II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2138 

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 16, 2017 

Ms. WARREN (for herself and Mr. HATCH) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 

Labor, and Pensions 

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.— 

2 (A) DEVELOPMENT OF VOLUNTARY GUIDE3 LINES.—The Speaker of the House of Rep4 resentatives, the President pro tempore of the 

5 Senate, and the Secretary of Education shall 

6 establish an independent commission (referred 

7 to in this Act as the ‘‘Commission’’), comprised 

8 of key stakeholders, to develop voluntary guide9 lines for accessible postsecondary electronic in10 structional materials and related technologies in 

11 order— 

12 (i) to ensure students with disabilities 

13 are afforded the same educational benefits 

14 provided to nondisabled students through 

15 the use of postsecondary electronic instruc16 tional materials and related technologies; 

17 (ii) to inform better the selection and 

18 use of such materials and technologies at 

19 institutions of higher education; and 

20 (iii) to encourage entities that produce 

21 such materials and technologies to make 

22 accessible versions more readily available 

23 in the market. 

24 (B) REVIEW OF STANDARDS.—In devel25 oping the guidelines under subparagraph (A), 


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1 the Commission shall review applicable national 

2 and international information technology acces3 sibility standards, which it will compile and an4 notate as an additional information resource for 

5 institutions of higher education and companies 

6 that service the higher education market. 

7 (2) MEMBERSHIP.— 

8 (A) STAKEHOLDER GROUPS.—The Com9 mission shall be composed of representatives 

10 from the following categories: 

11 (i) DISABILITY.—Communities of per12 sons with disabilities for whom the accessi13 bility of postsecondary electronic instruc14 tional materials and related technologies is 

15 a significant factor in ensuring equal par16 ticipation in higher education, and non17 profit organizations that provide accessible 

18 electronic materials to these communities. 

19 (ii) HIGHER EDUCATION.—Higher 

20 education leadership, which includes: uni21 versity presidents, provosts, deans, vice 

22 presidents, deans of libraries, chief infor23 mation officers, and other senior institu24 tional executives. 


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1 (iii) INDUSTRY.—Relevant industry 

2 representatives, meaning— 

3 (I) developers of postsecondary 

4 electronic instructional materials; and 

5 (II) manufacturers of related 

6 technologies. 

7 (B) APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS.—The 

8 Commission members shall be appointed as fol9 lows: 

10 (i) Six members, two from each cat11 egory described in subparagraph (A), shall 

12 be appointed by the Speaker of the House 

13 of Representatives, three of whom shall be 

14 appointed on the recommendation of the 

15 majority leader of the House of Represent16 atives and three of whom shall be ap17 pointed on the recommendation of the mi18 nority leader of the House of Representa19 tives, with the Speaker ensuring that 1 de20 veloper of postsecondary electronic instruc21 tional materials and 1 manufacturer of re22 lated technologies are appointed. In addi23 tion to the 6 members, the Speaker shall 

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1 ber from an institution of higher edu2 cation. 

3 (ii) Six members, two from each cat4 egory described in subparagraph (A), shall 

5 be appointed by the President pro tempore 

6 of the Senate, three of whom shall be ap7 pointed on the recommendation of the ma8 jority leader of the Senate and three of 

9 whom shall be appointed on the rec10 ommendation of the minority leader of the 

11 Senate, with the President pro tempore en12 suring that 1 developer of postsecondary 

13 electronic instructional materials and 1 

14 manufacturer of related technologies are 

15 appointed. In addition to the 6 members, 

16 the President pro tempore shall also ap17 point 2 additional members, 1 student with 

18 a disability and 1 faculty member from an 

19 institution of higher education. 

20 (iii) Three members, each of whom 

21 shall possess extensive, demonstrated tech22 nical expertise in the development and im23 plementation of accessible postsecondary 

24 electronic instructional materials, shall be 

25 appointed by the Secretary of Education. 


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1 One of these members shall represent post2 secondary students with disabilities, one 

3 shall represent higher education leadership, 

4 and one shall represent developers of post5 secondary electronic instructional mate6 rials. 

