S. HRG.

107547

THE INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS ACCESSIBILITY

ACT: MAKING INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS
AVAILABLE TO ALL STUDENTS

HEARING
BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, EDUCATION,

LABOR, AND PENSIONS
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION

ON

S. 2246
EXAMINING S. 2246, TO IMPROVE ACCESS TO PRINTED INSTRUCTIONAL
MATERIALS USED BY BLIND OR OTHER PERSONS WITH PRINT DIS-
ABILITIES IN ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS

JUNE 28, 2002

Printed for the use of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

(
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
80580 PDF WASHINGTON : 2003

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office

Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 5121800; DC area (202) 5121800
Fax: (202) 5122250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 204020001
 COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, EDUCATION, LABOR, AND PENSIONS
EDWARD M. KENNEDY, Massachusetts, Chairman
CHRISTOPHER J. DODD, Connecticut JUDD GREGG, New Hampshire
TOM HARKIN, Iowa BILL FRIST, Tennessee
BARBARA A. MIKULSKI, Maryland MICHAEL B. ENZI, Wyoming
JAMES M. JEFFORDS (I), Vermont TIM HUTCHINSON, Arkansas
JEFF BINGAMAN, New Mexico JOHN W. WARNER, Virginia
PAUL D. WELLSTONE, Minnesota CHRISTOPHER S. BOND, Missouri
PATTY MURRAY, Washington PAT ROBERTS, Kansas
JACK REED, Rhode Island SUSAN M. COLLINS, Maine
JOHN EDWARDS, North Carolina JEFF SESSIONS, Alabama
HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, New York MIKE DeWINE, Ohio
J. MICHAEL MYERS, Staff Director and Chief Counsel
TOWNSEND LANGE MCNITT, Minority Staff Director

(II)
 C O N T E N T S

STATEMENTS

FRIDAY, JUNE 28, 2002

Page
Dodd, Hon. Christopher J., a U.S. Senator from the State of Connecticut ......... 1
Schroeder, Patricia, President and Chief Executive Officer, Association of
American Publishers, Washington, DC; Jessie Kirchner, Guilford, CT; Marc
Maurer, President, National Federation of the Blind, Baltimore, MD; and
Barbara McCarthy, Director, Library and Resource Center, Virginia De-
partment For the Blind and Vision Impaired, and President, Association
of Instructional Resource Centers For the Visually Impaired, Richmond,
VA .......................................................................................................................... 6

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL
Statements, articles, publications, letters, etc.:
Patricia Schroeder ............................................................................................ 24
Jessie Kirchner ................................................................................................. 26
Marc Maurer ..................................................................................................... 27
Barbara N. McCarthy ....................................................................................... 29

(III)
THE INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS ACCES-
SIBILITY ACT: MAKING INSTRUCTIONAL MA-
TERIALS AVAILABLE TO ALL STUDENTS

FRIDAY, JUNE 28, 2002

U.S. SENATE,
COMMITTEE HEALTH, EDUCATION, LABOR, AND PENSIONS,
ON
Washington, DC.
The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:59 a.m., in room
SD430, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Senator Dodd presiding.
Present: Senator Dodd.
OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR DODD
Senator DODD. [presiding]. The committee will come to order.
Let me thank all of our witnesses this morning for their presence
here and all of you in the audience for attending this hearing
today. We are very grateful to have you here.
There is a timer up here with a little bell that will go off after
about 6 minutes or soI do not want you to feel obligated to stop
at that point, but it is just an idea, so that we can get through the
testimony and get to questions. But I do want all of you to know
what whatever prepared testimony and materials you think the
committee ought to have, I am going to make the unanimous con-
sent request that all documentation and all full statements be in-
cluded as a part of the permanent record of the committee. And
again, the clock and the bell are not to stop anyone, but just to give
you an idea so you can begin to wrap up your comments at that
point, so we can move the testimony along.
Colleagues will be coming in and out. We actually thought we
would be in session today, and we may be in session, but the votes
stopped last night when we completed action on the last bill. So
this being the 4th of July break in the Senate, many of my col-
leagues have already departed WashingtonI cannot imagine why
they want to do thatto go back to their States and districts. And
as a result, I cannot promise you that other members will show up
this morning, but I know of many members who are interested in
this subject matter. We have a lot of bipartisan support for the leg-
islation. So I would not want anyone to interpret the lack of pres-
ence of other members this morning as any indication of lack of in-
terest in the subject matter or support for what we are trying to
do, but really more the unpredictable reality of the Senate termi-
nating its business last evening and people heading off to be with
their families and their constituents back home.
(1)
 2

So let me begin our hearing this morning with a few opening

comments myself, and then I am going to turn to my former col-
league from the House of Representatives, Pat Schroeder, who is
today president and chief executive officers of the Association of
American Publishers, and then I will introduce the other witnesses.
The hearing we are holding this morning in the Committee on
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions is entitled, S. 2246, The
Instructional Materials Accessibility Act: Making Instructional Ma-
terials Available to all Students. That is a long title for a bill, but
that is what it is.
So let me express my thanks again to all of you for joining us.
We are here this morning to examine what I think is a very critical
piece of legislation, S. 2246, The Instructional Materials Accessibil-
ity Act. We call it IMAA. Everything has an acronym around
here, but I have suggested that we could call this one Mmm-ahh.
It has sort of audio sound to it, and we could say that to people,
Mmm-ahh. It will literally grant blind and visually-impaired stu-
dents the ability to pursue their studies at the same time as their
sighted classmates.
Critical laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act and the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act clearly establish the
principle that people with disabilities have a right to the same pub-
lic accommodations granted to those without disabilities. While the
ADA and IDEA clearly call for blind and visually impaired stu-
dents to have timely access to the same textbooks that their sight-
ed classmates use in the Braille format that they need in order to
read, sadly, this is not often the case. Far too often, blind and vis-
ually-impaired students must now wait months for their local
school districts to convert their books into the Braille format that
they require.
However, important laws such as the ADA and IDEA do not
specify exactly how we actually achieve equality in these accom-
modations. As I learned recently in efforts to enact national elec-
tion reform legislation, there is a big difference between simply
stating that all people, regardless of disability, are required to
equal treatment and actually enacting policies that ensure that
this commendable goal is truly reached.
The Instructional Materials Accessibility Act seeks to bridge the
gap in this area.
At the same time that blind and visually-impaired students face
interminable waits for their school textbooks to arrive in Braille,
the school districts in which they live often face exorbitant costs to
produce these conversions. As we will hear from some of our wit-
nesses this morning, those blind and visually-impaired students
who are forced to wait long materials for their school materials in
Braille face unfair impediments to their ability to earn an edu-
cation. Clearly, something needs to be done to better enable stu-
dents with disabilities to access the instructional materials that
they need.
To combat the problems presented by the often difficult and cost-
ly Braille conversion process, 26 States have passed laws requiring
publishers to provide a copy of textbooks in electronic format to aid
in Braille conversion. While the efforts of these States are laudable,
the problem lies in the fact that these many laws do not require
 3

the use of the same electronic format for Braille conversion. Alarm-
ingly, there is no current uniform electronic format available na-
tionwide to ease the transcription of instructional materials into
Braille and other alternative formats.
No one is well-served when we force blind and visually-impaired
students to unfairly wait for the opportunity to learn, or when we
force publishers to create multiple electronic file formats for exactly
the same school textbooks.
The Instructional Materials Accessibility Act offers a significant
leap forward, we believe, for both members of the blind community
and those that produce instructional materials for their use.
Any answer to the problems presented by the difficulty of Braille
conversion must be prepared to answer two questions. First, how
can we ensure that blind and visually-impaired students receive
the essential school materials in the Braille or alternative format
they require at the same time as their sighted classmates. And sec-
ond, how can we better enable our Nations schools to meet the in-
structional material needs of their blind and visually-impaired stu-
dents?
The Instructional Materials Accessibility Act seeks to answer
both of these very important questions.
In order to best expedite the Braille conversion process, the
IMAA will mandate the creation of one uniform electronic file for-
mat that we believe will greatly ease the often laborious Braille
translation process. The creation of a single format will not only
ease the burden placed on publishers by the multiple State laws re-
quiring different electronic files, but it will also ease considerably
the Braille conversion process by allowing those who prepare in-
structional materials in alternative formats to rely on a single con-
version method.
Second, the IMAA will create the National Instructional Mate-
rials Access Center to serve as a repository for these electronic for-
mats so that they can quickly and efficiently be disseminated to
local school districts. With the enactment of IMAA, schools will
simply need to reach out to the National Instructional Materials
Access Center to obtain the school materials required by their stu-
dents in the uniform electronic file provided by the publishers.
Finally, the IMAA will provide critical funding to assist State
and local educational agencies, effectively convert the newly cre-
ated electronic files into Braille so that blind and visually-impaired
students have access to the same textbooks their sighted class-
mates are using.
I want to especially thank the Association of American Publish-
ers, the National Federation of the Blind, and the American Foun-
dation for the Blind, for their willingness to come together to help
produce a very creative and far-reaching piece of legislation. I am
particularly pleased that we will soon hear from the respective
leaders of these two organizations. I have mentioned already my
dear friend and former colleague from the House, Pat Schroeder,
of the AAP, and Marc Maurer of the NFB.
It is largely because of their dedication to this effort that we are
here today with this fine bill.
Finally, I want to thank Representative Tom Petri, my colleague
from the House, and George Miller from California, with whom I
 4

