07 LC 28
3710
House
Bill 880
By:
Representatives Sheldon of the
105th,
Hembree of the
67th,
Cox of the
102nd,
and Dempsey of the
13th
A
BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
AN ACT
To
amend Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to education,
so as to enact "The Access to Postsecondary Education Instructional Material
Act"; to provide for definitions; to provide for requests to publishers for
electronic versions of instructional material; to provide for duties of
publishers; to provide for counseling, agreement, and reasonable precautions to
avoid violating copyright laws; to provide for construction; to provide an
effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION
1.
Title
20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to education, is amended
by adding a new Chapter 3A to read as follows:
"CHAPTER
3A
20-3A-1.
This
chapter shall be known and may be cited as 'The Access to Postsecondary
Education Instructional Material Act.'
20-3A-2.
As
used in this chapter, the term:
(1)
'Electronic version of instructional materials' means a format of instructional
materials that preserves the structural integrity of such materials; uses the
most updated software technology available to the public at that time; includes
corrections and revisions as may be necessary; and is compatible with commonly
used Braille translation, software, large print, screen enlargement, screen
reading and recognition systems, and speech synthesis software.
(2)
'Institution' means any part of the university system, as set forth in Code
Section 20-3-50; any private postsecondary educational institution defined as
'nonpublic' in Code Section 20-3-250.2; any proprietary school as defined in
Code Section 20-3-250.2; any junior college as defined in Code Section 20-3-131;
or any school or program under the authority, management, or operational control
of the Department of Technical and Adult Education.
(3)
'Instructional material' means textbooks and other materials which are required
or considered essential by an instructor of any course of study offered for
credit or toward a degree or certificate by any institution subject to the
requirements of this chapter, are written or published by a publisher primarily
for use by students, and are available for purchase. The term also includes
nonprinted instructional materials which are subject to the accessibility
standards of Section 508 of the federal Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C.
Section 794, which includes, but is not limited to, commercially published
software programs, videodisks, and video and audiotapes.
(4)
'Publisher' means the person or entity which prints and issues a textbook or
other instructional material that is generally available for purchase by the
public and the person or entity which offers for sale material available for
purchase primarily by students.
(5)
'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.
(6)
'Student with a print access disability' means a student requiring
accommodations in accordance with Section 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act,
29 U.S.C Section 794, or the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 42
U.S.C. Sections 12101, et seq., including, but not limited to, students who are
blind, are visually impaired or have a specific learning disability, or other
disability affecting reading.
20-3A-3.
(a)(1)
An institution shall make a written request for a student with a print access
disability to a publisher of instructional material for an electronic version of
instructional material that is required or considered essential for a course of
study or program offered by an institution in which the student is enrolled, as
determined by the instructor for the course or program in consultation with the
person who signs the request pursuant to subparagraph (D) of paragraph (2) of
this subsection.
(2)
A written request for an electronic version of instructional material
shall:
(A)
Certify that the student for whom the material was requested has a print access
disability which prevents him or her from using standard printed instructional
material;
(B)
Certify that the electronic version of the instructional material is for use by
the student with a print access disability in connection with a course of study
or program in which the student is enrolled at the institution;
(C)
Certify that the instructional material has been purchased by or is being
purchased for the student; and
(D)
Be signed by a person at the institution who is responsible for coordinating
services for students with print access disabilities or who is responsible for
monitoring compliance with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of
1990.
(b)(1)
A publisher who receives a request for an electronic version of instructional
material complying with subsection (a) of this Code section shall be required to
provide such electronic version to the institution within ten days, unless such
request creates an undue hardship, as defined in the federal Americans with
Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. Sections 12101, et seq. The electronic
version shall be in a format mutually agreed upon by the publisher and the
institution, but shall, after December 31, 2009, meet the National Instructional
Materials Accessibility Standard adopted or utilized by the United States
Department of Education; provided, however, that a publisher which is a
bookstore or is a person located on the campus of a public institution, as
institution is defined in Code Section 20-3A-2, shall not be required to comply
with the provisions of this paragraph with regard to instructional materials
which are not textbooks or nonprinted instructional materials.
(2)
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.
(c)
A publisher may require that a written request for an electronic version of
instructional material include a statement signed by the person described in
subparagraph (a)(2)(D) of this Code section in which the person verifies
that:
(1)
The student for whom the electronic version of instructional material is being
requested has been properly counseled in the use of the material in a manner to
avoid violating any copyright laws; and
(2)
The institution has on file a form signed by the student in which he or
she:
(A)
Agrees to use the electronic version of the instructional material solely for
his or her own educational or instructional purposes; and
(B)
Agrees not to copy or otherwise duplicate the electronic version of the
instructional material for use by another person.
(d)
If an institution allows a student, member of its staff, or member of its
faculty to have direct use of an electronic version of instructional material
obtained pursuant to this Code section, the institution shall take such
reasonable precautions as are necessary to ensure that the electronic version is
not distributed in violation of federal copyright laws.
20-3A-4.
(a)
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to prohibit an institution from
assisting a student, member of its staff, or member of its faculty with a print
access disability through the use of an electronic version of instructional
material obtained pursuant to Code Section 20-3A-3 or by transcribing or
translating or arranging for the transcription or translation of the printed
instructional material into formats that provide persons with print access
disabilities the ability to have increased independent access to printed
instructional material. If such transcription or translation is made, the
institution may share the transcription or translation with other students,
members of the staff, or members of the faculty with print access disabilities
for whom the institution is authorized to request electronic versions of
instructional material.
(b)
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to allow the incurring of any cost
for the acquisition of instructional material by a student with a print access
disability in excess of the cost to a student who does not have a print access
disability.
(c)
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to limit a faculty member´s
choice of textbook or other appropriate instructional material for use in a
course he or she is teaching; provided, however, that a faculty member, after
being made aware that a student with a print access disability is or shall be
enrolled in a course of which he or she is an instructor, shall, in accordance
with institution policies or guidelines, if any, provide a person at the
institution responsible for coordinating services for students with print access
disabilities a list of the instructional material required or considered
essential for the course as soon as is feasible.
(d)
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to authorize any use of instructional
material that would constitute an infringement of federal copyright
laws.
20-3A-5.
The
Board of Regents; an institution which is part of the university system, as set
forth in Code Section 20-3-50; the Department of Technical and Adult Education;
or any school or program under the authority, management, or operational control
of the department is authorized to develop policies for the implementation of
this chapter. Such policies shall include guidelines for the roles of persons
involved in seeing that students with print access disabilities receive an
electronic version of instructional materials in compliance with this chapter.
Such persons shall include students with print access disabilities, faculty, and
the person or persons at the institution who are responsible for coordinating
services for students with print access disabilities or who are responsible for
monitoring compliance with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of
1990."
SECTION
2.
This
Act shall become effective on July 1, 2008.
SECTION
3.
All
laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.