I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 490

To improve access to printed instructional materials used by blind or other 

persons with print disabilities in elementary and secondary schools, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 29, 2003

Mr. PETRI (for himself, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr. OTTER, Mr. 

DOYLE, Mr. DICKS, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. FRANK of 

Massachusetts, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. GREENWOOD, Mr. WALSH, Mr. LATOURETTE, 

Mr. BOSWELL, Mr. HONDA, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr. TIERNEY, Mr. 

BACA, Mr. INSLEE, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. PALLONE, Ms. 

BORDALLO, Mr. WAXMAN, and Ms. NORTON) introduced the following 

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

A BILL

To improve access to printed instructional materials used 

by blind or other persons with print disabilities in elementary and secondary schools, 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 ‘‘Instructional Materials 

5 Accessibility Act of 2003’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

2 The purpose of this Act is to improve access to print3 ed instructional materials used by blind persons, or other 

4 persons with print disabilities, in elementary schools and 

5 secondary schools through the creation of a coordinated 

6 and efficient system for acquisition and distribution of in7 structional materials in the form of electronic files suitable 

8 for conversion into a variety of specialized formats. 

9 SEC. 3. TECHNICAL STANDARDS. 

10 (a) STANDARDS.—

11 (1) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary of Edu12 cation, in consultation with the National Institute of 

13 Standards and Technology of the Department of 

14 Commerce, shall publish in the Federal Register 

15 technical standards, to be known as the Instruc16 tional Materials Accessibility Standards—

17 (A) as a proposed rule, not later than 270 

18 days after the date of enactment of this Act; 

19 and 

20 (B) as a final rule, not later than 360 days 

21 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

22 (2) PUBLIC COMMENT.—The Secretary shall 

23 provide an opportunity for the submission by the 

24 public of comments regarding a proposed rule for at 

25 least 30 days before publication under paragraph 

26 (1)(B) of a final rule. 
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1 (3) CONTENTS.—The Instructional Materials 

2 Accessibility Standards shall—

3 (A) define the specific technical parameters 

4 of the national electronic file format to be used 

5 by publishers of instructional materials in the 

6 preparation of electronic files suitable for effi7 cient conversion into specialized formats; and 

8 (B) be consistent with and based upon ex9 isting and emerging standards relating to elec10 tronic publishing and translation technology 

11 used to produce specialized formats. 

12 (b) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—

13 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—In developing the In14 structional Materials Accessibility Standards under 

15 subsection (a), the Secretary shall, in consultation 

16 with the National Institute of Standards and Tech17 nology and not later than 90 days after the date of 

18 enactment of this Act, establish an advisory com19 mittee, to be known as the National Instructional 

20 Materials Accessibility Advisory Committee, which 

21 shall provide technical expertise and guidance to the 

22 Secretary for the creation of the national electronic 

23 file format. 

24 (2) MEMBERS.—The Committee shall consist of 

25 individuals who shall include at least one and not 
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1 more than two representatives of each of the fol2 lowing: 

3 (A) Publishers of instructional materials. 

4 (B) Producers of adaptive technology. 

5 (C) Producers of materials in specialized 

6 formats. 

7 (D) Organizations for blind consumers. 

8 (E) Special education programs. 

9 (F) Developers of accessibility and pub10 lishing software and supporting technologies. 

11 (G) Information technology standards or12 ganizations. 

13 (H) Instructional materials resource cen14 ters with substantial experience in file format 

15 preparation and automated conversion tech16 nology. 

17 (I) Any other organization or interest that 

18 the Secretary determines to be appropriate. 