was elected to Congress a quarter-century ago, who are the pri-

mary sponsors of this bill in the House of Representatives. I look
forward to continuing to work with my House colleagues to ensure
that this critically important legislation becomes law not some day,
but this year. That is my determination to see that that happens.
We often hear today the pledge that we will leave no child be-
hind. To accomplish this laudable goal which we all share, we
must provide that all children have the resources they require to
succeed in school without regard to the disabilities that some stu-
dents face. May I suggest that we also make every effort to ensure
that we leave no blind child behind by passing The Instructional
Materials Accessibility Act.
It is with great pleasure that I welcome and thank our witnesses
for appearing this morning. I look forward to their testimony.
As I am introducing our witnesses, let me also tell youand I
mentioned this to Pat Schroeder, and Marc knows this as well
but for those of you whom I have not met in the past, like any per-
son, I was deeply affected and learned so much because of my won-
derful parents and my remarkable sister who is visually-impaired,
legally blind, and who is a teacher. She has two masters degrees
and has taught for 35 years as an early childhood development spe-
cialist. She helped revive the Montessori system of teaching at The
Whitney School back in 1950s.
I watched my sister Caroline grow up, for whom my parents and
my mother in particular made Herculean efforts all the time,
whether it was the New York Times books, the latest piece of
equipment that came out in the 1930s or the 1940s or the 1950s,
so she could use microscopes and run her books underneath them.
But it was expensive, and my parents had some resources and they
could afford to do it, but it was always a battle to make sure that
she had the ability to stay current with her school work.
Having watched my sister grow up with the struggles of someone
who is visually-impaired or legally blind, and knowing how well
she did had it not been for my parents who put the effort in, she
might not have been able to achieve the success she did. But be-
cause she did, she has made a difference in the lives of thousands
of people as a great teacher in the State of Connecticut.
So I was determined when I came to Congress in 1974, beginning
with the acts that we passed in P.L. 490, going back to those
daysI see some gray hair in the audience, and some will remem-
ber those days more than 25 years agoand then, working with
Tom Harkin and others over the years, I have been determined to
see to it that other Caroline Dodds growing up on my watch would
never have to go through what she went through. So am not going
to put a name on this act, but if I could, I would name it for my
sister.
I thank all of you for being here, and now we will turn to our
witnesses.
This morning, we are going to hear from a panel of four wit-
nesses. First, we will hear from my former colleague, Pat Schroe-
der, who is now president and chief executive officer of the Associa-
tion of American Publishers. She served with me in Congress, rep-
resenting the State of Colorado and the Denver area for 25 years.
During her time in Congress, Ms. Schroeder was chair of the House
 5

Select Committee on Children, Youth, and Families. I have often

said I love to talk about the bill that we passed dealing with the
rights of parents to be with their children and their loved ones,
which was so critically important to so many people, the unpaid
Family and Medical Leave Act. A lot of people have taken credit
for it, the present presiding officer of this committee being one of
them, and I offered the bill in the Senate. But the first person who
introduced this bill, who never got the credit she deserved, was a
woman by the name of Pat Schroeder in the House.
I will never forget the day the bill was signed by President Clin-
ton, the very first bill that he signed into law, I sat there at the
table and unbelievably looked out, and we had four or five people
from the Senate and others, and there, out in the audience, was
Pat Schroeder, not standing with the President to be part of the
signing ceremony.
So I want to say to everyone over and over again that she de-
serves as much credit, in fact more than anyone else, for the pas-
sage of that law. So, you did a lot of great things when you were
in the House, but I am particularly grateful for your work on that
bill, which I take great pride in having authored here in the Sen-
ate.
I am very delighted to have Pat with us today and grateful for
all the work that she has done and that the AAP is continuing to
do in this particular effort.
Our second witness is a special witness whom I have asked to
come down, and that is Jessie Kirchner from Guilford, CT. Jessie
is entering her senior year at Guilford High School, is a member
of the Connecticut Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind,
an organization that I know well. As I mentioned, my sister Caro-
line is also a member. I had the distinct pleasure to meet Jessie
at a press conference that we held in April when I said, Jessie,
why dont you come up and say a few words? And Jessie not only
came up and said a few words, but she bowled everyone over with
the extemporaneous comments that she made that day.
So I am pleased that you could come back down to be a formal
witness now in front of the U.S. Senate, and I thank you for your
work.
Next, we will hear from Dr. Marc Maurer, whom I have intro-
duced. Marc has been president of the National Federation of the
Blind since 1986, and has been a vocal advocate for the blind since
high school, when he discovered that blindness need not be an inca-
pacitating disability. He has used his talents and skills as a lawyer
to advance the interests of blind individuals.
I thank you once again, Marc, for your presence here today.
Our final witness is Barbara McCarthy, from Richmond, VA.
Barbara is director of the Library and Resource Center of the Vir-
ginia Department for the Blind and Vision Impaired. She is also
president of the Association of Instructional Resource Centers for
the Visually-Impaired. In these roles, Barbara has worked to pro-
vide textbooks to the visually-impaired and blind students from
Virginia.
We thank you for all of your wonderful work, Barbara, and are
pleased to have you with us.
 6

With those introductions, Pat Schroeder, we will begin with you,

and we thank you for joining us this morning.

STATEMENTS OF PATRICIA SCHROEDER, PRESIDENT AND

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN
PUBLISHERS, WASHINGTON, DC; JESSIE KIRCHNER, GUIL-
FORD, CT; MARC MAURER, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL FEDERA-
TION OF THE BLIND, BALTIMORE, MD; AND BARBARA
McCARTHY, DIRECTOR, LIBRARY AND RESOURCE CENTER,
VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT FOR THE BLIND AND VISION IM-
PAIRED, AND PRESIDENT, ASSOCIATION OF INSTRUCTIONAL
RESOURCE CENTERS FOR THE VISUALLY IMPAIRED, RICH-
MOND, VA
Ms. SCHROEDER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for your
very, very nice words.
I am basically going to put my statement in the record because
your opening statement says that you know as much about this bill
as any of us in this room, which is so characteristic of you, and we
cannot thank you enough for all that you have done.
I am here basically to say that the publishers whole-heartedly
support this, and I really want to salute one publisher who is here,
Pearce McNulty from Houghton-Mifflin. He is here, and he has
been leading many of them to keep everybody on line, and they are
really very enthusiastic and thrilled that this has come this far.
As you talked about this, your record has always been one where
you have done what is right, whether family and medical leave, or
this Instructional Materials Accessibility Act. There is not a lot of
money and power in this, but this is what really, really needs to
be done, and I salute you for saying that you are going to do every-
thing you can to get the House to move. That is going to be a chal-
lenge, but let us get it done this year, because even when you get
it done, it is going to take a while to get it up and moving.
The reason why publishers are so supportive of this is, as you de-
scribed, the total chaos that is out there. It is chaotic and costly,
and the bad thing is that, for all the chaos and cost, at the end,
a lot of young students still do not get the materials on time.
So this is a great way to break through that clutter. While we
have 26 different Sates doing something, and the others all have
random approaches, this is a real focus. This makes sense, and this
is how we really can make sure that no child is left behind.
Who could not be for the repository? It will also allow smaller
publishers to participate, because it is terribly costly to deal with
this whole random system. This would allow independent and
smaller publishers to consider getting into the school materials
business.
So what we want to say is that we are here, and we are ready
to do anything we can to help you move this. We thank you so
much for your dedication and the fact that you are having a Friday
hearing, which is historic in the Senate, and continuing to
work
Senator DODD. You know, you just cannot resist these House
Members. You invite them over, and they really want to poke us
in the eye at least once. [Laughter.]
 7

Ms. SCHROEDER. We always lose our manners, dont we? [Laugh-

er.]
But this really shows your commitment, and I want to thank
you, and I will pass the microphone on, because we really want to
hear from the other witnesses. Please call on us 24/7. We are ready
to do whatever it takes to get this bill out.
Thanks again.
Senator DODD. Thank you, Pat, so much. I will have some ques-
tions for you in a few minutes about some things we need to look
at, but I am very grateful to you for all your terrific work on this
in the AAP.
And Pearce, we thank you for being here this morning represent-
ing the publishers and one of the companies that will be involved
in this.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Schroeder may be found in addi-
tional material.]
Senator DODD. Jessie, we thank you. I have introduced you al-
ready. You will have to pull the microphone close. My colleague
from South Carolina, Senator Thurmond, who is now over 100
years old, is quite a fellow, and he calls that the talking machine.
So if you could bring that talking machine a little closer so we
can hear you.
Thank you, Jessie. We are anxious to hear your words.
Ms. KIRCHNER. Mr. Chairman and other members of the commit-
tee, good morning. My name is Jessie Kirchner, and I will be enter-
ing my senior year this fall at Guilford High School in Guilford,
CT.
I am involved in several school clubs and extracurricular activi-
ties, including the national and French honor societies, Safe Rides,
and select choral and instrumental groups. I plan to major in
English and philosophy in college, with the goal of eventually at-
tending law school.
I am a Braille reader, and I am speaking in support of S. 2246,
The Instructional Materials Accessibility Act: Making Instructional
Materials Available to All Students.
First, let me thank you for the opportunity and the privilege to
speak to you today about such important legislation. In addition,
I wish to especially thank my Senator, Senator Dodd, for introduc-
ing this bill and for his commitment to moving it forward. Hope-
fully, I can give you an idea of how the current system works from
a students perspective so you can understand what a positive im-
pact this bill will have on visually-impaired students across the
country.
Braille books required for the school year beginning in Septem-
ber must be ordered by March of the previous school year. Thus,
planning begins in February, when we must determine which
courses we expect to take. Next, a list of required textbooks is re-
quested from next years teachers. We determine which books are
not already available in Braille or on tape and order them in
Braille. A single Braille textbook may consists of over 30 volumes,
of which this is the typical sizeso 30 of those could be a typical
mathematics textbook, for instance.
Senator DODD. Would you hold that up again, Jessie? You say 30
of those would be one math textbook.
 8

Ms. KIRCHNER. Yes.

