I 
113TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3505 
To direct the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board 
to develop accessibility guidelines for electronic instructional materials 
and related information technologies in institutions of higher education, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 15, 2013 
Mr. PETRI introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To direct the Architectural and Transportation Barriers 
Compliance Board to develop accessibility guidelines for 
electronic instructional materials and related information 
technologies in institutions of higher 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 ‘‘Technology, Equality 
and Accessibility in College and Higher Education Act’’ 
or the ‘‘TEACH Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. GUIDELINES FOR ACCESSIBLE ELECTRONIC IN-
STRUCTIONAL MATERIALS AND RELATED IN-
FORMATION 
TECHNOLOGIES 
IN 
INSTITU-
TIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the Architectural and 
Transportation Barriers Compliance Board established 
pursuant to section 502 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 
(29 U.S.C. 792) (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Access 
Board’’) shall develop guidelines for the accessibility of 
electronic instructional materials and related information 
technologies in institutions of higher education. Such 
guidelines shall— 
(1) include performance criteria to ensure that 
such materials and technologies are accessible to 
covered blind individuals and covered individuals 
with a disability; and 
(2) be consistent with the standards for tech-
nical and functional performance criteria issued pur-
suant to section 508(a)(2)(A)(ii) of the Rehabilita-
tion Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794d(a)(2)(A)(ii)). 
(b) HARMONIZATION WITH NATIONAL AND INTER-
NATIONAL STANDARDS.—The Access Board shall, to the 
extent practicable, ensure that the guidelines issued under 
subsection (a) are consistent with national and inter-
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national accessibility standards for electronic instructional 
materials and related information technologies. 
(c) REVIEW AND AMENDMENT.—Not later than 3 
years after the effective date of the guidelines described 
in subsection (a), and every 3 years thereafter, the Access 
Board shall review and, as appropriate, amend such guide-
lines to reflect technological advances or changes in elec-
tronic instructional materials and related information 
technologies. 
SEC. 3. SAFE HARBOR PROTECTIONS. 
Institutions of higher education that use electronic 
instructional materials and related information tech-
nologies that comply with the accessibility guidelines de-
scribed in section 2 shall be deemed to be in compliance 
with the non-discrimination provisions section 504 of the 
Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794) and titles II 
and III of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 
(42 U.S.C. 12131 et seq., 42 U.S.C. 12181 et seq.) with 
respect to the use of such materials or technologies. 
SEC. 4. NONCOMPLIANT ELECTRONIC INSTRUCTIONAL MA-
TERIALS AND RELATED INFORMATION TECH-
NOLOGIES. 
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to require an 
institution of higher education to use electronic instruc-
tional materials or related information technologies that 
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conform to the accessibility guidelines described in section 
2 if the institution of higher education provides such mate-
rials or technologies, or an accommodation or modifica-
tion, that would allow covered blind individuals and cov-
ered individuals with a disability to receive the educational 
benefits of such materials or technologies— 
(1) in an equally effective and equally inte-
grated manner as non-disabled or non-blind stu-
dents; and 
(2) with substantially equivalent ease of use of 
such materials or technologies. 
SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
There is authorized to be appropriated such sums as 
may be necessary to carry out section 2 of this Act. 
SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act the following definitions apply: 
(1) BLIND INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘‘blind indi-
vidual’’ means an individual whose central visual 
acuity does not exceed 20/200 in the better eye with 
correcting lenses or whose visual acuity, if better 
than 20/200, is accompanied by a limit to the field 
of vision in the better eye to such a degree that its 
widest diameter subtends an angle of no greater 
than 20 degrees. 
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(2) COVERED BLIND INDIVIDUAL AND COVERED 
INDIVIDUAL WITH A DISABILITY.—The terms ‘‘cov-
ered blind individual’’ and ‘‘covered individual with 
a disability’’ mean a blind individual or an individual 
with a disability whose blindness or disability limits 
the ability of such individual to access electronic in-
structional materials and related information tech-
nologies. 
(3) 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). 
(4) 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). 
(5) ELECTRONIC INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIAL.— 
The term ‘‘electronic instructional material’’ means 
digital curricular content including course-assigned 
books, journals, articles, and web pages, used by stu-
dents, faculty, or administrative personnel of an in-
stitution of higher education to facilitate the teach-
ing and learning process, including technologies used 
in distance education as defined in section 103 of 
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the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1003). 
(6) RELATED
INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY.— 
The term ‘‘related information technology’’— 
(A) means any electronic platform or deliv-
ery system used by students, faculty, or admin-
istrative personnel of an institution of higher 
education to access electronic instructional ma-
terials; and 
(B) includes any hardware, firmware, soft-
ware, and applications required for the manipu-
lation, annotation, and dissemination of such 
electronic instructional materials. 
Æ 
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