(1) to authorize or require conduct prohibited 
under such Acts, including the regulations issued 
pursuant to those laws; 
(2) to expand, limit, or alter the remedies or de-
fenses under such Acts; 
(3) to supersede, restrict, or limit the applica-
tion of such Acts; or 
(4) to limit the authority of Federal agencies to 
issue regulations pursuant to such Acts. 
(c) VOLUNTARY NATURE OF THE PRODUCTS OF THE 
COMMISSION.— 
(1) VOLUNTARY GUIDELINES.—It is the intent 
of the Congress that use of the voluntary guidelines 
developed pursuant to this Act is and should remain 
voluntary. The voluntary guidelines shall not confer 
any rights or impose any obligations on commission 
participants, institutions of higher education, or 
other persons, except for the legal protections set 
forth in section 5. Thus, no department or agency 
of the Federal Government may incorporate the vol-
untary guidelines, whether produced as a discrete 
document or electronic resource, into regulations 
promulgated under any Federal law. This restriction 
applies only to the voluntary guidelines as a discrete 
document or resource; it imposes no limitation on 
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Federal use of standards or resources to which the 
voluntary guidelines may refer. 
(2) ANNOTATED LIST.—It is the intent of Con-
gress that use of the annotated list of information 
technology standards developed pursuant to this Act 
is and should remain voluntary. The Annotated List 
shall not confer any rights or impose any obligations 
on Commission participants, institutions of higher 
education, or other persons. Thus, no department or 
agency of the Federal Government may incorporate 
the Annotated List, whether produced as a discrete 
document or electronic resource into regulations pro-
mulgated under the Rehabilitation Act, the Ameri-
cans with Disabilities Act, or any other Federal law 
or instrumentality. This provision applies only to the 
Annotated List as a discrete document or resource; 
it imposes no limitation on Federal use of standards 
or resources to which the Annotated List may refer. 
SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) ANNOTATED LIST OF INFORMATION TECH-
NOLOGY STANDARDS.—The term ‘‘annotated list of 
information technology standards’’ means a list of 
existing national and international accessibility 
standards relevant to student use of postsecondary 
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electronic instructional materials and related tech-
nologies, and to other types of information tech-
nology common to institutions of higher education 
(such as institutional websites and class registration 
systems), annotated by the commission established 
pursuant to section 2 to provide information about 
the applicability of such standards in higher edu-
cation settings. The annotated list of information 
technology standards is intended to serve solely as a 
reference tool to inform any consideration of the rel-
evance of such standards in higher education con-
texts. 
(2) DISABILITY.—The term ‘‘disability’’ has the 
meaning given such term in section 3 of the Ameri-
cans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 
12102). 
(3) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 
term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 
meaning given such term in section 101 of the High-
er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 
(4) NON-CONFORMING POSTSECONDARY ELEC-
TRONIC
INSTRUCTIONAL
MATERIALS
OR
RELATED 
TECHNOLOGIES.—The term ‘‘non-conforming mate-
rials or related technologies’’ means postsecondary 
electronic instructional materials or related tech-
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nologies that do not conform to the voluntary guide-
lines to be developed pursuant to this Act. 
(5) POSTSECONDARY
ELECTRONIC
INSTRUC-
TIONAL MATERIALS.—The term ‘‘postsecondary elec-
tronic instructional materials’’ means digital cur-
ricular content that is required, provided, or both 
recommended and provided by an institution of high-
er education for use in a postsecondary instructional 
program. 
(6) RELATED TECHNOLOGIES.—The term ‘‘re-
lated technologies’’ refers to any software, applica-
tions, learning management or content management 
systems, and hardware that an institution of higher 
education requires, provides, or both recommends 
and provides for student access to and use of post-
secondary electronic instructional materials in a 
postsecondary instructional program. 
(7) TECHNICAL PANEL.—The term ‘‘technical 
panel’’ means a group of experts with extensive, 
demonstrated technical experience in the develop-
ment and implementation of accessibility features for 
postsecondary electronic instructional materials and 
related technologies, established by the Commission 
pursuant to section 3(d), which will assist the com-
mission in the development of the voluntary guide-
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lines and annotated list of information technology 
standards authorized under this Act. 
(8) VOLUNTARY GUIDELINES.—The term ‘‘vol-
untary guidelines’’ means a set of technical and 
functional performance criteria to be developed by 
the commission established pursuant to section 2 
that provide specific guidance regarding both the ac-
cessibility and pedagogical functionality of postsec-
ondary electronic instructional materials and related 
technologies not addressed, or not adequately ad-
dressed, by existing accessibility standards. 
Æ 
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