Senator DODD. So that will give people an idea out thereand
by the way, I want to thank CSPAN for being here today to cover
this so that a broader audience can hear about itbut 30 of those
for basically one math textbook, just to give people an idea.
Ms. KIRCHNER. Yes.
Senator DODD. Please go ahead.
Ms. KIRCHNER. They may take months to produce. Ordering
books in March should allow volumes to start arriving by the be-
ginning of the next school year.
The process sounds simple, but in reality it is really complex.
First, course descriptions for the next school year are not normally
available until after March, and course scheduling is done even
later. We must start the process ahead of everyone else and may
find out after ordering our books that we have schedule conflicts.
For instance, this year, I will be unable to take wind ensemble be-
cause another course I would like to take, Western civilization, is
being offered during the same period. Adding physics in place of
wind ensemble may mean not getting a physics textbook in time.
Sometimes the schedule conflict requires completing a course
during the first semester in a double period rather than over the
entire year in a single period. This actually happened to me fresh-
man year. My geometry book was in Braille, and volumes were
sent as they were completed, but they continually arrived too late
because the typist could not keep up with the class pace. So I
would get Volume 3 when I was supposed to be getting Volume 5,
for instance, and had no book for about 4 months.
Senator DODD. But geometry is easy anyway, isnt it?
Ms. KIRCHNER. Oh, yes, definitely. [Laughter.] Better even than
algebra.
Senator DODD. So why do you need a textbook, Jessie?
Ms. KIRCHNER. Yes, definitely. [Laughter.] Luckily, it did not
happen this year in pre-calculus.
Senator DODD. That is even easier. [Laughter.]
Ms. KIRCHNER. Oh, yes.
But some courses are available to students only if they qualify
for them on the basis of a sufficiently high grade in the pre-
requisite course. For example, I took pre-calculus this past year
and needed minimum of a B average to take calculus next year.
However, I could not wait for my final grade before having to order
my calculus book in March at a cost of $2,000. If I do not take cal-
culus, my school will have spent $2,000 for nothing, and I still will
have no math textbook to use in September. But luckily, I am tak-
ing calculus, and the book is all set, so it was a good thing.
Senator DODD. Good.
Ms. KIRCHNER. Also, town budgets are passed, at least in our
town, in June. If requests for new textbooks are approved, the
books are purchased over the summer and arrive by September
all except for the Braille versions. I know someone who personally
experienced this. By September, he had a math book in Braille, but
it was the wrong one. The new one had been quickly ordered but
could not be produced in time, and the volumes kept arriving after
the material had already been covered, so the students grades and
 9

self-esteem suffered, and sadly, he thought that he was the prob-

lem because no one else in the class was complaining.
In addition, some Braille textbooks are not available in time be-
cause there is only a limited number of competent Braille typists
in the State. They must know the various Braille codes. For exam-
ple, math is typed in what is called Nemeth code, standard English
in literal code, and science text in scientific code. If a good typist
gets an order for three books at once, he or she might not be able
to finish them all on schedule.
Moreover, books on tape are wonderful, but in general, textbooks
in Braille are preferable. Textbooks are ordered on tape if they are
available when a Braille copy is not. However, turning to the same
page the teacher is on in class is impractical with tapes. And going
back and looking up quotes and other facts is very difficult.
In addition, tapes can also be defective, as I painfully learned
this past year. By the time I discovered that two cassettes of my
history book were blank, it was too late to order new ones, so I had
to take the quiz basically on my notes. And the homework had to
be done, so each night, I had to scan pages from a printed copy into
my computer before I could start my homework. My sighted peers
probably had much of their assignment done in the time it took me
to scan the pages.
Finally, without a textbook in class, we often have to rely on
friends, parents, and paraprofessionals to read materials to us
when we are perfectly capable of reading them ourselves. We do
not like to take our friends time, because they have their own
work to do.
Passing this bill will solve the problems I have discussed and
make Braille textbooks available at the same time as printed ones
are available for my sighted peers. Furthermore, the fact that
books will be available electronically will allow the option of
downloading them into a Braille word processor or laptop com-
puter.
Although Braille hard copies of textbooks are preferable to tapes,
they are bulky and difficult to carry. The new electronic format will
give students the choice of obtaining their Braille textbook in a
hard copy or reading it in Braille from a Braille word processor.
The latter facilitates portability and allows us to access information
more quickly and easily.
Overall, our time and attention will be more appropriately fo-
cused on learning rather than on getting the information.
Again, thank you, Senator Dodd, for your leadership with this
critical legislation and for calling this hearing. Having a textbook
in class like everyone else should be a right, not a privilege. To
move us closer to this point, passage of The Instructional Materials
Accessibility Act is essential.
Senator DODD. Jessie, you are terrific.
Do the rest of you want to testify now, or do you want to just
leave it there? [Laughter.] Arent you glad to be following that,
Marc? We are happy that you are here, Marc.
Thank you, Jessie, very much. That was eloquent as always, and
I will hire you right now. You can be my lawyer. I am very con-
fident that you will be a great asset to whatever profession you
choose to go into.
 10

Thank you for your eloquence today and your hard work. And
thanks to your parents, too, for the work they do.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Kirchner may be found in addi-
tional material.]
Senator DODD. Marc?
Ms. MCCARTHY. Thank you very much, Senator Dodd.
I am Marc Maurer, president of the National Federation of the
Blind, and I would like to say a few words of my statement which
has already been submitted.
Members of the National Federation of the Blind have first-hand
experience with the need for the legislation before you today. All
of our leaders and the vast majority of our members are blind. In
my own case, I read Braille. What would I have done in school if
my mother had not put other things aside and taken the time to
learn Braille herself so that she could transcribe my books into
Braille by hand for me?
Looking back on it, I was unusually fortunate. When she could
not produce a book for me in Braille, she would read it to me. This
was my experience, but it is not the present-day experience of most
blind students. The demands on families are just too great, and
training programs to teach families are nonexistent.
On January 8, 2002, President Bush signed the latest amend-
ments to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, declaring
No child left behind as the preeminent national policy in edu-
cation. This was a commitment of our generation made as a prom-
ise to all children in America. To keep this promise for blind chil-
dren, we need a new Federal law on instructional materials produc-
tion.
Books in Braille, speech, or large print are often provided to
blind students on a piecemeal basis and sometimes not provided at
all. I think the best demonstration is the previous witness here.
This happens because there is no uniform and rationally organized
system to have print editions of standard textbooks created in for-
mats other than standard print. In former times, when most blind
children attended State-run schools, the schools could get together
and agree on the books that all of them would use, and the Amer-
ican Printing House for the Blind would produce the books. Now,
blind children study in classrooms alongside sighted children. We
expect them to learn and to compete on equal terms. This means
having the same tools, the same textbooks, available at the same
time. This is an obligation of our educational system that must be
kept, and The Instructional Materials Accessibility Act is designed
to do just that.
The key to making this legislation work is the publishers agree-
ment to produce an electronic version of each printed textbook sold
to any school district in America. This electronic text will be depos-
ited by the publishers in a national distribution center where all
school districts in the country can obtain it.
This is a simple approach, but Federal legislation is needed to
put it into effect. That is where we come to you for help.
The National Federation of the Blind, the Association of Amer-
ican Publishers, representatives of States, textbooks producers and
others have reached consensus on the approach needed and rec-
ommended in S. 2246. This bill includes responsibilities of publish-
 11

ers of textbooks as well as for educational programs at all levels,

Federal, State and local. Rather than placing all of the responsibil-
ity on States and local schools as is now the case, along with the
publishers, this legislation creates a system that is simple to oper-
ate, easy to understand, and effective for the students.
Schools will still obtain and produce books in Braille when they
are needed for each blind student, but an infrastructure will at
long last be in place to help them do it.
The Association of American Publishers and its president, Pat
Schroeder, deserve high praise for their constructive work on be-
half of the industry affected by this legislation. Also, I want to
thank you, Senator Dodd, for your leadership in sponsoring S. 2246
and for moving the bill forward to consideration. No child left be-
hind means no blind child, too, as you have said.
Schools and educators in every State need your help in keeping
this commitment. Members of the affected industry are ready to
step up to the plate to do their share. Now, at last, with support
provided by the Federal Government, we can see a day when each
blind child will actually have the chance for an equal educational
opportunity. That is what this bill is all about.
The National Federation of the Blind urges you to enact it into
law this year, and I thank you very much for the opportunity to
participate in the hearing.
Senator DODD. Marc, thank you so much, and we thank your
mother as well. She sounds like a remarkable woman.
Mr. MAURER. You would like her, Senator.
Senator DODD. Yes, I think I would. I like her already, just hav-
ing heard what a dedicated parent she was.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Maurer may be found in addi-
tional material.]
Senator DODD. Barbara, we thank you for joining us and we are
anxious to receive your testimony.
Ms. MCCARTHY. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and thank
you for inviting me here today.
I am Barbara McCarthy from Richmond, VA. I work with the De-
partment for the Blind and Vision Impaired, and I run an instruc-
tional materials and resource center that produces Braille and
large-print textbooks for blind and visually-impaired students.
What I am about to tell you and the purpose of this legislation
have not been a Senate priority. There are great economic and
international issues before you, and we all understand and recog-
nize that.
What I am going to tell you about, however, is the priority within
the community of blind and visually-impaired people and the pro-
fessionals who work with them.
Technology has opened many opportunities to provide all of us
with access to information. This legislation is a matter of allowing
technology to provide access to information. Technology offers the
potential to provide the materials that all students, including those
who are blind and visually-impaired, must have in order to receive
an equal quality education. Ultimately, technology will allow for
lower materials cost, faster delivery, and better student perform-
ance.
 12

