| August, 2002 |
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In the News
Blind and Print-Disabled Students Will Have Equal Access to Textbooks
Accessibility Act Introduced in Congress
Press Release
Washington, DC-The Instructional Materials Accessibility Act of 2002 (IMAA), legislation that will dramatically improve access to textbooks for students who are blind or who have other print disabilities in elementary and secondary schools, was introduced today in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. The purpose of this bipartisan legislation is to ensure that instructional materials for blind or other people with print disabilities are received in an accessible medium at the same time as their non-disabled peers. To this end, the IMAA will harness advances in technology to create an efficient system for acquiring and distributing these materials in specialized formats, which include Braille, synthesized speech, digital text, digital audio, and large print.
The IMAA was drafted collaboratively by the American Council of the Blind, American Foundation for the Blind (AFB), American Printing House for the Blind, Association of American Publishers (AAP), Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired, National Federation of the Blind, and Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic, in concert with several other national groups.
Senators Christopher Dodd (D-CT) and Thad Cochran (R-MS) and Representatives Thomas Petri (R-WI) and George Miller (D-CA) are the lead sponsors of this legislation. Other members of Congress have already signed on as original co-sponsors of the bill.
The IMAA mandates the adoption of a standardized, national electronic file format. Publishers of instructional materials will be required to submit an electronic file of all textbooks in this universal file format. These files will enable the instructional materials to be more easily converted into accessible formats according to an industry standard. The IMAA also provides for a central depository for these files, so that state and local agencies, publishers, and other groups can more quickly acquire the materials. A provision in the bill describes how state and local education agencies will be responsible for developing and implementing a statewide plan to utilize these files to ensure that blind or visually impaired students and other print-disabled students may have quicker access to instructional materials. This national electronic file format and depository will have far reaching benefits. "With the IMAA, we are witnessing the start of something truly ground-breaking," said Carl R.Augusto, president and CEO of AFB.
"We are very committed to our work to ensure that all students, including those who are blind or print-disabled, have access to textbooks and materials that they need and can use," said former Congresswoman Pat Schroeder, president and CEO of AAP.
With the IMAA, blindness organizations and publishers intend to break down the barriers that have prevented access to textbooks and instructional materials by blind or visually impaired students. "More than at any other time," as Helen Keller once remarked, "when I hold a beloved book in my hand my limitations fall from me, my spirit is free."
*For more information, contact:
The American Foundation for the Blind--the organization to which Helen
Keller devoted her life--is a national nonprofit whose mission is to
eliminate the inequities faced by the ten million Americans who are blind
or visually impaired. Headquartered in New York City, AFB maintains
offices in Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco, a National Literacy Center in
Atlanta, a governmental relations office in Washington, DC, and a
Technology and Employment Center in Huntington, WV. Visit the AFB website at
http://www.afb.org/
***Update on the IMAA
Senate Subcommittee on Children and Families Holds Hearing on Instructional Materials Accessibility Act
On June 28, Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) chaired a hearing about the Instructional Materials Accessibility Act (IMAA), S. 2246. Witnesses at the hearing were Pat Schroeder, President and CEO of the Association of American Publishers and former Member of Congress; Jessie Kirchner, a senior at Guilford High School in Guilford, Connecticut; Dr. Mark Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind; and Barbara McCarthy, Director of the Library Resource Center of Virginia's Department for the Blind and Visually Impaired.
Senator Dodd noted that while the ADA and IDEA call for access to education for all people with disabilities, too often that access is denied because textbooks are not available in alternative formats in a timely fashion. While 26 states have laws requiring publishers to provide textbooks in electronic formats, there is no uniformity to those formats. Publishers waste time creating many different types of formats that comply with the different laws. S. 2246 requires one uniform file format to ease the burden on publishers and on the conversion process. It creates a National Instructional Materials Access Center where all school systems can access textbooks on electronic files and it provides funds to school systems to support the conversion of files into Braille.
Sen. Dodd noted that Rep. Tom Petri (R-WI) and George Miller (D-CA) have introduced the bill in the House. Sen. Dodd would like to see the bill enacted into law before the end of the year. Sen. Dodd noted that if he could he would name this bill after his sister, Carol, who is legally blind and a teacher in Connecticut. He lived through the Herculean efforts his parents made to ensure that she had access to information so that she could complete her studies.
Pat Schroeder testified that the publishers wholeheartedly support this bill and hope it will be enacted this year. She noted it would go along way to address the chaotic, costly and ineffective process that goes on now in trying to provide texts to students in alternative formats.
Jessie Kirchner described the process she undergoes in attempting to secure the proper texts for her classes. She must request the texts by March for the following year. Usually class schedules are not made up by March, so she often must guess what she might be taking. If she is in a class that is a pre-requisite for another class, she doesn't know until the class is over at the end of the semester if she will qualify to take the higher-level course. She noted that in her math class she had no book for months because it took so long to have it converted into Braille. She said that books on tape are less effective than Braille because the student can't turn the page in class and stay with the teacher. "Having a text book in class should be a right, not a privilege," she concluded.
Mark Maurer noted that his mother learned Braille herself and transcribed all of his books so he could get through school. It is not fair to put this burden on families, he noted. In order to keep the promise of No Child Left Behind, this legislation needs to be enacted, he said.
Barbara McCarthy explained how the system works in Virginia. She noted that they just received 5 requests to Braille textbooks for next year. One of the books is a 1183 page biology book. She said that it would take 9 months to Braille that book at a cost of $16,562. If the system envisioned in S. 2246 were in place, it would take one week to Braille the book and it would cost $785.
Sen. Dodd noted that of the 94,000 K-12 school children who are visually impaired, only 5000 use Braille. Witnesses said that knowledge of Braille correlates highly with the employment rate of blind people. While the employment rate of all blind people is 32%, it is 90% for those who use Braille. More Braille texts and more teachers who use Braille are needed.
Sen. Dodd concluded the hearing noting that with a small financial investment (the bill costs about $1 million per year after a $5 million start up investment), a huge difference can be made.
