I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5312 

To authorize the creation of a commission to develop voluntary accessibility 

guidelines for electronic instructional materials and related technologies 

used in postsecondary education, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 5, 2019 

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee (for himself and Mr. COURTNEY) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and 

Labor 

A BILL 

To authorize the creation of a commission to develop voluntary accessibility guidelines for electronic instructional 

materials and related technologies used in postsecondary 

education, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Accessible Instruc5 tional Materials in Higher Education Act’’ or the ‘‘AIM 

6 HIGH Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. COMMISSION STRUCTURE. 

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Speaker of the House of 

2 Representatives, the President pro tempore of the 

3 Senate, and the Secretary of Education shall estab4 lish an independent commission, comprised of key 

5 stakeholders, to develop voluntary guidelines for ac6 cessible postsecondary electronic instructional mate7 rials and related technologies in order— 

8 (A) to ensure students with disabilities are 

9 afforded the same educational benefits provided 

10 to nondisabled students through the use of elec11 tronic instructional materials and related tech12 nologies; 

13 (B) to inform better the selection and use 

14 of such materials and technologies at institu15 tions of higher education; and 

16 (C) to encourage entities that produce such 

17 materials and technologies to make accessible 

18 versions more readily available in the market. 

19 In fulfilling the duties set forth in subparagraphs 

20 (1)(A), (1)(B), and (1)(C), the commission shall re21 view applicable national and international informa22 tion technology accessibility standards, which it will 

23 compile and annotate as an additional information 

24 resource for institutions of higher education and 

25 companies that service the higher education market. 


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1 The commission will also develop a model framework 

2 for pilot testing postsecondary electronic instruc3 tional materials and related technologies in postsec4 ondary instructional settings to facilitate exploration 

5 and adoption of such materials and technologies. 

6 (2) MEMBERSHIP.— 

7 (A) STAKEHOLDER GROUPS.—The com8 mission shall be composed of representatives 

9 from the following categories: 

10 (i) DISABILITY.—Communities of per11 sons with disabilities for whom the accessi12 bility of postsecondary electronic instruc13 tional materials and related technologies is 

14 a significant factor in ensuring equal par15 ticipation in higher education, and non16 profit organizations that provide accessible 

17 electronic materials to these communities. 

18 (ii) HIGHER EDUCATION.—Higher 

19 education leadership, which includes: uni20 versity presidents, provosts, deans, vice 

21 presidents, deans of libraries, chief infor22 mation officers, and other senior institu23 tional executives. 

24 (iii) INDUSTRY.—Relevant industry 

25 representatives, meaning— 


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1 (I) developers of postsecondary 

2 electronic instructional materials; and 

3 (II) manufacturers of related 

4 technologies. 

5 (B) APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS.—The 

6 commission members shall be appointed as fol7 lows: 

8 (i) Six members, 2 from each category 

9 described in subparagraph (A), shall be ap10 pointed by the Speaker of the House of 

11 Representatives, 3 of whom shall be ap12 pointed on the recommendation of the ma13 jority leader of the House of Representa14 tives and 3 of whom shall be appointed on 

15 the recommendation of the minority leader 

16 of the House of Representatives, with the 

17 Speaker ensuring that 1 developer of post18 secondary electronic instructional materials 

19 and 1 manufacturer of related technologies 

20 are appointed. The Speaker shall also ap21 point 2 additional members, 1 student with 

22 a disability and 1 faculty member from an 

23 institution of higher education. 

24 (ii) Six members, 2 from each cat25 egory described in subparagraph (A), shall 


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1 be appointed by the President pro tempore 

2 of the Senate, 3 of whom shall be ap3 pointed on the recommendation of the ma4 jority leader of the Senate and 3 of whom 

5 shall be appointed on the recommendation 

6 of the minority leader of the Senate, with 

7 the President pro tempore ensuring that 1 

8 developer of postsecondary electronic in9 structional materials and 1 manufacturer 

10 of related technologies are appointed. The 

11 President pro tempore shall also appoint 2 

12 additional members, 1 student with a dis13 ability and 1 faculty member from an insti14 tution of higher education. 