7 (C) ELIGIBILITY TO SERVE ON THE COM8 MISSION.—Federal employees are ineligible for 

9 appointment to the Commission. An appointee 

10 to a volunteer or advisory position with a Fed11 eral agency or related advisory body may be ap12 pointed to the Commission if the primary em13 ployment of such appointee is with a non-Fed14 eral entity and the appointee is not otherwise 

15 engaged in financially compensated work on be16 half of the Federal Government, exclusive of 

17 any standard expense reimbursement or grant18 funded activities. 

19 (b) AUTHORITY AND ADMINISTRATION.— 

20 (1) AUTHORITY.—The Commission’s execution 

21 of its duties shall be independent of the Secretary of 

22 Education, the Attorney General, and the head of 

23 any other agency or department of the Federal Gov24 ernment with regulatory or standard setting author25 ity in the areas addressed by the Commission. 


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1 (2) ADMINISTRATION.— 

2 (A) STAFFING.—There shall be no perma3 nent staffing for the Commission. 

4 (B) LEADERSHIP.—Commission members 

5 shall elect a chairperson from among the 19 ap6 pointees to the Commission. 

7 (C) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT.—The 

8 Commission shall be provided administrative 

9 support, as needed, by the Secretary of Edu10 cation through the Office of Postsecondary 

11 Education of the Department of Education. 

12 SEC. 3. DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION. 

13 (a) DEVELOPMENT OF VOLUNTARY GUIDELINES.— 

14 Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of 

15 this Act, subject to a 6-month extension that it may exer16 cise at its discretion, the Commission shall— 

17 (1) develop and issue voluntary guidelines for 

18 accessible postsecondary electronic instructional ma19 terials and related technologies; and 

20 (2) in developing the voluntary guidelines— 

21 (A) establish a technical panel pursuant to 

22 subsection (d) to support the Commission in de23 veloping the voluntary guidelines; 

24 (B) develop criteria for determining which 

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1 ondary electronic instructional materials’’ and 

2 ‘‘related technologies’’ as defined in paragraphs 

3 (5) and (6) of section 6; 

4 (C) identify existing national and inter5 national accessibility standards that are rel6 evant to student use of postsecondary electronic 

7 instructional materials and related technologies 

8 at institutions of higher education; 

9 (D) identify and address any unique peda10 gogical and accessibility requirements of post11 secondary electronic instructional materials and 

12 related technologies that are not addressed, or 

13 not adequately addressed, by the identified, rel14 evant existing accessibility standards; 

15 (E) identify those aspects of accessibility, 

16 and types of postsecondary electronic instruc17 tional materials and related technologies, for 

18 which the Commission cannot produce guide19 lines or which cannot be addressed by existing 

20 accessibility standards due to— 

21 (i) inherent limitations of commer22 cially available technologies; or 

23 (ii) the challenges posed by a specific 

24 category of disability that covers a wide 

25 spectrum of impairments and capabilities 


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1 which makes it difficult to assess the bene2 fits from particular guidelines on a cat3 egorical basis; 

4 (F) ensure that the voluntary guidelines 

5 are consistent with the requirements of section 

6 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 

7 U.S.C. 794) and titles II and III of the Ameri8 cans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 

9 12131 et seq.; 42 U.S.C. 12181 et seq.); 

10 (G) ensure that the voluntary guidelines 

11 are consistent, to the extent feasible and appro12 priate, with the technical and functional per13 formance criteria included in the national and 

14 international accessibility standards identified 

15 by the commission as relevant to student use of 

16 postsecondary electronic instructional materials 

17 and related technologies; 

18 (H) allow for the use of an alternative de19 sign or technology that results in substantially 

20 equivalent or greater accessibility and usability 

21 by individuals with disabilities than would be 

22 provided by compliance with the voluntary 

23 guidelines; and 

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1 nologies that comply fully with the voluntary 

2 guidelines are not commercially available, or 

3 where such compliance is not technically fea4 sible, the institution may select the product that 

5 best meets the voluntary guidelines consistent 

6 with the institution’s business and pedagogical 

7 needs. 

8 (b) DEVELOPMENT OF ANNOTATED LIST OF INFOR9 MATION TECHNOLOGY STANDARDS.—Not later than 18 

10 months after the date of enactment of this Act, subject 

11 to a 6-month extension that it may exercise at its discre12 tion, the Commission shall, with the assistance of the tech13 nical panel established under subsection (d), develop and 

14 issue an annotated list of information technology stand15 ards intended to serve solely as a reference tool to inform 

16 any consideration of the relevance of such standards in 

17 higher education contexts. 

