Pennsylvania Code › Title 22 - EDUCATION › Part I - State Board of Education › Subpart A - Miscellaneous Provisions › Chapter 14 - SPECIAL EDUCATION SERVICES AND PROGRAMS › GENERAL PROVISIONS › Section 14.106 - Access to instructional materials

Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 28, July 13, 2024
(a) The Board adopts the National
					 Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS) as defined in section
					 674(e)(3)(B) of the Education of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
					 (20 U.S.C.A. §
												1474(e)(3)(B)) and set forth
					 in 71 FR 41084 (July 19, 2006) for the purpose of providing print instructional
					 materials in alternate accessible formats or specialized formats to blind
					 persons or other persons with print disabilities in a timely manner. To ensure
					 the timely provision of high quality, accessible instructional materials to
					 children who are blind or other persons with print disabilities, agencies shall
					 adopt the NIMAS. The NIMAS refers to a standard for source files of print
					 instructional materials created by publishers that may be converted into
					 accessible instructional materials.
(b) Agencies shall, in a timely manner,
					 provide print instructional materials in specialized, accessible formats (that
					 is, Braille, audio, digital, large-print, and the like) to children who are
					 blind or other persons with print disabilities, as defined in
					 2 U.S.C.A. §
												135a (regarding books and sound-reproduction
					 records for blind and other physically handicapped residents; annual
					 appropriations; and purchases).
(c)
					 Agencies act in a timely manner in providing instructional materials under
					 subsection (a) if they take steps to ensure that children who are blind or
					 other persons with print disabilities have access to their accessible format
					 instructional materials at the same time that students without disabilities
					 have access to instructional materials. Agencies may not withhold instructional
					 materials from other students until instructional materials in accessible
					 formats are available.
(d) Receipt
					 of a portion of the instructional materials in alternate accessible or
					 specialized format will be considered receipt in a timely manner if the
					 material received covers the chapters that are currently being taught in the
					 student's class.
(e) If a child who
					 is blind or other person with a print disability enrolls in school after the
					 start of the school year, an agency shall take steps to ensure that the student
					 has access to accessible format instructional materials within 10 school days
					 from the time it is determined that the child requires printed instructional
					 materials in an alternate accessible or specialized format.
(f) The Department or agencies may coordinate
					 with the National Instructional Materials Access Center (NIMAC) to facilitate
					 the production of and delivery of accessible materials to children who are
					 blind or other persons with print disabilities. The NIMAC refers to the central
					 repository, established under section 674(e) of the Education of Individuals
					 with Disabilities Education Act, which is responsible for processing, storing
					 and distributing NIMAS files of textbooks and core instructional
					 materials.
(g) Agencies
					 coordinating with NIMAC shall require textbook publishers to deliver the
					 contents of print instructional materials to the NIMAC in NIMAS format files on
					 or before delivery of the print instructional materials to the agency. Agencies
					 that choose not to coordinate with NIMAC may require that publishers deliver
					 the contents of print instructional materials to the NIMAC in NIMAS format
					 files on or before delivery of the print instructional materials to the
					 agency.
The provisions of this §
													14.106 issued under sections 1372
						  and 2603-B of the Public School Code of 1929 (24 P. S. §§
														13-1372 and
						  26-2603-B).