If I could have called this hearing, I would have invited you all
to Richmond to see what we do at the Library and Resource Center
this time of year. In fact, today, if you were to visit any one of the
materials centers that are located in 45 States in the country, you
would see similar activity. And I just want to explain the 26 Braille
billsthose are 26 States that have passed Braille bills, but there
are 45 States that do what I do at an instructional materials cen-
ter.
At the Library and Resource Center in Richmond, we provide
Braille and large-print textbooks to all Virginia students who are
blind and visually-impaired, and that is about 550 students who re-
ceive the textbooks. We serve quite a few more than thatwe serve
about 1,300 studentsbut many of them do not receive textbooks
for various reasons; some of them are infants, some of them are
multiply handicapped and are not reading.
We loan textbooks for the school year, and at the end of every
academic year, the books are returned and made available to be
loaned to another student for the next year. So it is more of a cen-
tralized depository. We loan them out, they come back, they go
back out the next year. And there are many States that operate a
similar kind of activity.
The other thing that would be interesting for you to know is that
the Association of Instructional Resource Centers actually has a
sort of standing agreement which we have had for about 20 years
that we share textbooks. During the school year and this time of
year, when we are gearing up for the next school year, if someone
from another State needs a book that I have, and I do not need it,
I would give it to them or loan it to them for the next school year.
This time of year, we are busy producing Braille and large-print
textbooks for the next school year. Most books have already been
ordered and will likely be ready when school begins. However, last
week, I received orders for five books to be produced in Braille
two algebra, a calculus book, a geometry book, and this biology
book. And if I couldI do not know if anybody can come and get
itbut it might be interesting for you to be looking at this book
as I am talking about it, because it is quite a lengthy book.
June is really very late in the process to receive orders for Braille
booksthat is not going into the record, by the way; I do need to
take it home with mebut June is really considered very late to
be ordering these Braille books.
I was able to find people to transcribe the math books that I just
cited, but the biology book that you are looking at right now, I have
not been able to find someone for. The other four math books will
likely not be ready when school starts. If I am lucky, I will have
a couple of volumes, but that is not even a guarantee that I will.
This biology book, I am still looking for someone to do it, and by
the way, if there is anybody in the audience who wants to tran-
scribe it, see me after the hearing.
Regardless of whether I receive the book early or late, there is
a student who needs this book in Braille and will suffer without
it when school starts.
Orders for textbooks for the next school year should be received,
I say, no later than April 30, but I really like Jessies March date
much better, and I think I am going to go to that one. The point
 13

of this is that it really takes a long time to get the process going
and allow us time to find people to transcribe the books and
produce them. Any order received after this date is really at risk
of not being ready when school begins.
When the order is received, we search our own database to see
if we have either produced the book ourselves or have purchased
it from another transcribing agency in the past. If we have not pro-
duced the book, and it is an order for a large-print book, we ask
for a copy of the book from the school system and we enlarge it
using copy machines. And I might point out that that is rather poor
quality. We can make a good copy of the text itself, but when you
start talking about insets and inserts and graphs and charts in dif-
ferent colorsif any of you have seen a textbook recently, they are
all about visual effect; we are the TV generation, and they are
meant to really glow at the kids, so they are more about visual
display than anything else. Those things are very difficult to make
a nice copy of.
If the order is for the Braille textbook, we search the American
Printing House for the Blinds national Louis database for the title.
If it is not available from another source somewhere else in the
country, we will transcribe the book using our staff, or ask one of
our volunteers to transcribe the book, or pay someone to transcribe
the book.
In point of fact, the volunteerism is really dropping offI am
sure you all are aware of thatand our volunteer corps is much
smaller than it was 10 or 15 years ago.
The biology text I have with me today will take approximately
9 months to transcribe. Most transcribers work on several books at
one time and regularly provide volumes of Braille to stay ahead of
the class syllabus, and that is pretty much what Jessie was refer-
ring to. they do take several projects on at one time. They have to
do that whether they are getting paid for it and this is their liveli-
hood, or there are just so many books and not enough transcribes,
but they work on several, often three or four, at a time.
A book this size, which is actually 1,183 pages, would translate
into 4,732 pages in Braille. That is where you get those 30 vol-
umes. The average cost to produce this book into Braille if I were
to pay someone to do it or do it with my own staff time would be
$16,562. That would be attributed to the fact that this would be a
manual transcription; we would be getting publisher files; some-
body would be keying the text into the computerwe do use com-
puters, and there is Braille translation software; we are not back
in the old days where we are grinding it out on a Braille-writer,
so there are some advantage to using the computer, but it is still
a very slow process.
In my State, we purchase probably 250 books from outside
sources, we transcribe 100 titles a year in Brailleit is a lot of
Braillewe purchase 250 copies and then probably engage 25 out-
side transcribing agencies and pay them to do books for me.
The good thing is that we reuse those books; it is not an invest-
ment that you have madeor, hopefully, you end up reusing the
book.
This national practice for producing books in alternative format
that I have described is a process that requires everyone in the
 14

chain to do his or her part on time and accurately. One break in

the chain, and the books will be late for the beginning of school.
The process for providing textbooks in adapted format is depend-
ent upon many factors which determine if the students receive
books on time. Jessie alluded to many of those factors, but let me
give you a few more.
If the students are assigned subject areas and classes in time,
prior to Mayand again, Jessie talked about thatif the school
has identified next years textbooks; if the course is a one-semester
course, and it is going to be a first semester one-semester course,
that throws everything totally out of whackwe get the order in
April, but the whole books needs to be done by September; if the
school can provide copies of the textbooks for us to use in produc-
tionthat is a big thing; if they have just adopted those books at
their budget time in June, they probably do not even have a book
to give us, so that is always a big challenge and issue; if the book
orders are placed by April 30; if there are transcribers available to
produce the book in Braille; if the students schedule does not
change when school begins; if a student does not move unexpect-
edly into the school systemsomebody may show up on the first
day of school that you were not counting on, a blind student, no
bookwhat do you do? If the books is used in the front-to-back
orderand what I mean by that is start with Chapter 1 and go
through the book, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5many teachers do not teach that
way anymore. They jump around in the book. So we will start tran-
scribing at Chapter 1 unless somebody tells us otherwise. It could
be, depending on the subject, that the teacher is going to start in
the middle of the book. If we have not transcribed the middle of
the book, that child is pretty much out of luck. And then, last, if
the school system is able to provide a syllabus for us.
The process that is promoted within the scope of this legislation
is very different from the one that we currently use. It requires far
less time, costs less, and will ensure that blind students will re-
ceive their textbooks at the same time as other students.
As soon as an order is received for the book, we would search our
database. If we do not have it, we would check the national data-
base that this legislation creates to see if the file is listed as avail-
able. If it is, we will download the file, print the book in large
print, in what will be excellent-quality text, or translate the data
using Braille software and emboss the book into Braille, or provide
the book in the students other chosen format, which could be elec-
tronic for use with the computer, or audio-digital, or for use with
an electronic Braille display or a note-taker, as Jessie alluded to.
If the book is not available, we will request the electronic file
from the publisher to be deposited in the center. Once deposited,
we will download the file. The cost for my resource center to
produce this biology book that you are looking at right now in
Braille using this proposed process would be approximately $785
that is it, compared to $16,000and could easily be produced with-
in a week, not 9 months.
If this legislation is passed, 3 years from now, I will not struggle
to find a means by which this biology textbook is put into Braille
and that means if it is passed this yearwe still have a 3-year get-
up, set-up, and be ready for this.
 15

When the student in my State moves to Fairfax from Newport

News in the middle of the school year, or when the student is doing
so well that she changes classes first semester into an honors class,
the books can be available.
On behalf of the members of the Association of Instructional Re-
source Centers, representing every State in the country, we believe
that this legislation offers the single greatest contribution to blind
and visually-impaired childrens futures. It will ensure that they
really do receive the same education as their sighted peers.
Access to information opens doors. This legislation is a door
opener. Childrens lives will be changed, and we will all be saying:
Mmm-ahh.
[The prepared statement of Ms. McCarthy may be found in addi-
tional material.]
Senator DODD. I like that. That is great testimony, Barbara, and
very, very helpful.
I probably should have in my opening commentsbecause there
is always an assumption that everybody knows everything about
the background and data on these thingsI just want to share
with the committeeand these numbers, obviously, people some-
times argue with some of thembut when you get into the areas
where you start talking about visually blind, visually impaired, and
blind, the numbers become a bit like an accordion depending on
how you look at all of this.
But I just want to share with the audience what we are talking
about here. There are more than one million people in this country
who are blindabout 1.1 million is the number that I have. About
75,000 people become blind each year one way or another in this
country. Every 7 minutes, someone in America becomes blind or
visually-impaired. There are approximately 5.5 million elderly indi-
viduals who are visually-impaired, legally blind, or blind. There are
approximately 95,000 visually-impaired or blind students in the
United States. Is that number right, Barbara? Does that number
hold up with you?
Ms. MCCARTHY. Yes.
Senator DODD. Of that numberand this is where I want to
raise it, and Marc, if you would, I want you to talk a little bit about
thisof those 95,000 studentsand obviously, this is not just
about students here, and I presume that student number is just el-
ementary and secondary, and does not include higher education
and continuing
Ms. MCCARTHY. That is elementary and secondary.
Senator DODD. So the numbers move upbecause obviously, in
the 21st century economy, the notion of being a student for 12
years or 16 years is an antiquated student. You are going to have
to be a student all your life, or at least all the productive years of
your life, if you are going to maintain an active participation in the
economy of the country.
Approximately 32 percent of legally blind working-age Americans
are employed in this country, which tells you that we obviously
have a problem here between education and employment.
Nowand this is the thing I want to drive homeof the 95,000
elementary and secondary age students who are visually-impaired
or blind, about 5,500 use Braillethat is the best number I have.
 16

This bill is going to cost about $1 million a year. You cannot find
a bill that talks about $1 million around here. These numbers do
not show up, I promise you. We have spent that already this morn-
ing on lights around here, I presume. Actually, it is a little more,
because there is some start-up money in this bill. So there is about
$5 million that is available to help the States get going. That
money disappears after a few years, and then it is $1 million. So
if you want to use the population of 1.1 million, it is about $1 per
person in order to make this difference that we are talking about.
The issue that is raisedone thing I like about our bill is that
we have great flexibility in the bill; Braille is obviously a part of
it, but there are other means that can be usedI am wondering
why we are not doing a better job of promoting Braille. I had an
intern from New Mexico who was blindor, she was actually vis-
ually-impaired; it was a degenerative loss, so it was a growing
problemand she wanted to go to law school and had not learned
Braille, so she had to go back and learn Braille, because it would
be hard to go through law school under todays circumstances
maybe with later technology you could, or with readers and so
forth, but she felt she needed thatshe had to go back, and it was
far more difficult for her at age 23 or 24 to go back and acquire
that skill.
Jessie, how old were you when you learned Braille?
Ms. KIRCHNER. About 5.
Senator DODD. And obviously, the difference learning it at that
age as opposed to laterit is much harder.
Marc, as part of the difficulty that more people have notand I
know this is a debate within the community, too, and a longstand-
ing debate, about use and nonuse of Brailleis part of the dif-
ficulty for the very reason that we are here, the fact that there
have not been the reading materials in Braille, that therefore, the
feeling of the necessity to have a Braille skill is not there? Do you
get the point I am trying to make? I am not doing it very well. Ex-
plain to me why we do not have a greater percentage of the popu-
lation that reads Braille.
Mr. MAURER. Thank you very much, Senator.
Although there was a considerable debate about the importance
of Braille, I think there is a greater consensus about that today
than there has ever been in the field of blindness. I believe there
is virtually unanimous opinion that Braille is important.
Now, there are not enough teachers, there are not enough books.
If you cannot get the books, the teachers do not have any tools to
use to teach, and if the teachers do not have students who have
the books, they lose the capacity for Braille.
I read Braille every day. If I did not read it for 2 or 3 or 4 years,
would I know it? The answer is likely that I would know less of
it. But I read it every day, so I have no problem keeping up with
it.
If the teacher cannot get the books, and if the student therefore
does not use the books, the teachers skill in Braille, which usually
for sighted teachers is taught in college, those teachers are going
to use the capacity for it.
So we need this material because we need it for the teachers as
well as for the students. A little over 10 percent of students read
 17