15 (iii) Three members, each of whom 

16 must possess extensive, demonstrated tech17 nical expertise in the development and im18 plementation of accessible postsecondary 

19 electronic instructional materials, shall be 

20 appointed by the Secretary of Education. 

21 One of these members shall represent post22 secondary students with disabilities, 1 shall 

23 represent higher education leadership, and 

24 1 shall represent developers of postsec25 ondary electronic instructional materials. 


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1 (C) ELIGIBILITY TO SERVE ON THE COM2 MISSION.—Federal employees are ineligible for 

3 appointment to the commission. An appointee 

4 to a volunteer or advisory position with a Fed5 eral agency or related advisory body may be ap6 pointed to the commission so long as his or her 

7 primary employment is with a non-Federal enti8 ty and he or she is not otherwise engaged in fi9 nancially compensated work on behalf of the 

10 Federal Government, exclusive of any standard 

11 expense reimbursement or grant-funded activi12 ties. 

13 (b) AUTHORITY AND ADMINISTRATION.— 

14 (1) AUTHORITY.—The commission’s execution 

15 of its duties shall be independent of the Secretary of 

16 Education, the Attorney General, and the head of 

17 any other agency or department of the Federal Gov18 ernment with regulatory or standard setting author19 ity in the areas addressed by the commission. 

20 (2) ADMINISTRATION.— 

21 (A) STAFFING.—There shall be no perma22 nent staffing for the commission. 

23 (B) LEADERSHIP.—Commission members 

24 shall elect a chairperson from among the 19 ap25 pointees to the commission. 


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1 (C) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT.—The com2 mission shall be provided administrative sup3 port, as needed, by the Secretary of Education 

4 through the Office of Postsecondary Education 

5 of the Department of Education. 

6 SEC. 3. DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION. 

7 (a) PRODUCE VOLUNTARY GUIDELINES.—Not later 

8 than 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act, 

9 subject to a 6-month extension that it may exercise at its 

10 discretion, the commission established in section 2 shall— 

11 (1) develop and issue voluntary guidelines for 

12 accessible postsecondary electronic instructional ma13 terials and related technologies; and 

14 (2) in developing the voluntary guidelines, the 

15 commission shall— 

16 (A) establish a technical panel pursuant to 

17 subsection (d) to support the commission in de18 veloping the voluntary guidelines; 

19 (B) develop criteria for determining which 

20 materials and technologies constitute ‘‘postsec21 ondary electronic instructional materials’’ and 

22 ‘‘related technologies’’ as defined in paragraphs 

23 (5) and (6) of section 7; 

24 (C) identify existing national and inter25 national accessibility standards that are relVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:57 Dec 13, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5312.IH H5312

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1 evant to student use of postsecondary electronic 

2 instructional materials and related technologies 

3 at institutions of higher education; 

4 (D) identify and address any unique peda5 gogical and accessibility requirements of post6 secondary electronic instructional materials and 

7 related technologies that are not addressed, or 

8 not adequately addressed, by the identified, rel9 evant existing accessibility standards; 

10 (E) identify those aspects of accessibility, 

11 and types of postsecondary instructional mate12 rials and related technologies, for which the 

13 commission cannot produce guidelines or which 

14 cannot be addressed by existing accessibility 

15 standards due to— 

16 (i) inherent limitations of commer17 cially available technologies; or 

18 (ii) the challenges posed by a specific 

19 category of disability that covers a wide 

20 spectrum of impairments and capabilities 

21 which makes it difficult to assess the bene22 fits from particular guidelines on a cat23 egorical basis; 

24 (F) ensure that the voluntary guidelines 

25 are consistent with the requirements of section 


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1 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 

2 U.S.C. 794) and titles II and III of the Ameri3 cans with Disabilities Act (42 U.S.C. 12131 et 

4 seq.; 42 U.S.C. 12181 et seq.); 

