I 
114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6122 
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 
SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 
Mr. ROE of Tennessee (for himself and Mr. COURTNEY) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the 
Workforce 
A BILL 
To authorize the creation of a commission to develop vol-
untary accessibility guidelines for electronic instructional 
materials and related technologies used in postsecondary 
education, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Accessible Instruc-
tional Materials in Higher Education Act’’ or the ‘‘AIM 
HEA Act’’. 
SEC. 2. COMMISSION STRUCTURE. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION.— 
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(1) IN GENERAL.—The Speaker of the House of 
Representatives, the President pro tempore of the 
Senate, and the Secretary of Education shall estab-
lish an independent commission, comprised of key 
stakeholders, to develop voluntary guidelines for ac-
cessible postsecondary electronic instructional mate-
rials and related technologies in order— 
(A) to ensure students with disabilities are 
afforded the same educational benefits provided 
to nondisabled students through the use of elec-
tronic instructional materials and related tech-
nologies; 
(B) to inform better the selection and use 
of such materials and technologies at institu-
tions of higher education; and 
(C) to encourage entities that produce such 
materials and technologies to make accessible 
versions more readily available in the market. 
In fulfilling this duty, the commission shall review 
applicable national and international information 
technology accessibility standards, which it will com-
pile and annotate as an additional information re-
source for institutions of higher education and com-
panies that service the higher education market. 
(2) MEMBERSHIP.— 
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be appointed on the recommendation of the 
minority leader of the Senate, with the 
President pro tempore ensuring that 1 de-
veloper of postsecondary electronic instruc-
tional materials and 1 manufacturer of re-
lated technologies are appointed. The 
President pro tempore shall also appoint 2 
additional members, 1 student with a dis-
ability and 1 faculty member from an insti-
tution of higher education. 
(iii) 3 members, each of whom must 
possess extensive, demonstrated technical 
expertise in the development and imple-
mentation of accessible postsecondary elec-
tronic instructional materials, shall be ap-
pointed by the Secretary of Education. 1 of 
these members shall represent postsec-
ondary students with disabilities, 1 shall 
represent higher education leadership, and 
1 shall represent developers of postsec-
ondary electronic instructional materials. 
(C) ELIGIBILITY TO SERVE ON THE COM-
MISSION.—Federal employees are ineligible for 
appointment to the commission. An appointee 
to a volunteer or advisory position with a Fed-
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eral agency or related advisory body may be ap-
pointed to the commission so long as his or her 
primary employment is with a non-Federal enti-
ty and he or she is not otherwise engaged in fi-
nancially compensated work on behalf of the 
Federal Government, exclusive of any standard 
expense reimbursement or grant-funded activi-
ties. 
(b) AUTHORITY AND ADMINISTRATION.— 
(1) AUTHORITY.—The commission’s execution 
of its duties shall be independent of the Secretary of 
Education, the Attorney General, and the head of 
any other agency or department of the Federal Gov-
ernment with regulatory or standard setting author-
ity in the areas addressed by the commission, none 
of whom shall have any authority to review or revise 
the voluntary guidelines or annotated list of informa-
tion technology standards produced by the commis-
sion under this Act. 
(2) ADMINISTRATION.— 
(A) STAFFING.—There shall be no perma-
nent staffing for the commission. 
(B) LEADERSHIP.—Commission members 
shall elect a chairperson from among the 19 ap-
pointees to the commission. 
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(C) 
ADMINISTRATIVE
SUPPORT.—The 
Commission shall be provided administrative 
support, as needed, by the Secretary of Edu-
cation through the Office of Postsecondary 
Education of the Department of Education. 
SEC. 3. DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION. 