Braille, but the statisticsand there is an argument about whose

statistics you use, as you pointed out, Senatorbut the statistics
indicate that for those who have a capacity in Braille, 85 to 90 per-
cent of those people will have good jobs.
Senator DODD. Yes, that was my question in a sense. For law
school, I presume, or English literature, and so forth, I can under-
stand where a reader or some audio equipment would be fine. I
cannot imagine in a math class how you could possibly get along,
or a science class where you need to be looking at graphs and
charts and so forthhow you could explain orally to someone a
graph or a chart.
Jessie, am I making any sense with this? Share with us your
thoughtsif you have Braille skill as opposed to not having it, how
limited is your curricula, your academic reach?
Ms. KIRCHNER. It is definitely preferable to have Braille, as I
have stated, although I did use my biology book on tape last year,
but I was not so dependent on the graphs and charts; we did not
have to focus on them. If we did, I had my transcriber produce
them in a format I could feel tactility, or I asked my teacher about
them. But it is definitely preferable. The fact that I hear there is
a growing trend in some areas of literacy or at least people being
less willing to learn Braille as a medium of learning is quite dis-
turbing, as I find Braille the most useful medium for educational
purposes. If I have to order tape, I do it, but I always prefer to use
Braille because, as I stated earlier, tapes are very impractical, and
just finding the right one is a chore. So it is disturbing if people
are less willing to learn Braille. It will always be extremely impor-
tant, especially, as you have stated, for science and math courses.
Senator DODD. So if there are parents out there with a newborn
child, your recommendation is when the appropriate time arrives,
if at all possible, have that child learn the Braille?
Ms. KIRCHNER. Definitely, if their degree of vision is
sufficiently
Senator DODD. Yes. I want to get back to some of the things we
are going to do with this, but it occurs to me that one of the side
benefits of this, if we agree with the point that Jessie has just
made that, everything else being equal under the circumstances,
we really should be encouraging the skill in Braille, that one of the
benefits of this bill will be to promote the teaching and the learning
of Braille and that that could have the effective, given your num-
bers, Marcif my numbers are correct that 32 percent is the level
of employment, and if we are talking about 85 percent with people
who have Braille skills, it seems to me that one of the benefits of
this will be to promote Braille as a technology or as a skill. Is that
a fair assumption that I can make if this bill becomes law?
Mr. MAURER. Very fair, Senator, and it will also promote employ-
ment and all kinds of independent opportunities for blind people
because of the results of employment.
Senator DODD. Pat, I wonder if you could explain to us why the
process takes so long. Barbara and Jessie have talked about when
you have to make the request and so forth, but it might be helpful
just as a practical mattervery few people understand the publish-
ing businessto explain why it does take so long.
 18

Ms. SCHROEDER. Well, we have these things called formats, and

here we go through a journey of formats, but the 26 different
States that ask for these, many of them ask for different electronic
formats. So for the publisher, you are producing the book one way,
but then you are required to do an electronic format, but then you
may have to do it in several other different kinds of electronic for-
mats for the others that are around.
But probably none of these is as sophisticated as we would like.
No one could do a better job than Barbara did explaining how time-
intensive and labor-intensive it is to even take these formats and
transfer them, and some are more sophisticated than others, as I
understandBarbara is nodding, so I hope I am not on the wrong
format road
Senator DODD. Please jump in, Barbara.
Ms. SCHROEDER. But one of the good things about this, Senator,
is that on a parallel track going at the very same time, in the year
2000, this collaborative national effort began with publishers and
Braille experts and Braille software developers and everything else,
trying to find a format that is going to expedite this process, I be-
lieve.
Obviously, we cannot say if this bill passes that that would be
the format that would be agreed upon, but the very good news is
that a lot of spade work has been done trying to see if there is not
a format that makes Barbaras task much easier and that makes
everyones task much easierand I assume it is the software doing
a lot more of the work that the individual now does, and that is
why she is saying you could do the biology book in a much shorter
period of time.
Now, Barbara, did I translate that correct?
Ms. MCCARTHY. You did a very good job. I do not need to say
much more than that, but I think one thing to point out is the fact
that this new software that publishers will be using is going to be
something that we can use to produce many different formats. We
have talked about that, and Braille is one of them. This is an
amazing piece of technology if you think about it, and the develop-
ment is well under way for this, but it is going to allow us to basi-
cally take from one source and be able to produce digital audio if
that is what the student prefers or we need it for some particular
reason, be able to produce hard-copy Braille. We can also use the
material electronically on a computer with a speech synthesizer
in other words, a screen readerif the individual prefers to listen
to the material on the computer; it is certainly a lot more compact
that way. And then, last of all is the ability to be able to use a
Braille note-taker or a Braille display, which is just an electronic
Braille device. It would be no different from a sighted person using
a computer, and you can just basically scroll through the text that
way.
So this is a very flexible technology that we are talking about,
and in terms of why the reduced time, well, all of the text will be
entered already, so all that I have to do is take the text, translate
it, and I can do what I want with it.
Senator DODD. You anticipated my next question in a sense.
What we have tried to do with our bill is to anticipate the tremen-
dous changes that we cannot even imagine that will occur in the
 19

coming years. I read the other day that video stores will no longer
sell the stuffthey are into the DVD. It drives me crazy. The won-
derful days of having one piece of technology that you knew would
work for the rest of your life are now gone. Now you go out to buy
something, and the temptation is to wait a couple of years because
something else is going to come out that will change all that.
So the good news here is that what we are trying to createand
I think you have said it wellis the great flexibility and change
through technology that can come that will be able to accommodate
those kinds of opportunities that do not exist today. That is really
the key thing, and that is very, very helpful.
And that was my second question to you, Pat, as well, and you
have covered that ground.
Ms. SCHROEDER. Absolutely.
Senator DODD. Jessie, I am sitting here trying to imagine, know-
ing how well you are doing in class, but I am trying to envision my-
self how you were able to complete your assignments and study for
exams without a textbook. Is there some secret I should have
known? [Laughter.] How did you do that?
Ms. KIRCHNER. Internet is definitely a Godsend. I have been for-
tunate to have had a textbook the majority of the time. Geometry
freshman year, I was fortunate to have had a very understanding
teacher who was able to get supplemental worksheets to my tran-
scriber in sufficient time for me to do those book exercises, and
then, if I still did not understand after not having read the lesson
in the book, I would just ask my teacher for extra assistance after
school. I actually did very well in the course.
As far as history, for the couple times I did not have the required
text, I would explain that to my teacher, and we would work things
out, whether it would be taking the quiz a day later so that I could
scan my 40 pages or so into the computer and read them aloud
with my screen reader, or there are notes available for the particu-
lar textbook that I could use as well.
I generally have not had problems overall and have been very
luck in that. But I have known people who have had a very, very
difficult time without a textbook.
Senator DODD. Again, you have been over some of this, but
choosing one format over another and the type of technology nec-
essary, can you give me some idea, Jessie, how you do choose one
format over another? I know you prefer the Braille, but obviously,
there are times when it is not available or there may actually be
another format. Are there times when another format is actually
preferable to you?
Ms. KIRCHNER. As I mentioned, electronic format is ultimately
the best in that besides having the Braille in front of youBraille
overall is preferable to tape just because you like to see the words
in front of you, particularly if you have difficult vocabulary words
that you do not know how to spell, you like to see those in front
of youand the electronic format with the Braille supersedes the
hard copy, because you can go through it very fast. You have the
capability that anyone has with any personal computer. You can
scroll through and find different paragraphs, you can bookmark dif-
ferent chapters if you need to, you can quickly jump through pages
upon pages. I have not had to order a hard copy of an English
 20

novel for I do not know how many months just because I have been
fortunate to have been able to download a lot of them from the
Web. So that has been great, because I can just put them on my
note-taker, and she says Jump to Chapter 3, and I just do the
global find command and type in Jump to Chapter 3, and its
great, especially for group work, when you have to go looking for
quotations to support a certain theme. So generally, electronic for-
mat is the best, and it is really exciting that this bill is going to
promote such a format as well as Braille, because those are the two
primary formats that are preferable.
Senator DODD. That is very, very exciting.
Ms. MCCARTHY. Could I just add one thing to what Jessie said
with regard to how you select which format?
Senator DODD. Yes.
Ms. MCCARTHY. One of the things that we know is that if you
are learning a foreign language, you really have to have that in
Braille. You can learn to speak a foreign language with the tape
or electronically, but unless you can actually see the words, if you
will, there is no way that you are going to become fluent in a for-
eign language. And we have already talked about the math. But
that just brings up the importance of why the ability to have that
hard copy for some things. And you were very astute, Senator
Dodd, to mention that. There will always be a need for Braille.
Senator DODD. Now, Jessie, on the process that you presently go
through, or the people like yourself in schools around the country,
what is the present process that you go through to get a textbook
so that you can read? What happens? You described that March is
when you do it, but what is the process involved today? Is there
are a central location like Virginias Library and Resource Center,
or how does it work?
Ms. KIRCHNER. There are certain resources that you continually
generally refer to when searching for a textbook. In terms of books,
in terms of math textbooks, we have a similar agency in Connecti-
cut that does that kind of thing. I have a State teacher for the vis-
ually-impaired with whom I work to make sure that I have the
books I need, and she makes sure in March thatfor instance, this
year, we know that I am taking calculus, we hope I qualify for cal-
culus, fortunately, I did, so we decide in March that I am going to
quality for calculus and that I will need the book. Then, she goes
to our equivalent of the resource center and asks if they have it
available. In this case, they already did. We still had to pay a sub-
stantial sum just to buy the book, I think, or at least to borrow it.
But in some cases like last year, the book actually had to be
Brailled, and that would cost even more, and as I said, the volumes
would start trickling in by September, and you would hope that
you would get the right ones as you needed them.
As far as other books that depend less heavily on symbols and
diagrams, like English literature books, they are usually available
on tape or from another library, and you just have to know which
libraries to contact. Recording for the Blind is a big one, and the
National Library Service for the Blind here in DC. is actually a pri-
mary resource for such books. So I have learned to use those re-
sources primarily by myself.
Senator DODD. Do you ever contact the publisher directly?
 21