19 (c) REVIEW AND AMENDMENT.—The Secretary, in 

20 consultation with the National Institute of Standards and 

21 Technology and the National Instructional Materials Ac22 cessibility Advisory Committee, shall periodically review 

23 and, as appropriate, amend the technical standards pre24 scribed under subsection (a) to reflect technological ad25 vances or changes. 
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1 SEC. 4. STATE REQUIREMENTS FOR ENSURING TIMELY 

2 PROVISION OF INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS 

3 TO STUDENTS. 

4 (a) STATE OBLIGATIONS.—

5 (1) STATEWIDE PLAN.—Not later than 2 years 

6 after the date of enactment of this Act, a State edu7 cational agency receiving Federal financial assist8 ance under the Individuals with Disabilities Edu9 cation Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.) shall, as a con10 dition of receiving such assistance, develop and im11 plement a written statewide plan designed to ensure 

12 that instructional materials for classroom use in ele13 mentary schools and secondary schools within the 

14 State are made available in specialized formats to 

15 individuals who are blind or have other print disabil16 ities at the same time such materials are provided 

17 to individuals without such disabilities. 

18 (2) COORDINATION.—A statewide plan sub19 mitted by a State educational agency under para20 graph (1) shall, to the maximum extent practicable, 

21 be coordinated with any State program improvement 

22 grant received by such agency under subpart 1 of 

23 part D of the Individuals with Disabilities Education 

24 Act (20 U.S.C. 1451 et seq.), and shall contain an 

25 outline of the activities that such agency intends to 
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1 carry out using amounts received under the grant to 

2 achieve the purpose of this Act. 

3 (3) CONTENTS.—At a minimum, a statewide 

4 plan developed under paragraph (1) shall—

5 (A) designate the entity responsible for col6 lecting and maintaining data related to identi7 fication of individuals who are blind or have 

8 other print disabilities and who require instruc9 tional materials in specialized formats; 

10 (B) establish the methods and procedures 

11 by which instructional materials are provided in 

12 specialized formats appropriate to the needs of 

13 the individual, including the methods for con14 verting electronic files obtained under sub15 section (b) into specialized formats; 

16 (C) identify the resources available for pro17 duction of instructional materials in specialized 

18 formats; 

19 (D) establish procedures that local edu20 cational agencies and any other agency with re21 sponsibility for carrying out the education of 

22 children with disabilities will follow to ensure 

23 the timely delivery of instructional materials in 

24 specialized formats; 
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1 (E) provide assurances that contracts with 

2 publishers meet the requirements of subsection 

3 (b); and 

4 (F) provide for periodic evaluation to en5 sure that instructional materials are made 

6 available in appropriate specialized formats to 

7 individuals who are blind or have other print 

8 disabilities at the same time such materials are 

9 provided to individuals without such disabilities. 

10 (b) CONTRACTS WITH PUBLISHERS.—

11 (1) CONTRACTS FOR STANDARDIZED FILES.—

12 In addition to the requirements of subsection (a), a 

13 State educational agency or local educational agency 

14 receiving Federal financial assistance under the In15 dividuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 

16 1400 et seq.) shall, as part of any instructional ma17 terials adoption process, procurement contract, or 

18 other practice or instrument used for the purchase 

19 of instructional materials, enter into a written con20 tract with the publisher of the materials to prepare, 

21 in conjunction with the provision of such materials, 

22 electronic files containing the contents of the mate23 rials in the national electronic file format prescribed 

24 under section 3(a). The contract shall be entered 
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1 into and take effect not later than 3 years after the 

2 date of enactment of this Act. 

3 (2) CONTENTS OF CONTRACTS.—A contract de4 scribed in paragraph (1) shall also provide for the 

5 following: 

6 (A) PUPIL EDITIONS.—Not later than 30 

7 days after the date of ratification of the con8 tract, the publisher will transmit to the Na9 tional Instructional Materials Access Center 

10 electronic files prepared in the national elec11 tronic file format prescribed under section 3(a) 

12 that correspond to the most recent pupil edition 

13 of the materials covered under the contract that 

14 is in print on the date of ratification of the con15 tract, along with a print copy of such materials. 

