FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Chris Danielsen
Director of Public
Relations
National Federation of the
Blind
(410) 659-9314, extension
2330
(410) 262-1281
(Cell)
Andi Sporkin
Vice President, Communications
Association of American
Publishers
(202) 220-4552
THE NATIONAL
FEDERATION OF THE BLIND AND THE ASSOCIATION
OF AMERICAN
PUBLISHERS APPLAUD INTRODUCTION OF “TEACH ACT”
Rep. Tom Petri
Introduces “Technology, Education and Accessibility
In College and Higher
Education Act”
Baltimore, Maryland
and Washington, DC (November 15, 2013): The National
Federation of the Blind (NFB), the oldest
and largest nationwide organization of blind Americans, and the Association of
American Publishers (AAP), the leading trade
association of the US publishing industry, applaud Congressman Tom Petri (R-WI)
for introducing today the Technology, Education and Accessibility in College and
Higher Education Act (H.R. 3505). The TEACH Act, which is the result of
collaboration between the NFB and the AAP, and has been endorsed by ten other
organizations of and for people with disabilities, will create accessibility
guidelines for electronic instructional materials and related information
technologies used by institutions of higher education.
The TEACH Act will
provide guidelines for manufacturers of educational technology and clarity for
institutions of higher education to ensure that materials are usable by all
students.
“Educational
technology creates unlimited opportunities for innovative methods of learning,
but these new and innovative tools can also pose a challenge for accessibility,”
said Rep. Petri. “The TEACH Act will ensure that students with disabilities
have equal access to a high-quality education in today’s 21st century
classroom. I’m proud to be sponsoring this important legislation and encourage
my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me in this effort.”
Dr. Marc
Maurer, President of
NFB, said: “Every day,
blind college students face devastating setbacks to their education because of
inaccessible technology. The use of e-readers, Web content, mobile
applications, and learning management systems by educators is more prevalent
than ever, and disabled students are being needlessly left behind. No student
can be expected to succeed in college if he or she is denied access to critical
course material. Schools and manufacturers must embrace readily available
accessibility solutions so that all students can benefit from educational
technology, and the guidelines established by the TEACH Act will make it clear
how manufacturers and institutions of higher education can best serve disabled
students. We thank AAP for the many months of hard work they have dedicated to
this joint effort. These guidelines are long overdue, and we applaud
Congressman Petri for introducing this critical bill.”
Noted Tom Allen,
President and CEO, AAP, “The TEACH Act
supports a core mission of the Association of American Publishers: to ensure
that all students have equal access to high-quality digital educational content
and technologies. As higher education publishers’ innovations keep improving
how students learn and as institutions seek to serve their diverse student
communities, the TEACH Act will provide the clarifying guidelines and incentives
to foster greater commercial availability of accessible educational content,
platforms and delivery systems. We are proud to have collaborated with
Congressman Petri’s office and the NFB to put forward this legislation which
will help make state-of-the-art learning materials accessible to all students
pursuing higher education.”
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