Ms. KIRCHNER. No, I have not had to do that just because I did
not know they had any direct involvement with that kind of
thingbut you will, apparently, through this legislation.
Senator DODD. Yes, Pat?
Ms. SCHROEDER. If I might, Senator, one of the things that I
think is confusing here is like when you heard that it took $2,000,
that $2,000 is not paid to the publisher. the publisher creates the
electronic file, and they create lots of different forms of electronic
files depending on the State or the region and what they are re-
questing. But then, converting that file to Braille or whatever it is,
either they do it with volunteers, as Barbara has explained, or you
have to pay, or somehow, and that becomes a huge additional cost.
So that is why this is so chaotic and spread out, and that is why
this bill just makes a huge amount of sense, because the publishers
will all create one form of electronic file, and hopefully it is going
to be this new advanced technology they are all working on now,
to try to put it together so it will be much cheaper, then, to produce
and get the materials out.
So the reason why you would probably not contact the publisher
directly at the moment is that you would get the file, and then,
what are you going to do with the file? You have got to convert it
to the next format.
Senator DODD. OK.
Mr. MAURER. Senator, Jessie mentioned a moment ago a note-
taker. This is one, this device here, and as you observe it, it has
keys on it to let you get at the files in the device and also to move
it around. It is called a Braille light, and this is a Braille display.
It brings up the information which is stored in here. There are
many megabytes of information that can be put into it; several
books can be stored in this smallit can be easily put into a brief-
case and carriedand it makes the information available either
auditorially or in Braille.
Part of what this bill will do is provide a file which is formatted
in such a waynot all of them will work with thisthat these
note-takersthis is one version of it and a good versioncan use
the material from the textbook publishers and provide it into the
hands of the students.
Senator DODD. That is incredible. Who makes that piece of equip-
ment?
Mr. MAURER. This one is produced by Freedom Scientific, which
is a company out of Florida.
Senator DODD. Very good.
Barbara, how much time again from the time the teacher
changes the textbook is the present situation for your center before
you can get something in Braille or electronic format?
Ms. MCCARTHY. That really is dependent upon what time of year
the material is ordered. If the material is being ordered now, and
this is the end of June, for the beginning of the school year, which
for many school systems is August, sometime in Augustthat is
less than 2 monthswe may be able to get a piece of the beginning
of the book to the student. One thing that we keep talking about
is the fact that the students are getting parts of the book. They are
not getting the entire book. They are not getting Chapters 1
through 15 all at one time. They are trickling in as they are com-
 22

pleted by the transcribers. But in reality, if you had one person sit
down and do nothing else but transcribe Jessies calculus bookno
other books; that was their main jobI say, I am going to pay you
to Braille this book until it is done; how long would that take?
aside from the fact that that person would probably lose his or her
mind, because it is very tedious to do this hour after hour, it prob-
ably could be done in 3 months from start to finish, and that is a
real guesstimate, because we rarely do books that way.
On the other hand, if, during the end of the first semester of the
school year, a teacher orders a book for the second semester for the
student, we have more transcribers available to us that time of
yearthey are finishing up some of the work that they have start-
edand we may be able to get somebody to transcribe something
rather quickly at that time of year. It is really contingent on so
many factors, and that is the big problem It is not really straight-
forward at all. It depends on when and what and who.
Senator DODD. And Murphys law probably applies.
Ms. MCCARTHY. And Murphys law, absolutely.
Senator DODD. Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.
Ms. MCCARTHY. No question.
Senator DODD. Well, this has been excellent testimony. I cannot
thank all of you enough. I am going to leave the record open for
a few days because we have staff here for other members who may
have some additional questions that I did not think of to raise with
you. So we will leave the record open to respond.
I have a long list of organizations that I will not read, but suffice
it to say there are about 25 or 30 here, various groups, various
State and national organizations, who are supporting this legisla-
tion, and I think your testimony today is going to substantially en-
hance our opportunities.
We are talking about a very small commitment financially that
can make a huge difference, as I have heard you, not just today but
for many, many years to come, where we can really break down
some barriers and, as you properly said, Barbara, open some doors
that need not remain closed, not in this day and age with the tech-
nology that is available.
So I am going to be eternally grateful to all of you and very, very
grateful for your work.
And I cannot resist repeating again to you, Pat, and to the Amer-
ican Association of Publishers, that without your support, we really
would not be able to do this. Everyone deserves support. Jessie,
having listened to a bunch of adults talk about this is fine, but ac-
tually hearing from a student how it work, I cannot tell you what
a difference you have made by being here today. You represent al-
most 100,000 students, and in fact, as I said earlier, everyone is
a student now and will be, but you have done a great job of ex-
plaining the value of this particular effort and what a difference it
can make. And I think all of us are deeply proud of the fact that
even under the present system which is cumbersome, to put it
mildly, how well you have done and what a source of pride you
must be to your parents and teachers and others. So we commend
you for your terrific work.
Marc, you are always such a champion, and we thank you.
 23

Barbara, I am so impressed with what you have done in Virginia.

How lucky the people of Virginia are to have you in their camp,
fighting for them.
So I am very grateful to all of you, and I just need you now to
ring the bells of some of my colleagues around here. This is what
I would call a slam-dunk. We can have huge arguments around
here about matters that are very difficult to resolvethis is not
one of them, or should not be. So I am very, very hopeful that in
the coming days here on this committee, with Thad Cochran, who
has been a great help and has been terrific on these kinds of
issueswe have worked so closely on them over the years, along
with the efforts to Tom Petri and George Miller in the Housethat
we will be able to get something done here before the calendar of
the legislative year is completed.
With that, I thank all of you for being here and look forward to
your continuing involvement.
This committee will stand adjourned until further call of the
chair.
[Additional material follows.]
 24

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL
PREPARED STATEMENT OF PATRICIA SCHROEDER
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee, I want to thank you for invit-
ing me to appear here today on behalf of the Association of American Publishers
(AAP) to discuss S.2246, the proposed Instructional Materials Accessibility Act of
2002 (IMAA), and to briefly explain the perspective of book publishers regarding
the issue of ensuring that elementary and secondary school students who are blind
or have other print disabilities get timely access to instructional materials in the
specialized formats they need.
AAP is the national trade association for the U.S. book and journal publishing in-
dustry, representing some 300 commercial and nonprofit companies and organiza-
tions that publish literary works in virtually every area of human interest. Most of
the major book publishers in the U.S. are AAP members. including the Nations
leading educational publishers, who produce textbooks and other instructional mate-
rials for all grade levels.
PUBLISHERS SUPPORT PASSAGE OF THE IMAA

Imagine that, at the beginning of the school year, each student in the class except
your child has received their textbooks. Further imagine that your child wont re-
ceive his or her textbooks for two, four, or even six months after everyone else, or
quite possibly wont receive them at all.
This is the reality that thousands of blind or print-disabled students must deal
with every year, as they are forced to wait for copies of the textbooks in Braille or
in other specialized formats that these students are able to use.
But the IMAA is intended to make sure that blind or print-disabled students re-
ceive their textbooks in timely fashion, including those who need them in specialized
formats suitable for users who are blind or have other print disabilities. AAP ap-
plauds Senators Dodd and Cochran for their leadership in introducing this legisla-
tion.
The IMAA would significantly improve access for blind students, and other stu-
dents with print disabilities. to print instructional materials used in elementary and
secondary schools. by creating a coordinated and efficient system for acquiring and
distributing such materials in the form of electronic files suitable for timely conver-
sion into a variety of specialized formats.
Converting print textbooks into Braille and other specialized formats is a complex
process that sometimes takes months to complete. Depending on the length and
complexity of the textbook, it can take a publisher as long as three months to
produce an electronic file of the instructional material suitable for conversion into
specialized formats. It can take another four to nine months for those engaged in
the conversion process to convert those files to Braille or other specialized formats,
proof the work, and then produce it in the final form used by students. One of the
biggest benefits of the IMAA will be the establishment of a system that hopefully
will speed up the process of converting textbooks into specialized formats, so that
blind or print-disabled students receive their textbooks at the same time as their
sighted classmates.
AAP SUPPORTS CREATION OF A NATIONAL ELECTRONIC FILE FORMAT FOR
INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS

Currently, twenty-six states have laws requiring publishers to provide state or

local education agencies with electronic files suitable for converting print instruc-
tional materials into Braille versions. Depending upon which states use a particular
textbook and what requirements each state has enacted, publishers may be required
to produce a conversion file in as many as six different file formats (i.e., HTML,
SGML, ICADD22, Microsoft Word, RTF and ASCII), with ASCII being the one most
commonly-required.
Unfortunately, the file formats actually used by publishers to produce textbooks
and other print instructional materials are far more complex than any of the state
required formats and generally unsuitable for use in conversion to specialized for-
mats. This means that publishers must track and comply with diverse state laws,
and go through an expensive, time-consuming process to convert their publishing
files into formats that are of no use to their publishing operations. Worse yet, the
state-required formatsespecially ASCIIare not even well-suited for efficient spe-
cialized-format conversion and typically require Braille transcribers to spend many
hours manually tagging or re-formatting the publisher-provided files before they
can be used with conversion software. As a result, publishers spend a substantial
 25
amount of time and money to comply with the state requirements, but the resulting
Braille textbooks often dont arrive for timely use by the blind or print-disabled stu-
dent.
The proposed rulemaking under IMAA for producing a national electronic file for-
mat for use in the conversion process is not intended to lock-in any particular tech-
nology product, but instead is expected to result in the adoption of an XML-based
format of the kind that publishers are evolving toward with their nascent ebook
products and that the Library of Congress is already developing for the next genera-
tion of digital talking books. The purpose of the rulemaking is to eventually make
it easier for everyoneState and local education agencies, publishers, Braille soft-
ware developers, and Braille transcribersto work with the conversion file by facili-
tating a transition process toward an optimal format for everyone involved in its
use.
A file format that is more highly structured than ASCII will require far less man-
ual intervention to convert to specialized formats. Publishers wont have to convert
their materials to several different file formats and Braille software developers
wont need to spend countless hours manipulating many different types of files.
Braille specialists will then have the time to use their unique expertise in for-
matting and proofing files, so that high-quality Braille will be the end result. Stu-
dents will benefit because the national file format will eliminate needless steps in
scanning and reformatting files and the student will receive his, her book faster.
Efforts are well underway to develop an optimal file format for use with assistive
technology. In 2000, a collaborative national effort, the Joint Technology Task Force
(JTTF) was created. Consisting of publishers. Braille experts. Braille software de-
velopers and other technology experts in the visually-impaired community, the pur-
pose of the JTTF is to facilitate the testing and use of technologies for converting
publishers electronic files to the optimal format and the utilization of those files so
that students will receive textbooks at the same time as their sighted peers. It is
believed the optimal format will be the ANSI/NISO Z39.86-2002 standard Specifica-
tions for the Digital Talking Book. This standard was ratified by the National Infor-
mation Standards Organization (NISO) and approved by the American National
Standards Institute (ANSI) on March 6, 2002. Two of the JTTFs main goals are to
analyze the ANSI NISO file format to determine its suitability for converting text-
book content into Braille and other specialized formats, and to promote and dem-
onstrate to producers of accessible books the efficiency and benefits of using pub-
lisher files in the ANSI, NISO format.
AAP SUPPORTS ESTABLISHING A NATIONAL REPOSITORY FOR ELECTRONIC FILES USED IN
CONVERSION

The current system of providing the electronic files to twenty-six states with di-
verse file format and other legal requirements is an expensive and cumbersome
process for publishers. Publishers put a great deal of time, effort, and money into
developing the necessary business plans to make the intermediary publishing file
available in the format a state requires. For some smaller publishers, the costs and
burdens entailed in this process may, as a practical matter, prohibit them from com-
peting for textbook adoption in some markets. Having a one-stop national reposi-
tory to which they would submit the files for availability to any state or local edu-
cation agency that requires them would greatly ease the compliance burden for pub-
lishers, eliminate substantial duplication of effort, and result in more students hav-
ing quicker access to instructional materials in the specialized formats they need.
The IMAA would provide for the establishment of a National Instructional Mate-
rials Access Center to serve as a one-stop central repository for the publisher-pro-
vided electronic files in order to make the files more efficiently available to those
responsible for using them to convert print instructional materials into Braille and
other specialized formats. The Access Center would not directly engage in the con-
version process. but would be responsible for coordinating the acquisition and dis-
tribution of electronic files of core instructional materials for conversion. The Access
Center would also develop and administer procedures for ensuring the technical
quality of the submitted files and securely maintaining them.
AAP SUPPORTS STATEWIDE PLANS AND CAPACITY GRANTS TO ENSURE THAT BLIND OR
PRINT-DISABLED STUDENTS OBTAIN TIMELY ACCESS TO INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS IN
SPECIALIZED FORMATS

Blind and print disabled students live in every state, not just in the twenty-six
states with Braille laws. Even with a state law, publishers understand that some
states dont have the funds to provide materials in specialized formats for their stu-
dents. That is why capacity-building grants would be provided under the IMMA.
 26
These grants would be used to help states facilitate the timely conversion of pub-
lisher-provided electronic files into Braille or other specialized formats, upgrade con-
version-related software and hardware, and obtain training for those engaged in the
conversion process.
CONCLUSION

Publishers and representatives from national blind advocacy organizations have

been working over a period of several years to develop a mutually agreeable and
practical solution to the problem of blind students receiving their textbooks on time.
and we all strongly support the IMAA. Providing a level playing field for blind and
print-disabled students by giving them access to instructional materials will open
up many new opportunities for those individuals.
PREPARED STATEMENT OF JESSIE KIRCHNER
Mr. Chairman and other Members of the Committee: My name is Jessie Kirchner,
and I live at 45 Dromara Road in Guilford, Connecticut. This fall, I will be entering
my senior year at Guilford High School. I am a Braille reader and am speaking in
support of S.2246, the Instructional Materials Accessibility Act: Making Instruc-
tional Materials Available to All Students.
First, let me thank you for the opportunity and the privilege to speak to you today
about such important legislation. In addition, I want to especially thank my senator,
Senator Dodd, for introducing this bill and for his commitment to moving it forward.
Hopefully, I can give you an idea of how the current system works from a students
perspective, so that you can understand what a positive impact this bill will have
on visually impaired students across the country.
Since the Instructional Materials Accessibility Act was introduced in April of this
year, I have thought a lot about how this bill will improve the situation for blind
and visually impaired students. I have spoken to many students about this bill, and
will attend the National Federation of the Blind Convention in early July, where
I expect to speak with many more. Because I will graduate high school before the
provisions of this bill take effect, it will not directly benefit me. Nevertheless, on
behalf of blind students who follow me, I strongly urge passage of the Instructional
Materials Accessibility Act this year.
Equal access to education for all students requires equal access to textbooks. Un-
fortunately, many blind and visually impaired students sit in classrooms without
books, while their sighted peers, books in hand, are able to follow along with the
daily lesson. Even with the best planning, Braille textbooks frequently do not arrive
when needed, if at all.
Braille books required for the school year beginning in September must be or-
dered by March of the previous school year. Thus, planning begins in February,
when we must determine which courses we expect to take. Next, a list of required
textbooks is requested from next years teachers. We determine which books are not
already available in Braille or on tape, and order them in Braille. A single Braille
textbook may consist of over 30 volumes and may take months to produce. Ordering
books in March should allow volumes to start arriving by the beginning of the next
school year.
The process sounds simple, but in reality it is not! First, course descriptions for
the next school year are not normally available until after March, and course sched-
uling is done even later. We must start the process ahead of everyone else, and may
find out after ordering our books that we have schedule conflicts. For instance, this
year I will be unable to take Wind Ensemble because another course I would like
to take, Western Civilization, is being offered during the same period. Adding Phys-
ics in place of Wind Ensemble may mean not getting a physics textbook in time.
Sometimes the schedule conflict requires completing a course during the first se-
mester in a double period rather than over the entire year in a single period. This
happened to me freshman year. My geometry book was typed in Braille and volumes
sent as they were completed. However, they continually arrived too late, as the typ-
ist could not keep up with the class pace!
Secondly, some courses are available to students only if they qualify for them on
the basis of a sufficiently high grade in the prerequisite course. For example, I took
pre-calculus this past year and needed a minimum of a B average to take calculus
next year. However, I could not wait for my final grade before having to order my
calculus book in March, at a cost of $2,000. If I do not take calculus, my school will
have spent $2,000 for nothing, and I still will not have a math textbook to use in
September!
Thirdly, town budgets are passed (at least in our town) in June. If requests for
new textbooks are approved, the books are purchased over the summer and arrive
 27
by September-all except the Braille versions. I know someone personally who experi-
enced this. By September, he had a math book in Braille, but it was the wrong one.
The new one had been quickly ordered but could not be produced in time. The vol-
umes kept arriving after the material had already been covered. The students
grades and self-esteem suffered greatly. Sadly, he felt like he was the problem since
no one else in class was complaining.
Fourthly, some Braille textbooks are not available in time because there are only
a limited number of competent Braille typists. Braille typists must know the various
Braille codes. For example, math is typed in Nemeth code, standard English in lit-
eral code, and science text in scientific code. If a good typist gets an order for three
books at once, he or she might not be able to finish them all on schedule.
Fifthly, books on tape are wonderful, but in general, textbooks in Braille are pref-
erable. Textbooks are ordered on tape if they are available when a Braille copy is
not. However, turning to the same page the teacher is on in class is impractical with
tapes. Going back and looking up quotes and other facts is difficult. In addition,
tapes can be defective. This happened to me this past year. By the time I discovered
that two tapes of my history book were blank, it was too late to order new ones.
The homework had to be done. Each night I scanned pages from a printed copy into
my computer before I could start my homework. My sighted peers probably had
much of their homework done in the time it took me just to scan the text!
Lastly, without a textbook in class, we often have to rely on friends, an aide, or
parents to read materials to us when we are very capable of reading them ourselves.
We dont like to take our friends time, because they have their own work to do!
Passing this bill will solve the problems I have discussed and make Braille text-
books available at the same time as printed textbooks are available for my sighted
peers. Furthermore the fact that books will be available electronically will allow the
option of downloading them into a Braille word processor or laptop computer. Al-
though Braille hard copies of textbooks are preferable to tapes, they are bulky and
difficult to carry. The new electronic format will give students the choice of obtain-
ing their Braille textbook as a hard copy or reading it in Braille from a Braille word
processor. The latter facilitates portability and allows us to access information more
quickly and easily. Overall, our attention and time will be more appropriately fo-
cused on learning rather than on getting the information. Significant time will be
saved and much stress will be eliminated from our already busy daily schedules.
Again, thank you Senator Dodd for your leadership with this critical legislation,
and thank you Mr. Chairman for calling this hearing. Having a textbook in class
like everyone else should be a right, not a privilege. To move us closer to this point,
passage of the Instructional Materials Accessibility Act is essential.