18 (c) SUPERMAJORITY APPROVAL.—Issuance of the 

19 voluntary guidelines and annotated list of information 

20 technology standards shall require approval of not less 

21 than 75 percent (not less than fifteen of the 19 members) 

22 of the Commission. 

23 (d) ESTABLISHMENT OF TECHNICAL PANEL.—Not 

24 later than 1 month after the Commission’s first meeting, 

25 the Commission shall appoint and convene a panel of 12 


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1 technical experts, each of whom shall have extensive, dem2 onstrated technical experience in developing, researching, 

3 or implementing accessible postsecondary electronic in4 structional materials or related technologies. The Commis5 sion has discretion to determine a process for nominating, 

6 vetting, and confirming a panel of experts that fairly rep7 resents the stakeholder communities on the Commission. 

8 The technical panel shall include a representative from the 

9 United States Access Board. 

10 SEC. 4. PERIODIC REVIEW AND REVISION OF VOLUNTARY 

11 GUIDELINES. 

12 Not later than 5 years after issuance of the voluntary 

13 guidelines and annotated list of information technology 

14 standards described in subsections (a) and (b) of section 

15 3, and every 5 years thereafter, the Secretary of Edu16 cation shall publish a notice in the Federal Register re17 questing public comment about whether there is a need 

18 to reconstitute the Commission to update the voluntary 

19 guidelines and annotated list of information technology 

20 standards to reflect technological advances, changes in 

21 postsecondary electronic instructional materials and re22 lated technologies, or updated national and international 

23 accessibility standards. The Secretary of Education shall 

24 submit a report to Congress summarizing the public com25 ments and presenting the Secretary’s decision on whether 


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1 to reconstitute the Commission based on those comments. 

2 If the Secretary of Education decides to reconstitute the 

3 Commission, the Secretary may implement that decision 

4 30 days after the date on which the report was submitted 

5 to Congress. That process shall begin with the Secretary 

6 requesting the appointment of Commission members in ac7 cordance with section 2(a)(2)(B). 

8 SEC. 5. CONSTRUCTION. 

9 (a) NONCONFORMING MATERIALS OR RELATED

10 TECHNOLOGIES.—Nothing in this Act shall be construed 

11 to require an institution of higher education to require, 

12 provide, or both recommend and provide, postsecondary 

13 electronic instructional materials or related technologies 

14 that conform to the voluntary guidelines. However, wheth15 er or not an institution selects or uses nonconforming ma16 terials or related technologies, the institution shall comply 

17 with existing obligations under section 504 of the Reha18 bilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794) and titles II and 

19 III of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 

20 U.S.C. 12131 et seq.; 42 U.S.C. 12181 et seq.) to provide 

21 access to the educational benefit afforded by such mate22 rials and technologies through provision of appropriate 

23 and reasonable modification, accommodation, and auxil24 iary aids or services. 


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1 (b) RELATIONSHIP TO EXISTING LAWS AND REGU2 LATIONS.—With respect to the Americans with Disabil3 ities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.) and the Reha4 bilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 701 et seq.), nothing 

5 in this Act may be construed— 

6 (1) to authorize or require conduct prohibited 

7 under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 

8 and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, including the 

9 regulations issued pursuant to those laws; 

10 (2) to expand, limit, or alter the remedies or de11 fenses under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 

12 1990 and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973; 

13 (3) to supersede, restrict, or limit the applica14 tion of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 

15 and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973; or 

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

17 issue regulations pursuant to the Americans with 

18 Disabilities Act of 1990 and the Rehabilitation Act 

19 of 1973. 

20 (c) VOLUNTARY NATURE OF THE PRODUCTS OF THE

21 COMMISSION.— 

22 (1) VOLUNTARY GUIDELINES.— 

23 (A) INTENT.—It is the intent of Congress 

24 that use of the voluntary guidelines developed 

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1 untary. The voluntary guidelines shall not con2 fer any rights or impose any obligations on 

3 Commission participants, institutions of higher 

4 education, or other persons. 