16 If the most current pupil edition of such in17 structional materials in print on the date of 

18 ratification of the contract is, or will be, altered 

19 prior to the use of the materials in the class20 room or if no such edition exists on such date, 

21 the publisher will, by a date specified in the 

22 contract, transmit to the Center—

23 (i) electronic files containing a com24 plete record of corrections and changes 

25 made to such instructional materials; or 
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1 (ii) electronic files prepared in the na2 tional electronic file format prescribed 

3 under section 3(a) that correspond to the 

4 pupil edition of such instructional mate5 rials that will be used in the classroom. 

6 (B) TEACHER EDITIONS.—Not later than 

7 30 days after receipt of a request from the Na8 tional Instructional Materials Access Center 

9 made on behalf of a teacher, the publisher will 

10 transmit to the Center electronic files prepared 

11 in the national electronic file format prescribed 

12 under section 3(a) that correspond to the teach13 er edition of the requested instructional mate14 rials covered under the contract, if the request 

15 includes—

16 (i) a specific description of the in17 structional materials needed by the teacher 

18 (including, if applicable, an International 

19 Standard Book Number (ISBN)); and 

20 (ii) a certification that the teacher is 

21 blind or has a print disability. 

22 (c) PREEMPTION OF INCONSISTENT STATE AND

23 LOCAL REQUIREMENTS.—Except as provided in sub24 section (d), subsection (b) supersedes any inconsistent re25 quirements in the laws or regulations of any State or local 
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1 government, with respect to publishers providing instruc2 tional materials in the form of electronic files intended for 

3 conversion into specialized formats to be used by blind or 

4 other persons with print disabilities. 

5 (d) RIGHT OF CONTRACT.—Notwithstanding the re6 quirements of this section, nothing in this Act may be con7 strued to impair the right of any State educational agency 

8 or local educational agency to enter into a contract with 

9 any publisher of instructional materials for the purpose 

10 of directly obtaining from such publisher copies of elec11 tronic files prepared and transmitted in accordance with 

12 this section. 

13 SEC. 5. NATIONAL INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS ACCESS 

14 CENTER. 

15 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 2 years after 

16 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall es17 tablish a center, to be known as the National Instructional 

18 Materials Access Center, which shall coordinate the acqui19 sition and distribution of instructional materials in the na20 tional electronic file format prescribed under section 3(a). 

21 (b) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The duties of the Center are 

22 the following: 

23 (1) To monitor the needs of State educational 

24 agencies and local educational agencies for instruc25 tional materials in specialized formats and to take 
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1 appropriate administrative steps to assist such agen2 cies in ensuring that instructional materials in the 

3 form of electronic files are submitted by publishers 

4 to the Center under section 4(b). 

5 (2) To receive instructional materials under sec6 tion 4(b) in the national electronic file format pre7 scribed under section 3(a) and to provide authorized 

8 entities with access to such files, free of charge. 

9 (3) To verify the receipt and compliance of the 

10 materials received under section 4(b) with the na11 tional electronic file format prescribed under section 

12 3(a). 

13 (4) To prescribe and publish policies and guide14 lines which the Center will use for the submission, 

15 cataloging, retrieval, and distribution of instructional 

16 materials in the national electronic file format pre17 scribed under section 3(a). 

18 (5) To prescribe and publish terms and proce19 dures for approval of authorized entities registering 

20 with the Center to obtain access to the instructional 

21 materials in the national electronic file format pre22 scribed under section 3(a). 

23 (6) To provide access to the materials received 

24 under section 4(b) to authorized entities and to co25 ordinate, as appropriate, with other programs pro-
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1 viding access to instructional materials in specialized 

2 formats. 

3 (7) To take such administrative steps as may 

4 be needed to coordinate the efficient acquisition and 

5 distribution of instructional materials in the national 

6 electronic file format prescribed under section 3(a). 

7 (8) Promptly to forward to the appropriate 

8 publisher of instructional materials a request made 

9 under section 4(b)(2)(B) received for materials need10 ed for a teacher. 

11 (9) To develop, adopt, and publish procedures 

12 to protect against copyright infringement and other13 wise to administratively assure compliance with title 

14 17, United States Code, with respect to the instruc15 tional materials provided under this Act. 