PREPARED STATEMENT OF MARC MAURER

Mr. Chairman. I am Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of
the Blind. My address is 1800 Johnson Street. Baltimore Maryland, 21230. Thank
you Mr. Chairman for calling this hearing. It is a privilege to appear before the Sen-
ate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions to discuss an issue of
such paramount importance for the blind as the timely availability of books in
school. I urge Congress to pass the Instructional Materials Accessibility Act. S.2246,
this year and I would like to tell you why this should be done.
The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) is the largest organization of blind
people in the world. We have more than fifty thousand members composing approxi-
mately six hundred chapters in every state, the District of Columbia; and Puerto
Rico. Like myself, all of our leaders and the vast majority of our members are blind.
As we say in our monthly publication, The Braille Monitor, the NFB is not an
organization speaking for the blind, it is the blind speaking for themselves. This
best describes the purpose of the Federation, serving as the voice of the nations
blind. When we do this, as in the present case, the positions we take are reached
through discussion, debate, and votes by our members and leaders across the coun-
try.
Today we have come to discuss the Instructional Materials Accessibility Act,
S.2246. This bill will provide books to blind elementary and high school students
in Americas schools at the same time the print editions are provided to sighted stu-
dents, and in formats, including Braille, that our blind children require to succeed.
Today, it is often the case that blind students receive their books far too late in the
school year, or receive the portions they need after the need for them has passed.
School districts often find it difficult to know where to turn in order to get a book
converted to Braille. Converting printed instructional materials into specialized for-
mats such as Braille is often time-consuming, labor-intensive, and costly, taking six
or more months and several thousand dollars to complete.
 28
In the mid-nineteenth century, states established centralized schools for the blind
to educate blind and visually impaired students. To support this, Congress author-
ized the American Printing House for the Blind (APH) in Louisville, Kentucky, to
produce educational materials in alternative formats, including Braille. Today AHP
continues to fulfill this function, receiving annual appropriations for this purpose.
In the 1960s blind children first began to attend schools in their home commu-
nities in significant numbers, and today the vast majority do so. As a result. Braille,
audio, and large print books must be obtained or created by any local school district
having one or more blind children.
The Americans with Disabilities Act, the Individuals with Disabilities Education
Act, and other federal laws clearly establish the policy that individuals with disabil-
ities are entitled to equal treatment in all areas of society. However, the successful
implementation of these laws cannot occur without clear, specific, and practical
standards and systems in place to anticipate accessibility needs. Currently, there
are no federal laws that create standards to facilitate the production of textbooks
in Braille.
Approximately half of the states have responded to this need by requiring publish-
ers to provide electronic copies of print editions of textbooks. However, there is no
consistent file format used among the states, and the electronic copies provided by
publishers are frequently not usable for
Braille reproduction at all. Therefore, inconsistent and often conflicting state re-
quirements place burdensome obligations on publishers without efficiently facilitat-
ing more timely production of books in accessible formats. An agreed-upon, uniform
electronic file format would reduce the burden to publishers and significantly reduce
the cost of creating the books. while helping to provide materials to blind students
at the same time they are provided to others.
This brings me to the bill before you today which we see as an important solution
to the problems just described. The purpose of the Instructional Materials Acces-
sibility Act is to improve the access of blind elementary and high school students
to printed textbooks. This will be achieved by creating a coordinated, efficient sys-
tem for the distribution of electronic files suitable for conversion to many formats,
including Braille.
The principal benefit of this legislation will be a uniform electronic file format.
The process to develop this format is set forth in section 3 of the bill. A uniform
format will allow rapid creation of textbooks for each student, sighted or blind. For
students who read Braille, their books can be presented through the use of synthetic
speech or stored and read with small computers, which display Braille dots.
Without this legislation, local school districts will continue to bear the burden and
cost of converting printed books into Braille. However, modern technology can now
support shifting much of this responsibility to publishers without placing an undue
burden on them. This legislation does not remove the schools responsibility to pro-
vide materials but will institute a shared burden between the schools that teach the
children and the publishers that create the books. This will be the effect of having
a uniform electronic file format and national distribution center. Provisions describ-
ing the Center are set forth in section 5 of the bill.
This shared obligation between school and publisher has been carefully crafted
with publishers fully engaged in the effort to create it. Concerning the process, Mr.
Chairman, we started to develop the bill now before you over two years ago. All af-
fected groups, including the Association of American Publishers, personnel from
state education agencies, producers of Braille and audio textbooks, and representa-
tives of the blind, including parents and students, were at the table to discuss and
negotiate every sentence. This effort involved pain-staking deliberations and an un-
counted number of drafts, spanning a period of 15 months.
Then, on June 27, 2001, the consensus now expressed in S.2246. introduced by
Senator Dodd, was reached. The real breakthrough here is that publishers have
agreed to prepare an electronic version of each textbook sold to any school district
anywhere in the United States and to make this text available to all other school
districts through a national distribution center.
The text will be prepared by the publisher at no expense to schools or government
agencies, The Association of American Publishers and its president, former Con-
gresswoman Pat Schroeder, deserve high praise for reaching this historic agreement
on behalf of their members. Through their efforts each blind child in America will
have a better chance to receive an education of high quality.
Concerning cost, Mr. Chairman, operation of the national distribution center will
be a continuing federal expense. Experts who know about book production for the
blind have estimated the annual cost to be approximately $1 million. The other cost,
authorized in the bill at $5 million for the first year and such sums thereafter, will
be for technical assistance grants for state and local education agencies. These funds
 29
are needed to help them ramp-up and learn how to use the new electronic files with
maximum efficiency.
To sum up, Mr. Chairman, S.2246 gives the Congress a unique opportunity to im-
prove educational services for blind children. Senator Dodds leadership and per-
sonal interest in sponsoring and moving this bill forward are particularly important
to its progress. On behalf of all blind people in America. I thank you.
PREPARED STATEMENT OF BARBARA N. MCCARTHY
Mr. Chairman, Members of the Committee, and staff; Thank you for inviting me
to speak to you today. What I am about to tell you, and the purpose of this legisla-
tion, have not been a Senate priority; there are great economic and international
issues before you. What I am going to tell you about, however, is the priority within
the community of blind and visually impaired people, and the professionals who
work with them. Technology has opened many opportunities to provide all of us
with access to information. This is a matter of allowing technology to provide access
to information. Technology offers the potential to provide the materials that all stu-
dents, including those who are blind and visually impaired, must have in order to
receive an equal and quality education. Ultimately, technology will allow for lower
materials costs, faster delivery, and better student performance.
If I could have called this hearingI would have invited you to Richmond, to see
what we do at the Library and Resource Center this time of year. In fact, today,
if you were to visit any one of the materials centers that are located in forty-five
(45) states, you would see similar activity. At the Library and Resource Center in
Richmond, we provide Braille and large print textbooks to all Virginia students who
are blind and visually impaired, about 550 students. We loan textbooks for the
school year. At the end of every academic year, the books are returnedand made
available to be loaned to another student for the next school year. This time of the
year we are busy producing braille and large print textbooks for the next school
year. Most books have already been ordered, and will likely be ready when school
begins. However, last week I received orders for 5 books to be produced in Braille:
2 Algebra, a calculus, a geometry, and a biology book. June is late in the process
to receive orders for Braille books. I was able to find people to produce the math
books, but the books will not be ready when school starts. I have not been able to
locate someone who can produce this biology book. But regardless of when I received
the book order, there is a student who needs the book in Braille, and will suffer
without it when school starts.
Orders for textbooks for the next school year should be received no later than
April 30. Any order received after that is at risk for not being ready when school
begins. When the order is received, we search our own database, to see if we have
either produced the book ourselves, or purchased the book from another transcribing
agency. If we have not produced the book, and it is an order for large print, we ask
for a copy of the book from the school system, and enlarge it using copy machines.
If the order is for a Braille textbook, we search the American Printing House for
the Blinds national Louis database, for the title. If it is not available from another
source, we will transcribe the book using our staff, ask one of our volunteers to tran-
scribe the book, or pay someone to transcribe the book. A book the size of the biology
text I have with me today will take approximately 9 months to transcribe. Most
transcribers work on several books at one timeand regularly provide volumes of
Braille to stay ahead of the class syllabus. A book this size1,183 pageswould
translate into 4,732 pages in braille. The average cost to produce this into Braille
book would be: $16,562.
This national practice for producing books in alternative format that I have de-
scribed is a process that requires everyone in the chain to do their part, on time,
and accurately. One break in the chain, and the books will be late for the beginning
of school. The process for providing textbooks in adapted format is dependent upon
many factors, which determine if students receives books on time. Some of those fac-
tors are:
If students are assigned subject areas and classes for the next school year, prior
to May
If the school has identified next years textbooks
If the school can provide copies of the textbooks for us to use in production
If the book orders are placed by April 30
If there are transcribers available to produce the book in Braille
If students schedules dont change when school begins
If students dont move into a different school system unexpectedly
The process that is promoted within the scope of this legislation is very different
from the one we currently use. It requires far less time, costs less, and will ensure
 30
that blind students will receive their textbooks at the same time as other students.
As soon as an order is received for the book, we would search our database. If we
dont have it, we would check the national database, that this legislation creates,
to see if the file is listed as available. If it is, we will download the file, print the
book in large print or translate the data using braille software, and provide the book
in the students chosen format (visual electronic, large print, digital audio, or for use
with an electronic braille display). If the book isnt available, we will request the
electronic file from the publisher, to be deposited in the center. Once deposited, we
will download the file. The cost for my Resource Center to produce this biology book
in Braille, using this proposed process, would be approximately $785, and it could
easily be produced within a week.
If this legislation is passed, three (3) years from now I will not struggle to find
a means by which this biology textbook is put into Braille. When the student moves
to Fairfax from Newport News in the middle of the school year, or when the student
is doing so well that she chances classes first semester into an honors class, the
books can be available.
On behalf of the members of the Association of Instructional Resource Centers for
the Visually Impairedrepresenting every state in the country, we believe that this
legislation offers the single greatest contribution to blind and visually impaired chil-
drens futures. It will ensure they really do receive the same education as their
sighted peers. Access to information opens doors. This legislation is a door opener.
Childrens lives will be changed.
[Whereupon, at 11:15 a.m., the committee was adjourned.]