Institutions of higher education are responsible for providing accessible materials in accessible formats to qualified students with disabilities. Where the actual logistical responsibility lies, however, varies by institution. An instructor can be held personally responsible if they refuse to follow the institution's policy of providing accommodations. That is, if the DSS office specifies an accommodation, the instructor should be able to question the accommodation and have an opportunity to specify the manner in which the accommodation is met, but he/she generally may not refuse to provide it without being held personally responsible. Institutions may provide an appeals process for the instructor to review the accommodations with the DSS office and another competent authority, but usually the accommodation must be provided until the question is settled.
There are a number of states that have state rules requiring a publisher to provide accessible formats of materials to postsecondary institutions. But the provisions are scant at best, and are reported to be problematic in practice. (For a list of states that have rules about accessible formats, see http://www.ittatc.org/laws/stateLawAtGlance.cfm) There is an effort to create a national repository of accessible textbooks in the K-12 environment (see http://www.afb.org/info_document_view.asp?documentid=1331) called the Instructional Materials Accessibility Act (IMAA), but it doesn't currently extend to higher education.
Multiple issues contribute to the mix:
- Publisher Issues
- Institutional Issues
- Instructor Issues
But before we delve into these subjects in more detail, let's examine the textbook adoption process.