16 (c) CONTRACT AUTHORIZED.—To assist in carrying 

17 out subsection (a), the Secretary shall award, on a com18 petitive basis, a contract renewable on a biannual basis 

19 with a nonprofit organization, or with a consortium of 

20 such organizations, determined by the Secretary to be best 

21 qualified to carry out the responsibilities described in sub22 section (b). The contractor shall report directly to the As23 sistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative 

24 Services of the Department of Education. 
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1 SEC. 6. GRANTS FOR CAPACITY BUILDING. 

2 (a) AUTHORITY TO AWARD GRANTS.—The Secretary 

3 may award grants to the eligible entities under subsection 

4 (b) (or a consortium of such entities) to provide or improve 

5 the capacity of such entities to prepare or obtain instruc6 tional materials in specialized formats (including the na7 tional electronic format prescribed under section 3(a)). 

8 (b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—The following are entities 

9 eligible for a grant under this section: 

10 (1) State educational agencies. 

11 (2) Regional consortia of State educational 

12 agencies. 

13 (3) Local educational agencies. 

14 (4) Nonprofit organizations the primary mission 

15 of which is to provide specialized services relating to 

16 training, education, or adaptive reading or the infor17 mation access needs of blind persons or other per18 sons with print disabilities. 

19 (c) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity that desires to 

20 receive a grant under this section shall submit an applica21 tion to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and 

22 containing such information as the Secretary may require. 

23 The application shall include each of the following: 

24 (1) A description of the entity’s current capac25 ity to prepare instructional materials in specialized 

26 formats. 
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1 (2) The entity’s assessment of needs to be met 

2 within the geographic area to be served. 

3 (3) A plan for working with other similar enti4 ties in order to ensure a coordinated approach in 

5 meeting such needs. 

6 (4) A description of proposed training of tran7 scribers and others who prepare instructional mate8 rials in specialized formats and, if appropriate, spec9 ification of the technology to be obtained and used 

10 in the program. 

11 (5) An assurance that the entity is, and shall 

12 remain, in compliance with the provisions of section 

13 121 of title 17, United States Code, regarding the 

14 reproduction and distribution of copyrighted instruc15 tional materials in specialized formats. 

16 (d) PROCEDURES.—The Secretary may prescribe 

17 rules or procedures to carry out this section. 

18 SEC. 7. ENFORCEMENT. 

19 (a) RIGHTS, REMEDIES, AND PROCEDURES.—The 

20 rights, remedies, and procedures available to children and 

21 parents under subsections (b)(6), (e), (f), and (g) of sec22 tion 615 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 

23 (20 U.S.C. 1415) and section 504 of the Rehabilitation 

24 Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794) shall be the rights, remedies, 

25 and procedures available under this Act to children and 
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1 parents aggrieved by violations of this Act by any State 

2 educational agency or local educational agency. 

3 (b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—This Act may not be 

4 construed to limit any right, remedy, or procedure other5 wise available under any other provision of Federal law 

6 that provides greater or equal protection for the rights of 

7 blind persons or other persons with print disabilities. 

8 SEC. 8. RELATIONSHIP TO SECTION 121 OF THE COPYRIGHT 

9 ACT. 

10 (a) AUTHORIZED ENTITY.—A publisher that provides 

11 instructional materials to a State educational agency or 

12 local educational agency in the national electronic file for13 mat prescribed under section 3(a), shall, for such pur14 poses, be considered an authorized entity within the mean15 ing of section 121 of title 17, United States Code. 

16 (b) NONINFRINGING USE.—Reproduction or distribu17 tion of instructional materials in a large print format ex18 clusively for use by blind persons, or other persons with 

19 print disabilities, in elementary schools or secondary 

20 schools shall be considered a noninfringing use of such 

21 materials when conducted by an authorized entity (as that 

22 term is defined in section 121 of title 17, United States 

23 Code). 
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1 SEC. 9. SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT. 