5 (B) RESTRICTION.— 

6 (i) IN GENERAL.—No department or 

7 agency of the Federal Government may in8 corporate the voluntary guidelines devel9 oped pursuant to this Act, whether pro10 duced as a discrete document or electronic 

11 resource, into regulations promulgated 

12 under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 

13 U.S.C. 701 et seq.), the Americans with 

14 Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 

15 et seq.), or any other Federal law or in16 strument. 

17 (ii) APPLICATION.—The restriction 

18 under clause (i)— 

19 (I) applies only to the voluntary 

20 guidelines as a discrete document or 

21 resource; and 

22 (II) imposes no limitation on 

23 Federal use of standards or resources 

24 to which the voluntary guidelines may 

25 refer. 


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1 (2) ANNOTATED LIST.— 

2 (A) INTENT.—It is the intent of Congress 

3 that use of the annotated list of information 

4 technology standards developed pursuant to this 

5 Act is and should remain voluntary. The anno6 tated list of information technology standards 

7 shall not confer any rights or impose any obli8 gations on Commission participants, institu9 tions of higher education, or other persons. 

10 (B) RESTRICTION.— 

11 (i) IN GENERAL.—No department or 

12 agency of the Federal Government may in13 corporate the annotated list of information 

14 technology standards developed pursuant 

15 to this Act, whether produced as a discrete 

16 document or electronic resource, into regu17 lations promulgated under the Rehabilita18 tion Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 701 et seq.), 

19 the Americans with Disabilities Act of 

20 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.), or any 

21 other Federal law or instrument. 

22 (ii) APPLICATION.—The restriction 

23 under clause (i)— 

24 (I) applies only to the annotated 

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1 ards as a discrete document or re2 source; and 

3 (II) imposes no limitation on 

4 Federal use of standards or resources 

5 to which the annotated list of infor6 mation technology standards may 

7 refer. 

8 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

9 In this Act: 

10 (1) ANNOTATED LIST OF INFORMATION TECH11 NOLOGY STANDARDS.—The term ‘‘annotated list of 

12 information technology standards’’ means a list of 

13 existing national and international accessibility 

14 standards relevant to student use of postsecondary 

15 electronic instructional materials and related tech16 nologies, and to other types of information tech17 nology common to institutions of higher education 

18 (such as institutional websites and class registration 

19 systems), annotated by the Commission to provide 

20 information about the applicability of such standards 

21 in higher education settings. 

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

23 meaning given such term in section 3 of the Ameri24 cans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 

25 12102). 


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1 (3) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

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

3 meaning given such term in section 101 of the High4 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 

5 (4) NONCONFORMING MATERIALS OR RELATED

6 TECHNOLOGIES.—The term ‘‘nonconforming mate7 rials or related technologies’’ means postsecondary 

8 electronic instructional materials or related tech9 nologies that do not conform to the voluntary guide10 lines developed pursuant to this Act. 

11 (5) POSTSECONDARY ELECTRONIC INSTRUC12 TIONAL MATERIALS.—The term ‘‘postsecondary elec13 tronic instructional materials’’ means digital cur14 ricular content that is required, provided, or both 

15 recommended and provided by an institution of high16 er education for use in a postsecondary instructional 

17 program. 

18 (6) RELATED TECHNOLOGIES.—The term ‘‘re19 lated technologies’’ refers to any software, applica20 tion, learning management or content management 

21 system, or hardware that an institution of higher 

22 education requires, provides, or both recommends 

23 and provides for student access to and use of post24 secondary electronic instructional materials in a 

25 postsecondary instructional program. 


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1 (7) TECHNICAL PANEL.—The term ‘‘technical 

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

3 demonstrated technical experience in the develop4 ment and implementation of accessibility features for 

5 postsecondary electronic instructional materials and 

6 related technologies, established by the Commission 

7 pursuant to section 3(d), which assists the Commis8 sion in the development of the voluntary guidelines 

9 and annotated list of information technology stand10 ards authorized under this Act. 

11 (8) VOLUNTARY GUIDELINES.—The term ‘‘vol12 untary guidelines’’ means a set of technical and 

13 functional performance criteria developed by the 

14 Commission that provide specific guidance regarding 

15 both the accessibility and pedagogical functionality 

16 of postsecondary electronic instructional materials 

17 and related technologies not addressed, or not ade18 quately addressed, by existing accessibility stand19 ards. 

Æ 


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