5 (G) ensure that the voluntary guidelines 

6 are consistent, to the extent feasible and appro7 priate, with the technical and functional per8 formance criteria included in the national and 

9 international accessibility standards identified 

10 by the commission as relevant to student use of 

11 postsecondary electronic instructional materials 

12 and related technologies; 

13 (H) allow for the use of an alternative de14 sign or technology that results in substantially 

15 equivalent or greater accessibility and usability 

16 by individuals with disabilities than would be 

17 provided by compliance with the voluntary 

18 guidelines; and 

19 (I) provide that where electronic instruc20 tional materials or related technologies that 

21 comply fully with the voluntary guidelines are 

22 not commercially available, or where such com23 pliance is not technically feasible, the institution 

24 may select the product that best meets the volVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:57 Dec 13, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5312.IH H5312

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1 untary guidelines consistent with the institu2 tion’s business and pedagogical needs. 

3 (b) PRODUCE ANNOTATED LIST OF INFORMATION

4 TECHNOLOGY STANDARDS.—Not later than 18 months 

5 after the date of the enactment of this Act, subject to a 

6 6-month extension that it may exercise at its discretion, 

7 the commission established in section 2 shall, with the as8 sistance of the technical panel established under sub9 section (d), develop and issue an annotated list of informa10 tion technology standards. 

11 (c) DEVELOP MODEL FRAMEWORK FOR PILOT TEST12 ING POSTSECONDARY ELECTRONIC INSTRUCTIONAL MA13 TERIALS AND RELATED TECHNOLOGIES.—Not later than 

14 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act, subject 

15 to a 6-month extension that it may exercise at its discre16 tion, the commission shall develop a model framework that 

17 institutions of higher education may utilize on a voluntary 

18 basis, consistent with their obligations under the Rehabili19 tation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 701 et seq.) and the Ameri20 cans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et 

21 seq.), for pilot testing the use of postsecondary electronic 

22 instructional materials and related technologies in postsec23 ondary instructional settings to facilitate exploration and 

24 adoption of such materials and technologies. 


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1 (d) REQUIRE SUPERMAJORITY APPROVAL.—Issuance 

2 of the voluntary guidelines, annotated list of information 

3 technology standards, and model framework for pilot test4 ing postsecondary instructional materials and related tech5 nologies shall require approval of at least 75 percent (at 

6 least 15) of the 19 members of the commission. 

7 (e) ESTABLISH TECHNICAL PANEL.—Not later than 

8 1 month after the commission’s first meeting, it shall ap9 point and convene a panel of 12 technical experts, each 

10 of whom shall have extensive, demonstrated technical ex11 perience in developing, researching, or implementing ac12 cessible postsecondary electronic instructional materials or 

13 related technologies. The commission has discretion to de14 termine a process for nominating, vetting, and confirming 

15 a panel of experts that fairly represents the stakeholder 

16 communities on the commission. The technical panel shall 

17 include a representative from the United States Access 

18 Board. 

19 SEC. 4. PERIODIC REVIEW AND REVISION OF VOLUNTARY 

20 GUIDELINES. 

21 Not later than 5 years after issuance of the voluntary 

22 guidelines, annotated list of information technology stand23 ards, and pilot testing framework described in subsections 

24 (a), (b), and (c) of section 3, and every 5 years thereafter, 

25 the Secretary of Education shall publish a notice in the 


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1 Federal Register requesting public comment about wheth2 er there is a need to reconstitute the commission to update 

3 the voluntary guidelines, annotated list of information 

4 technology standards, and pilot testing framework to re5 flect technological advances, changes in postsecondary 

6 electronic instructional materials and related technologies, 

7 or updated national and international accessibility stand8 ards. The Secretary shall submit a report to Congress 

9 summarizing the public comments and presenting the Sec10 retary’s decision on whether to reconstitute the commis11 sion based on those comments. If the Secretary decides 

12 to reconstitute the commission, the Secretary may imple13 ment that decision 30 days after the date on which the 

14 report was submitted to Congress. That process shall 

15 begin with the Secretary requesting the appointment of 

16 commission members as detailed in section 2(a)(2)(B). 

