Did you know that SVC Disability Support Services is doing pioneering work for SVC students?
The Office of Disability Support Services is asking your instructors to question the publishers of your text books, "Do you provide this text in an electronic format".
Did you know that if a publisher does not have an electronic copy of a text the Office of Disability Support Services will make one for an eligible student?
Cool huh?
Read on!RCW 28B.10.916
What is it, anyway?
“(1) An individual, firm, partnership or corporation that publishes or manufactures instructional materials for students attending any public or private institution of higher education in the state of Washington shall provide to the public or private institution of higher education, for use by students attending the institution, any instructional material in an electronic format mutually agreed upon by the publisher or manufacturer and the public or private institution of higher education. (emphasis added) Computer files or electronic versions of printed instructional materials shall be provided; video materials must be captioned or accompanied by transcriptions of spoken text; and audio materials must be accompanied by transcriptions. These supplemental materials shall be provided to the public or private institution of higher education at no additional cost and in a timely manner, upon receipt of a written request as provided in subsection (2) of this section. …”
(For complete act, go here:
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=28B.10.916)
Many of our students, due to disability, require text books in audio format. Because the text-book market is constantly changing, agencies which provide audio versions of these materials have a hard time keeping up with current editions. For this reason,
SVC is pioneering the use of electronic means to convert printed material into audio format. Here is what Disability Support Services and the Cardinal Bookstore would like you to do:
· When considering an instructional material, ask the publisher if it is available in audio format.
· If the instructional material is not available in audio format, obtain a commitment from the publisher that it will abide by the provisions of the above-mentioned Washington State Law.
· Talk to Cardinal Bookstore representatives or to Disability Support Services staff for any assistance you would like to have in the quest to make instructional materials accessible to all our students.
