative format instructional materials, and include
>the results of this assessment in its annual report which is given to the
>Governor and the General Assembly each year.
>
>We are hoping this statute will provide some growing room for long-term
>benefits and substantive change to improve access to postsecondary
>instructional materials. You can find the full text of SB 85 at the
>following link:
>http://www.lrc.state.ky.us/record/03rs/SB85/bill.doc
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