17 SEC. 5. CONSTRUCTION. 

18 (a) NONCONFORMING POSTSECONDARY ELECTRONIC

19 INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS OR RELATED TECH20 NOLOGIES.—Nothing in this Act shall be construed to re21 quire an institution of higher education to require, pro22 vide, or both recommend and provide, postsecondary elec23 tronic instructional materials or related technologies that 

24 conform to the voluntary guidelines. However, an institu25 tion that selects or uses nonconforming postsecondary 


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1 electronic instructional materials or related technologies 

2 must otherwise comply with existing obligations under sec3 tion 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 

4 794) and titles II and III of the Americans with Disabil5 ities Act (42 U.S.C. 12131 et seq.; 42 U.S.C. 12181 et 

6 seq.) to provide access to the educational benefit afforded 

7 by such materials and technologies through provision of 

8 appropriate and reasonable modification, accommodation, 

9 and auxiliary aids or services. 

10 (b) RELATIONSHIP TO EXISTING LAWS AND REGU11 LATIONS.—With respect to the Americans with Disabil12 ities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.) and the Reha13 bilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 701 et seq.), nothing 

14 in this Act may be construed— 

15 (1) to authorize or require conduct prohibited 

16 under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 

17 and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, including the 

18 regulations issued pursuant to those laws; 

19 (2) to expand, limit, or alter the remedies or de20 fenses under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 

21 1990 and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973; 

22 (3) to supersede, restrict, or limit the applica23 tion of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 

24 and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973; or 


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1 (4) to limit the authority of Federal agencies to 

2 issue regulations pursuant to the Americans with 

3 Disabilities Act of 1990 and the Rehabilitation Act 

4 of 1973. 

5 (c) VOLUNTARY NATURE OF THE PRODUCTS OF THE

6 COMMISSION.— 

7 (1) VOLUNTARY GUIDELINES.—It is the intent 

8 of the Congress that use of the voluntary guidelines 

9 developed pursuant to this Act is and should remain 

10 voluntary. The voluntary guidelines shall not confer 

11 any rights or impose any obligations on commission 

12 participants, institutions of higher education, or 

13 other persons. Thus, no department or agency of the 

14 Federal Government may incorporate the voluntary 

15 guidelines, whether produced as a discrete document 

16 or electronic resource, into regulations promulgated 

17 under the Rehabilitation Act, the Americans with 

18 Disabilities Act, or any other Federal law or instru19 ment. This restriction applies only to the voluntary 

20 guidelines as a discrete document or resource; it im21 poses no limitation on Federal use of standards or 

22 resources to which the voluntary guidelines may 

23 refer. 

24 (2) ANNOTATED LIST.—It is the intent of Con25 gress that use of the annotated list of information 


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1 technology standards developed pursuant to this Act 

2 is and should remain voluntary. The annotated list 

3 shall not confer any rights or impose any obligations 

4 on commission participants, institutions of higher 

5 education, or other persons. Thus, no department or 

6 agency of the Federal Government may incorporate 

7 the annotated list, whether produced as a discrete 

8 document or electronic resource into regulations pro9 mulgated under the Rehabilitation Act, the Ameri10 cans with Disabilities Act, or any other Federal law 

11 or instrument. This provision applies only to the an12 notated list as a discrete document or resource; it 

13 imposes no limitation on Federal use of standards or 

14 resources to which the annotated list may refer. 

15 (3) PILOT TESTING FRAMEWORK.—It is the in16 tent of Congress that use of the model framework 

17 for pilot testing postsecondary instructional mate18 rials and related technologies developed pursuant to 

19 this Act is and should remain voluntary. The pilot 

20 testing framework shall not confer any rights or im21 pose any obligations on commission participants, in22 stitutions of higher education, or other persons. 

