Under current state law, the University of Wisconsin System (UW System) and
the Technical College System (TCS) may not deny to a student admission to,
participation in, or the benefits of, or discriminate against a student in, any service,
program, course, or facility because of the student's disability. In addition, under
current federal law, a college, university, or other postsecondary institution,
including a private postsecondary institution, may not exclude a student from
participation in, deny a student the benefits of, or subject a student to discrimination
under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance. Federal
regulations specify that a postsecondary institution receiving federal financial
assistance must ensure that no student with a disability is denied the benefits of,
excluded from participation in, or otherwise subjected to discrimination because of
the absence of educational auxiliary aids for students with impaired sensory,
manual, or speaking skills.

Request for instructional material in alternative or electronic format.
This bill permits an institution or college campus within the UW System, a technical
college within the TCS, or a private, nonprofit institution of higher education that

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is a member of the Wisconsin Association of Independent Colleges and Universities
(institution of higher education), on behalf of a student who is blind or visually
impaired, or who has a specific learning disability or other physical condition that
prevents the student from using instructional material in standard print format, and
who needs reasonable accommodations to read (student with a disability), to request
a publisher to provide instructional material in either of the following formats:

1. Braille, large print texts, audio recordings created with the use of
text-to-speech technology, electronic formats used with screen reader devices or
other assistive technology, or digital talking books that are required by a student
with a disability to make instructional material accessible to the student (alternative
format).

2. A computer file or other digital medium embodying instructional material
that can be made into an alternative format or that is capable of serving as an
alternative format, if used with a screen reader device or other assistive technology
(electronic format).

Under the bill, a request for instructional material in alternative format or
electronic format (request) must certify: 1) that a copy of the instructional material
in a standard format has been purchased for use by a student with a disability; 2) that
the student is a student with a disability; 3) that the instructional material is for use
by the student in connection with a course at the institution of higher education in
which the student is enrolled; and 4) whether the institution of higher education has
in its possession a copy of the instructional material in electronic format and, if so,
whether that copy is capable, if used with assistive technology, of serving as an
alternative format suitable for the needs of the student with a disability or of being
converted, using generally available technology, into the particular alternative
format needed by the student. In addition, the publisher may require the student to
sign a statement agreeing that the student will use the instructional material in
alternative format solely for his or her own educational purposes and that the
student will not copy or distribute the instructional material in alternative format
for use by others.

Provision of instructional material in alternative or electronic format.
The bill requires a publisher, in response to a request, to do one of the following:

1. Provide to the requester a copy of the instructional material in alternative
format by delivering a computer disk or file.

2. Provide to the requester access to the instructional material in alternative
format by providing an Internet password or by providing that access in any other
appropriate matter.

3. Provide to the requester a copy of the instructional material in electronic
format.

4. At its option, grant to the institution of higher education permission to
convert the instructional material into the particular alternative format needed by
the student with a disability.

5. If the publisher believes that it is unable to provide the instructional
material in alternative format or electronic format or grant permission to convert the
instructional material into alternative format because the publisher does not own or

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control some or all of the copyright in the instructional material, provide to the
requester the name of the person that, to the best of the publisher's knowledge, is
able to fulfill the request.

Within seven days after receiving a request, the publisher must respond to the
request by providing a notice advising the requester as to which of the actions, if any,
permitted under the bill the publisher intends to take. If the publisher provides
notice that the publisher intends to provide a copy of the instructional material in
electronic format, the publisher must provide the material in that format no later
than seven days after providing that notice. If the publisher provides notice that the
publisher intends to provide a copy of, or access to, the instructional material in
alternative format, the publisher must provide that material or that access no later
than 14 days after providing that notice.

Under the bill, instructional material provided by a publisher in electronic
format must: 1) maintain the structural integrity of the original instructional
material, which means that all of the information provided in printed instructional
material, including the text of sidebars; the table of contents; chapter headings and
subheadings; footnotes; indexes; glossaries; bibliographies; nontextual elements,
such as pictures, illustrations, graphs, charts, and screenshots; and any other data
that are pertinent to the instructional material, is included when that printed
instructional material is provided in alternative format or electronic format; 2) be
compatible with an assistive technology that is suitable for the needs of the student
with a disability or, if the student needs an embossed Braille version of the
instructional material, be compatible with commonly used Braille translation
software; and 3) include corrections and revisions that have been generally
published with respect to the instructional material.

Use of instructional material in alternative or electronic format. The
bill permits an institution of higher education to create an alternative format of
instructional material for which a request has been made if any of the following
apply:

1. The publisher provides a copy of the instructional material in electronic
format.

2. The publisher grants permission to convert the instructional material into
alternative format.

3. The publisher indicates that the publisher does not intend to provide a copy
of the instructional material in alternative format or electronic format because the
institution of higher education already possesses a copy of the instructional material
in electronic format that is capable of serving as an alternative format or of being
converted in an alternative format.

4. The publisher does not respond to a request within seven days after receipt
of the request as required under the bill or does not fulfill the request within 7 or 14
days after providing notice of its intent as required under the bill.

The bill requires an institution of higher education that has in its possession
a copy of instructional material in alternative format or electronic format that has
been provided by a publisher or an alternative format of instructional material that
has been created by the institution to satisfy all subsequent requests for

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instructional material in that format from its own students without requesting the
publisher to provide that material and permits the institution, if requested, to
provide instructional material in that format to another institution of higher
education for use by a student of that other institution. The bill, however, requires
the institution of higher education to provide to the publisher, for each student for
whom the instructional material is provided, the same certification and statement
that is required for an original request.

Nonapplicability of bill. The requirements and prohibitions created in the
bill, however, do not apply to a person that is a member of a nationwide exchange
network that facilitates the delivery of instructional material in alternative format
to students with disabilities, if that material is delivered within seven days after a
request for the material. The bill also does not apply if instructional material in the
particular format needed by a student with a disability is commercially available
from the publisher of the material.