(a) PRODUCE VOLUNTARY GUIDELINES.—Not later 
than eighteen months after the date of enactment of this 
Act, subject to a 6-month extension that it may exercise 
at its discretion, the commission established in section 2 
shall— 
(1) develop and issue voluntary guidelines for 
accessible postsecondary electronic instructional ma-
terials, and related technologies; and 
(2) in developing the voluntary guidelines, the 
commission shall— 
(A) establish a technical panel pursuant to 
subsection (d) to support the commission in de-
veloping the voluntary guidelines; 
(B) develop criteria for determining which 
materials and technologies constitute ‘‘postsec-
ondary electronic instructional materials’’ and 
‘‘related technologies’’ as defined in paragraphs 
(5) and (6) of section 7; 
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(C) identify existing national and inter-
national accessibility standards that are rel-
evant to student use of postsecondary electronic 
instructional materials and related technologies 
at institutions of higher education; 
(D) identify and address any unique peda-
gogical and accessibility requirements of post-
secondary electronic instructional materials and 
related technologies that are not addressed, or 
not adequately addressed, by the identified, rel-
evant existing accessibility standards; 
(E) identify those aspects of accessibility, 
and types of postsecondary instructional mate-
rials and related technologies, for which the 
commission cannot produce guidelines or which 
cannot be addressed by existing accessibility 
standards due to— 
(i) inherent limitations of commer-
cially available technologies; or 
(ii) the challenges posed by a specific 
category of disability that covers a wide 
spectrum of impairments and capabilities 
which makes it difficult to assess the bene-
fits from particular guidelines on a cat-
egorical basis; 
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(F) ensure that the voluntary guidelines 
are consistent with the requirements of section 
504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 
U.S.C. 794) and titles II and III of the Ameri-
cans with Disabilities Act (42 U.S.C. 12131 et 
seq.; 42 U.S.C. 12181 et seq.); 
(G) ensure that the voluntary guidelines 
are consistent, to the extent feasible and appro-
priate, with the technical and functional per-
formance criteria included in the national and 
international accessibility standards identified 
by the commission as relevant to student use of 
postsecondary electronic instructional materials 
and related technologies; 
(H) allow for the use of an alternative de-
sign or technology that results in substantially 
equivalent or greater accessibility and usability 
by individuals with disabilities than would be 
provided by compliance with the voluntary 
guidelines; and 
(I) provide that where electronic instruc-
tional materials, or related technologies, that 
comply fully with the voluntary guidelines are 
not commercially available, or where such com-
pliance is not technically feasible, the institution 
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may select the product that best meets the vol-
untary guidelines consistent with the institu-
tion’s business and pedagogical needs. 
(b) PRODUCE ANNOTATED LIST OF INFORMATION 
TECHNOLOGY STANDARDS.—Not later than 18 months 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, subject to a 
6-month extension that it may exercise at its discretion, 
the commission established in section 2 shall, with the as-
sistance of the technical panel established under sub-
section (d), develop and issue an annotated list of informa-
tion technology standards. 
(c) SUPERMAJORITY APPROVAL.—Issuance of the 
voluntary guidelines and annotated list of information 
technology standards shall require approval of at least 75 
percent (at least 15) of the 19 members of the commis-
sion. 
(d) ESTABLISHMENT OF TECHNICAL PANEL.—Not 
later than 1 month after the Commission’s first meeting, 
it shall appoint and convene a panel of 12 technical ex-
perts, each of whom shall have extensive, demonstrated 
technical experience in developing, researching, or imple-
menting accessible postsecondary electronic instructional 
materials, or related technologies. The commission has 
discretion to determine a process for nominating, vetting, 
and confirming a panel of experts that fairly represents 
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the stakeholder communities on the commission. The tech-
nical panel shall include a representative from the United 
States Access Board. 
SEC. 4. PERIODIC REVIEW AND REVISION OF VOLUNTARY 
GUIDELINES. 
Not later than 5 years after issuance of the voluntary 
guidelines and annotated list of information technology 
standards described in subsections (a) and (b) of section 
3, and every 5 years thereafter, the Secretary of Edu-
cation shall publish a notice in the Federal Register re-
questing public comment about whether there is a need 
to reconstitute the commission to update the voluntary 
guidelines and annotated list of information technology 
standards to reflect technological advances, changes in 
postsecondary electronic instructional materials and re-
lated technologies, or updated national and international 
accessibility standards. The Secretary shall then submit 
a report and recommendation to Congress regarding 
whether the commission should be reconstituted. 
SEC. 5. SAFE HARBOR PROTECTIONS. 
