2023 New York Laws › EDN - Education › Title 1 - General Provisions › Article 15-B - Higher Education Textbooks › 715 - Instructional Materials; Students With Disabilities.

* §  715.  Instructional materials; students with disabilities. 1. For
purposes of this section, the following words shall have  the  following
meanings:  (a)  "College" means college as defined in subdivision two of
section six hundred one of this chapter;
(b) "Instructional material or materials" means  textbooks  and  other
materials  written  and published by commercial publishers primarily for
use by students  in  postsecondary  instruction  that  are  required  or
essential to a student's success in a course of study in which a student
with  a disability is enrolled. The determination of which materials are
"required or  essential  to  student  success"  shall  be  made  by  the
instructor  of  the  course. "Instructional material or materials" shall
also include commercially published nontextual mathematics  and  science
material  wherever available software permits the conversion of existing
electronic files of the materials into a format that is compatible  with
braille  translation  software  or  alternative  media for students with
disabilities.
(c) "Nonprinted instructional materials" means commercially  published
instructional  materials  in  formats  other  than  print,  and includes
commercially  published  instructional  materials   that   require   the
availability  of  electronic equipment in order to be used as a learning
resource,  including,  but  not  necessarily  limited  to,  commercially
published software programs, video disks, and video and audio tapes.
(d)  "Printed instructional material or materials" means instructional
material  or  materials  commercially  published  in   book   or   other
commercially published printed form.
(e)  "Structural  integrity"  means  all of the commercially published
printed instructional material, including, but not limited to, the  text
of  the  material, sidebars, the table of contents, chapter headings and
subheadings,  footnotes,  pictures,   illustrations,   graphs,   charts,
indexes,  glossaries,  and bibliographies. If good faith efforts fail to
produce an agreement pursuant to subdivision two of this section between
the publisher or manufacturer and the commissioner as to  an  electronic
format  that  will preserve the structural integrity of the commercially
published printed instructional material, the publisher or  manufacturer
shall  provide the instructional material in the most updated electronic
format taking into consideration the recommendation made by the National
Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and shall preserve as  much
of  the  structural  integrity  of  the  commercially  published printed
instructional material as possible.
(f) "Specialized format" means braille, audio, or digital text that is
exclusively  for  use  by  blind  persons  and   students   with   other
disabilities.
(g)  "Advisory  council",  means  a  group of individuals appointed as
follows: seven shall be appointed directly by the governor, two shall be
appointed on the nomination of the temporary president  of  the  senate,
two shall be appointed on the nomination of the speaker of the assembly,
one  shall  be appointed on the nomination of the minority leader of the
senate, and one shall be appointed on the  nomination  of  the  minority
leader   of   the   assembly.   The   council   shall  be  comprised  of
representatives from college disability student  support  services;  the
department;  the  publisher  community;  students  with disabilities and
other interested parties who will provide input into policy development,
program guidelines and implementation strategies for the  implementation
of  this  section,  and  updates  and  technical  assistance to regional
college disability service coordinators.
(h) "Guidelines" means  a  set  of  information,  training,  technical
guidance  and best practices used in implementing the provisions of this
section.
Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to prohibit  a  college
from  assisting  a  student  with  a  disability by using the electronic
version  of  commercially  published  printed   instructional   material
provided  pursuant  to  this section solely to transcribe or arrange for
the  transcription  of  the commercially published printed instructional
material into braille. In the event such a transcription  is  made,  the
college  shall  have  the  right  to  share  such  braille  copy  of the
commercially  published  printed  instructional  material   with   other
students with disabilities.
2.  An  individual, firm, partnership or corporation that publishes or
manufactures commercially published printed instructional materials  for
students  attending  college shall provide for purchase by students with
disabilities such printed instructional material in an electronic format
mutually agreed upon by the commercial publisher or manufacturer and the
commissioner.  These  commercially   published   printed   instructional
materials  must  be  converted  to  an  electronic format using the most
updated software technology  available  to  the  public  at  that  time.
Computer  files or electronic versions of commercially published printed
instructional materials shall maintain the structural integrity of  such
printed instructional material, be compatible with commonly used braille
translation  and  speech synthesis software, and include corrections and
revisions as may be necessary. The computer files or electronic versions
of the commercially published printed instructional  material  shall  be
available  to  students  with  disabilities  at a cost comparable to the
printed version of such commercially published material and in a  timely
manner,  upon  receipt  of  a  written  request  that  does  all  of the
following:
(a)  Certifies  that  the  electronic  version  of  the   commercially
published printed instructional materials will be used by a student with
a disability.
(b)  Certifies  that the student has a disability that prevents him or
her from using standard commercially published instructional materials.
(c) Certifies that the commercially  published  printed  instructional
material  is for use by the student in connection with a course in which
he or she is registered or enrolled at the college.
(d) Is signed  by  the  coordinator  of  services  for  students  with
disabilities  at  the  college  or  by  the  campus  or college official
responsible  for  monitoring  compliance   with   the   Americans   with
Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.) at the college.
3.  An  individual,  firm,  partnership  or  corporation  specified in
subdivision two of this section may also require that,  in  addition  to
the  conditions  enumerated above, the request shall include a statement
signed by the student agreeing to both of the following:
(a) He or she  will  use  the  electronic  copy  of  the  commercially
published  printed  instructional  material in specialized format solely
for his or her own educational purposes.
(b) He or she will not copy or duplicate  the  commercially  published
printed  instructional  material  or  electronic  copy for use by others
consistent with the requirements of the copyright revision act of  1976,
as amended (17 U.S.C. §101 et seq.).
4.  If  a  college  permits  a  student to directly use the electronic
version of a commercially published instructional material, such student
shall use the disk or file in a manner that complies at all  times  with
the  Copyright  Revisions Act of 1976, as amended (17 U.S.C. Sec. 101 et
seq.).
5.  An  individual,  firm,  partnership  or  corporation   that,   for
commercial  purposes, publishes or manufactures nonprinted instructional
materials for students attending college shall provide computer files or

other electronic versions of such nonprinted instructional materials for
use by students attending such college subject to  the  same  conditions
set  forth  in  subdivisions  two  and three of this section for printed
instructional  materials,  when technology is available to convert these
nonprinted  instructional  materials  published  or   manufactured   for
commercial  purposes to a format that maintains the structural integrity
of such nonprinted  instructional  materials  that  is  compatible  with
braille translation and speech synthesis software.
6. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to authorize any use of any
commercially  published instructional materials that would constitute an
infringement of copyright under the Copyright Revision Act of  1976,  as
amended (17 U.S.C. Sec. 101 et seq.).
7.  The governor shall convene a statewide advisory council as defined
in paragraph (g) of subdivision one of this section that  will  meet  as
necessary  to  fulfill  the  functions  set  forth  in  paragraph (g) of
subdivision one of this section.
* NB Repealed August 15, 2025