Senate Bill No. 62–Committee on Human
Resources and Facilities

 

CHAPTER..........

 

AN ACT relating to the University and Community College System of Nevada; requiring an institution within the University and Community College System of Nevada to provide electronic versions of instructional materials to students with print access disabilities under certain circumstances; requiring a publisher of such materials to provide the materials to an institution under certain circumstances; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.

 

“Whereas, Congress, in passing the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, guaranteed Americans with disabilities access to public buildings and services and guaranteed reasonable accommodations to qualified students with disabilities; and

    Whereas, In the 1995-1996 school year, approximately 6 percent of undergraduate students in the United States reported that they had a disability; and

    Whereas, Print access disabilities present a significant disadvantage to students with such disabilities; and

    Whereas, Improving the educational results of students with disabilities who are enrolled in postsecondary educational institutions is an essential mission of this state; and

    Whereas, Ensuring opportunities for and the full participation of students with disabilities in higher education is a top priority in this state; and

    Whereas, The State of Nevada and the University and Community College System of Nevada are dedicated to providing a quality postsecondary education to students with disabilities that meets the unique needs of such students; and

    Whereas, The State of Nevada and the University and Community College System of Nevada are committed to working with publishers and other resources to ensure that students with disabilities receive instructional material in a timely manner and in a comprehensible format; and

    Whereas, It is the policy of the State of Nevada that each textbook and other instructional material for higher education must be provided to students with disabilities in a comprehensible format when such a version of the textbook or other instructional material exists; now, therefore,

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN

SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

 

    Section 1. Chapter 396 of NRS is hereby amended by adding

thereto a new section to read as follows:

    1.  In the most timely manner practicable after receiving a

written request for an electronic version of instructional material

from a student with a print access disability, an institution shall

provide to the student, at no cost, an electronic version of each

requested instructional material that the institution determines is

essential to the success of the student in a course of study offered

by an institution of the System in which the student is enrolled.

    2.  If an institution receives a request for an electronic version

of nonprinted instructional material from a student pursuant to

subsection 1 to whom the institution would be required to provide

an electronic version of the material pursuant to subsection 1 and

an electronic version of the nonprinted instructional material is

not currently available at the institution or at another institution

of the System, the institution must contact the publisher of the

nonprinted instructional material and request an electronic

version of the nonprinted instructional material. If the publisher:

    (a) Has an electronic version of the nonprinted instructional

material, the publisher must provide the electronic version to the

institution for distribution to the student; or

    (b) Does not have an electronic version of the nonprinted

instructional material, the institution must create and provide to

the student an electronic version in the most timely manner

practicable after the institution is notified by the publisher that the

publisher does not have an electronic version of the nonprinted

instructional material.

    3.  As used in this section:

    (a) “Institution” means any university, state college or

community college within the System.

    (b) “Instructional material” means any published textbook

and other published material that is used by students of the

System. The term does not include nontextual mathematics and

science materials unless, as determined by the Board of Regents,

such materials are commercially available in a format that is

compatible for use with equipment which is used by students of the

System with print access disabilities to convert material into a

format that provides them with the ability to have increased

independent access to the material. The term includes, without

limitation, nonprinted instructional material.

    (c) “Nonprinted instructional material” means instructional

material that is in a format other than print. The term does not

include a website or Internet link that is associated with

instructional material. The term includes, without limitation,

instructional material that requires electronic equipment other

than a computer or computer peripheral for the material to be

used as a learning resource, such as a software program,

videodisc, videotape and audiotape.

    (d) “Print access disability” means a condition in which a

person’s independent reading of, reading comprehension of, or

visual access to printed material is limited or reduced because of a

sensory, neurological, cognitive, physical or psychiatric disability.

 

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