(a) SAFE HARBOR
FOR CONFORMING POSTSEC-
ONDARY ELECTRONIC INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS AND 
RELATED TECHNOLOGIES.—An institution of higher edu-
cation that requires, provides, or both recommends and 
provides, postsecondary electronic instructional materials 
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or related technologies that conform to the voluntary 
guidelines shall be deemed in compliance with, and qualify 
for a safe harbor from liability in relation to, its obliga-
tions under section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 
(29 U.S.C. 794) and titles II and III of the Americans 
with Disabilities Act (42 U.S.C. 12131 et seq.; 42 U.S.C. 
12181 et seq.) with respect to its selection of such mate-
rials or technologies. 
(b) LIMITED SAFE HARBOR FOR NON-CONFORMING 
POSTSECONDARY ELECTRONIC INSTRUCTIONAL MATE-
RIALS OR RELATED TECHNOLOGIES.—An institution of 
higher education that requires, provides, or both rec-
ommends and provides, postsecondary electronic instruc-
tional materials or related technologies that do not fully 
conform with the voluntary guidelines, but which institu-
tion otherwise complies with all requirements set forth in 
paragraphs (1), (2), and (3), will qualify for a limited safe 
harbor from monetary liability under section 504 of the 
Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794) and titles II 
and III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (42 U.S.C. 
12131 et seq.; 42 U.S.C. 12181 et seq.), with available 
remedies under section 505 of the Rehabilitation Act of 
1973 (29 U.S.C. 794a), section 103 of Americans with 
Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12133), and section 
308 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 12188) limited to declaratory 
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and injunctive relief, and for a prevailing party other than 
the United States, a reasonable attorney’s fee, if the insti-
tution— 
(1) documented its efforts to incorporate and 
use the voluntary guidelines in its policies and prac-
tices regarding its selection or procurement of post-
secondary electronic instructional materials and re-
lated technologies. These efforts may include estab-
lishment of a written policy regarding the institu-
tion’s use of the voluntary guidelines, identifying the 
official(s) authorized to approve the selection of non- 
conforming postsecondary electronic instructional 
materials or related technologies, and procedures 
used by the official(s) when making such authoriza-
tions; 
(2) documented instances where non-con-
forming postsecondary electronic instructional mate-
rials or related technologies are selected or procured, 
including an explanation of— 
(A) the process utilized for identifying ac-
cessible options in the marketplace; 
(B) the options considered, if any are 
available; 
(C) the choice the institution ultimately 
made and why; 
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(D) what auxiliary aid or service, reason-
able modification, or other method the institu-
tion will utilize to ensure that affected students 
within categories of disability are afforded the 
rights to which they are entitled under section 
504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 
U.S.C. 794) and titles II and III of the Ameri-
cans with Disabilities Act (42 U.S.C. 12131 et 
seq.; 42 U.S.C. 12181 et seq.), including an 
equally effective opportunity to receive the same 
educational benefit as afforded to non-disabled 
students; and 
(E) where a student, or students, with dis-
abilities are affected by non-conforming instruc-
tional materials or related technologies, what 
auxiliary aid or service, reasonable modification, 
or other method the institution is using to en-
sure the student or students are afforded the 
rights described in subparagraph (D); and 
(3) posted a link to an accessible copy of the 
voluntary guidelines and annotated list of informa-
tion technology standards on a publicly available 
page of its website. 
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SEC. 6. CONSTRUCTION. 
(a) 
NON-CONFORMING
POSTSECONDARY
ELEC-
TRONIC INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS OR RELATED TECH-
NOLOGIES.—Nothing in this Act shall be construed to re-
quire an institution of higher education to require, pro-
vide, or both recommend and provide, postsecondary elec-
tronic instructional materials or related technologies that 
conform to the voluntary guidelines. However, an institu-
tion that selects or uses non-conforming postsecondary 
electronic instructional materials or related technologies 
must otherwise comply with existing obligations under sec-
tion 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 
794) and titles II and III of the Americans with Disabil-
ities Act (42 U.S.C. 12131 et seq.; 42 U.S.C. 12181 et 
seq.) to provide access to the educational benefit afforded 
by such materials and technologies through provision of 
appropriate and reasonable modification, accommodation, 
and auxiliary aids or services. 
(b) RELATIONSHIP TO EXISTING LAWS AND REGU-
LATIONS.—With respect to the Americans with Disabil-
ities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.) and the Reha-
bilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 701 et seq.), except as 
provided in section 5, nothing in this Act may be con-
strued— 
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