2 Funds made available under this Act shall be used 

3 to supplement, and not to supplant, any other Federal, 

4 State, local, or non-Federal funds available to carry out 

5 this Act. 

6 SEC. 10. RESEARCH AND REPORTS. 

7 (a) RESEARCH.—The Secretary shall conduct re8 search, directly or by grant or contract, about the effect 

9 of this Act on the timely delivery of instructional materials 

10 in specialized formats to students who are blind or have 

11 other print disabilities. 

12 (b) REPORTS.—Not later than 3 years after the date 

13 of enactment of this Act, and biennially thereafter, the 

14 Secretary shall submit to the appropriate committees of 

15 Congress a report containing the results of the research 

16 described in subsection (a) and additionally, at a min17 imum, the following information: 

18 (1) The number of students directly affected by 

19 this Act. 

20 (2) The annual cost incurred to carry out this 

21 Act by the Federal Government, State governments, 

22 and nonprofit entities that may be involved in ad23 ministering this Act. 

24 (3) The financial and in-kind contributions of 

25 State and local governments, and private nonprofit 
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1 and for-profit entities, to activities conducted under 

2 this Act. 

3 (4) Changes in the percentage of individuals 

4 who receive appropriate instructional materials in 

5 specialized formats at the beginning of a school year 

6 compared to the percentage for the beginning of the 

7 preceding school year. 

8 (5) Changes in the timeliness of delivery of ap9 propriate instructional materials in specialized for10 mats from the beginning of one school year to the 

11 beginning of the next school year. 

12 (6) The extent to which States and local edu13 cational agencies have been able to satisfy require14 ments of compliance agreements or take other cor15 rective actions regarding the timely delivery of ap16 propriate instructional materials. 

17 (7) Such other matters as the Secretary con18 siders to be relevant and appropriate. 

19 SEC. 11. DEFINITIONS. 

20 In this Act: 

21 (1) The term ‘‘print disability’’ means, with re22 spect to an individual, student, or teacher, eligibility 

23 or qualification under the Act of March 3, 1931, en24 titled ‘‘An Act to provide books for the adult blind’’ 
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1 (2 U.S.C. 135a), to receive books and other publica2 tions produced in specialized formats. 

3 (2) The term ‘‘instructional materials’’ means 

4 printed textbooks and related core materials that are 

5 written and published primarily for use in elemen6 tary school and secondary school instruction and are 

7 required by a State educational agency or local edu8 cational agency for use in the classroom, including 

9 teacher editions of such materials requested under 

10 section 4(b)(2)(B). 

11 (3) The term ‘‘national electronic file format’’ 

12 means a well-organized, structured, and marked-up 

13 electronic file that is suitable for efficient conversion 

14 into specialized formats and that is in conformance 

15 with the technical standards prescribed under sec16 tion 3(a). 

17 (4) The term ‘‘Center’’ means the National In18 structional Materials Access Center established by 

19 the Secretary under section 5. 

20 (5) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 

21 of Education. 

22 (6) The term ‘‘specialized format’’, with respect 

23 to instructional materials, means Braille, synthesized 

24 speech, digital text, digital audio, or large print. 
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1 (7) The terms ‘‘State educational agency’’, 

2 ‘‘local educational agency’’, ‘‘elementary school’’, 

3 and ‘‘secondary school’’ have the meanings given 

4 those terms in section 9101 of the Elementary and 

5 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

6 SEC. 12. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

7 This Act shall take effect upon its enactment and 

8 shall apply to instructional materials published and copy9 righted after the date on which the technical standards 

10 prescribed under section 3(a) take effect. 

11 SEC. 13. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro13 priated to carry out this Act $4,000,000 for fiscal year 

14 2004 and such sums as may be necessary for each of the 

15 6 succeeding fiscal years. 

16 (b) RESERVATION.—From the amount appropriated 

17 under subsection (a) for each fiscal year to carry out this 

18 Act, the Secretary shall reserve $1,500,000 to carry out 

19 section 5.

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