Advisory Commission on Accessible Instructional Materials in Postsecondary Education for Students With Disabilities

AGENCY:

U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, Advisory Commission on Accessible Instructional Materials in Postsecondary Education for Students with Disabilities.

ACTION:

Notice of a Partially Closed Meeting.

SUMMARY:

The notice sets forth the schedule and agenda of the meeting of the Advisory Commission on Accessible Instructional Materials in Postsecondary Education for Students with Disabilities. The notice also describes the functions of the Commission. Notice of the meeting is required by section 10(a)(2) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act and is intended to notify the public of its opportunity to attend.

DATES:

September 27-28, 2010.

TIME:

September 27, 2010: 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. The Commission will meet in closed session between the hours of 1:30 p.m. and 3 p.m.; September 28, 2010: 8 a.m.-4 p.m.

ADDRESSES:

The Commission will meet at the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, United States Department of Education, Potomac Center Plaza, 10th Floor Auditorium, 550 12th Street, SW., Washington, DC 20202.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Elizabeth Shook, Program Specialist, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, United States Department of Education, 550 12th Street, SW., Washington, DC 20202; telephone: (202) 245-7642, fax: 202-245-7638.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The Advisory Commission on Accessible Instructional Materials in Postsecondary Education for Students with Disabilities (the Commission) is established under Section 772 of the Higher Education Opportunity Act, Public Law 110-315, dated August 14, 2008. The Commission is established to (a) conduct a comprehensive study, which will—(I) Assess the barriers and systemic issues that may affect, and technical solutions available that may improve, the timely delivery and quality of accessible instructional materials for postsecondary students with print disabilities, as well as the effective use of such materials by faculty and staff; and (II) make recommendations related to the development of a comprehensive approach to improve the opportunities for postsecondary students with print disabilities to access instructional materials in specialized formats in a time frame comparable to the availability of instructional materials for postsecondary nondisabled students.

In making recommendations for the study, the Commission shall consider—(I) How students with print disabilities may obtain instructional materials in accessible formats within a time frame comparable to the availability of instructional materials for nondisabled students; and to the maximum extent practicable, at costs comparable to the costs of such materials for nondisabled students; (II) the feasibility and technical parameters of establishing standardized electronic file formats, such as the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard as defined in Section 674(e)(3) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, to be provided by publishers of instructional materials to producers of materials in specialized formats, institutions of higher education, and eligible students; (III) the feasibility of establishing a national clearinghouse, repository, or file-sharing network for electronic files in specialized formats and files used in producing instructional materials in specialized formats, and a list of possible entities qualified to administer such clearinghouse, repository, or network; (IV) the feasibility of establishing market-based solutions involving collaborations among publishers of instructional materials, producers of materials in specialized formats, and institutions of higher education; (V) solutions utilizing universal design; and (VI) solutions for low-incidence, high-cost requests for instructional materials in specialized formats.

The purpose of the meeting is to swear in the members of the Commission, provide the members with ethics and other administrative training, and elect a Chair and Vice-Chair of the Commission. In addition, the Commission, at the direction of the Chair and Vice-Chair, will meet to discuss their plans to complete the study within the one-year framework provided by Congress. On September 27, the Commission will meet in closed session from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. to discuss the qualifications of members to serve as Chair and Vice-Chair. These discussions pertain solely to internal personnel rules and practices of an agency and will disclose information of a personal nature where disclosure would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. As such, the discussions are protected by exemptions 2 and 6 of section 552b(c) of Title 5 U.S.C. This notice is appearing in the Federal Register less than 15 days before the meeting due to efforts to schedule the meeting before the end of the fiscal year.

Detailed minutes of the meeting, including summaries of the activities of the closed sessions and related matters that are informative to the public and consistent with the policy of section 5 U.S.C. 552b(c), will be available to the public within 14 days of the meeting. Records are kept of all Commission proceedings and are available for public inspection at the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, United States Department of Education, 550 12th Street, SW., Washington, DC 20202, Monday-Friday during the hours of 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Additional Information

Individuals who will need accommodations for a disability in order to attend the meeting (e.g., interpreting services, assistive listening devices, or material in alternative format) should notify Elizabeth Shook at (202) 245-7642, no later than September 20, 2010. We will make every attempt to meet requests for accommodations after this date, but cannot guarantee their availability. The meeting site is accessible to individuals with disabilities.

Electronic Access to this Document: You may view this document, as well as all other documents of this Department published in the Federal Register, in text or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) on the internet at the following site: http://www.ed.gov/news/fedregister/index.html . To use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free at this site. If you have questions about using PDF, call the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO), toll free at 1-866-512-1800; or in the Washington, DC, area at 202-512-0000.