23 Thus, no department or agency of the Federal Gov24 ernment may incorporate the pilot testing frame25 work, whether produced as a discrete document or 


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1 electronic resource into regulations promulgated 

2 under the Rehabilitation Act, the Americans with 

3 Disabilities Act, or any other Federal law or instru4 ment. This provision applies only to the pilot testing 

5 framework as a discrete document or resource; it im6 poses no limitation on Federal use of standards or 

7 resources to which the pilot testing framework may 

8 refer. 

9 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

10 In this Act the following definitions apply: 

11 (1) ANNOTATED LIST OF INFORMATION TECH12 NOLOGY STANDARDS.—The term ‘‘annotated list of 

13 information technology standards’’ means a list of 

14 existing national and international accessibility 

15 standards relevant to student use of postsecondary 

16 electronic instructional materials and related tech17 nologies, and to other types of information tech18 nology common to institutions of higher education 

19 (such as institutional websites and class registration 

20 systems), annotated by the commission established 

21 pursuant to section 2 to provide information about 

22 the applicability of such standards in higher edu23 cation settings. The annotated list of information 

24 technology standards is intended to serve solely as a 

25 reference tool to inform any consideration of the relVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:57 Dec 13, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5312.IH H5312

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1 evance of such standards in higher education con2 texts. 

3 (2) DISABILITY.—The term ‘‘disability’’ has the 

4 meaning given such term in section 3 of the Ameri5 cans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 

6 12102). 

7 (3) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

8 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

9 meaning given such term in section 101 of the High10 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 

11 (4) NONCONFORMING POSTSECONDARY ELEC12 TRONIC INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS OR RELATED

13 TECHNOLOGIES.—The term ‘‘nonconforming mate14 rials or related technologies’’ means postsecondary 

15 electronic instructional materials or related tech16 nologies that do not conform to the voluntary guide17 lines to be developed pursuant to this Act. 

18 (5) PILOT TESTING.—The term ‘‘pilot testing’’ 

19 means a small-scale study or project to determine 

20 the efficacy of a postsecondary electronic instruc21 tional material and/or related technology in a post22 secondary instructional setting to inform an institu23 tional decision about whether to implement the ma24 terial and/or technology more broadly across the in25 stitution’s instructional settings. 


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1 (6) POSTSECONDARY ELECTRONIC INSTRUC2 TIONAL MATERIALS.—The term ‘‘postsecondary elec3 tronic instructional materials’’ means digital cur4 ricular content that is required, provided, or both 

5 recommended and provided by an institution of high6 er education for use in a postsecondary instructional 

7 program. 

8 (7) RELATED TECHNOLOGIES.—The term ‘‘re9 lated technologies’’ refers to any software, applica10 tions, learning management or content management 

11 systems, and hardware that an institution of higher 

12 education requires, provides, or both recommends 

13 and provides for student access to and use of post14 secondary electronic instructional materials in a 

15 postsecondary instructional program. 

16 (8) TECHNICAL PANEL.—The term ‘‘technical 

17 panel’’ means a group of experts with extensive, 

18 demonstrated technical experience in the develop19 ment and implementation of accessibility features for 

20 postsecondary electronic instructional materials and 

21 related technologies, established by the commission 

22 pursuant to section 3(d), which will assist the com23 mission in the development of the voluntary guide24 lines and annotated list of information technology 

25 standards authorized under this Act. 


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1 (9) VOLUNTARY GUIDELINES.—The term ‘‘vol2 untary guidelines’’ means a set of technical and 

3 functional performance criteria to be developed by 

4 the commission established pursuant to section 2 

5 that provide specific guidance regarding both the ac6 cessibility and pedagogical functionality of postsec7 ondary electronic instructional materials and related 

8 technologies not addressed, or not adequately ad9 dressed, by existing accessibility standards. 

Æ 


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