BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 386|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 386
Author: Ruskin (D), et al
Amended: 7/8/09 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 8-0, 7/1/09
AYES: Romero, Huff, Alquist, Liu, Maldonado, Padilla,
Simitian, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Hancock
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 77-0, 5/18/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Higher education: instructional materials
SOURCE : California Community Colleges Chancellors
Office
DIGEST : This bill establishes a process whereby a public
postsecondary education institution requests, and receives
or creates a captioned format of electronic instructional
materials for students with hearing impairments.
ANALYSIS : Current law:
1.Requires a publisher of printed instructional materials
for student attending the University of California, the
California State University or a California Community
College, to provide any printed instructional material in
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an electronic format.
2.Requires Non-printed instructional materials to be
compatible with Braille translation and speech synthesis
software but does not list "audiovisual captioning
software." Therefore, when captioning or other
accessible information is not already available on
audiovisual or other type of media, the college or
university must ask the publisher to provide the
captioning to make the information accessible to
students.
This bill establishes a process whereby a public
postsecondary education institution requests, and receives
or creates a captioned format of electronic instructional
materials for students with hearing impairments.
Specifically, this bill:
1.Requires a publisher that publishes instructional
materials used by students attending, or by instructors
for use in classroom presentations at, the University of
California, the California State University, or a
California Community College to, upon request by an
institution on behalf of a student or instructor at that
institution, to do one of the following:
A. Provide access to a captioned format of the
instructional material directly to the student or the
instructor.
B. Provide to the institution a captioned format of
the instructional material.
C. Provide to the institution an electronic format, if
available, of the instructional material, unless the
institution already has an electronic format in its
possession, and a license permitting the institution
to create a captioned format of the material, to the
extent the publisher has the right to grant that
license.
2.Requires a publisher to respond to a request, as
specified, in the following manner:
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A. Within 10 calendar days after the receipt of the
request, the publisher must provide to the institution
a notice, in writing, as to which of the three actions
in #1 it intends to take.
B. If the publisher does not possess an electronic
format of the instructional material, it must advise
the institution of that fact in the notice.
C. If the publisher lacks sufficient rights to
distribute, or license the institution to create, a
captioned format of some or all of the instructional
materials covered by the request, it must advise the
institution of that fact in the notice and must
provide both of the following to the institution, to
the extent that the publisher is able to do so:
(1) An electronic format of the
instructional material.
(2) The name and contact information of the
person that should be capable of authorizing
creation of a captioned format of the instructional
material.
D. If the publisher notifies the institution that it
will provide an electronic format and a license to
create a captioned format, it must provide the format
and license within seven calendar days of providing
the notice.
E. If the publisher notifies the institution that it
will provide a captioned format, the publisher must
provide that format as soon as it is possible to do
so, but no later than 14 calendar days after providing
the notice.
3.Deems that an institution has received a license
permitting the creation of a captioned format if a
publisher fails to respond to a request within 10
calendar days of receiving the request.
4.Requires access to a captioned format, an electronic
format or a license to create a captioned format to be
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provided free of any fee or royalty that is additional to
the initial purchase of the instructional material.
5.Sets forth what must be included in the request to a
publisher, and authorizes a publisher to require
additional information, including a statement signed by
the student agreeing to only use the captioned material
for his or her educational purpose. This is consistent
with existing provisions relative to electronic formats
of printed instructional materials.
6.Requires the Board of Governors of the California
Community Colleges and the Trustees of the California
State University, and requests the Regents of the
University of California, to adopt guidelines, as
specified, for the implementation and administration of
the provisions of this bill.
7.Requires the Board of Governors of the California
Community Colleges and the Trustees of the California
State University, and requests the Regents of the
University of California, to convene an advisory group,
at least 1/3 of the membership of which must be
representatives designated by publishers as having a
substantial volume of transactions with institutions
pursuant to this bill.
8.Authorizes the Chancellor of the California Community
Colleges, the Chancellor of the California State
University, and the President of the University of
California to each designate an office, or by agreement
designate a single office, to maintain a registry of
publisher contact information.
9.Authorizes the Chancellor of the California Community
Colleges, the Chancellor of the California State
University, and the President of the University of
California to each establish one or more centers to
process requests pursuant to this bill.
Comments
Current law requires nonprinted instructional materials to
be compatible with Braille translation and speech synthesis
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software, but does not list "audiovisual captioning
software." Therefore, when captioning or other accessible
information is not already available on audiovisual or
other type of media, the college or university must ask the
publisher to provide the captioning to make the information
accessible to students. According to the Chancellor's
Office of the California Community Colleges, publishers'
responses to these situations vary. Some publishers
require a written request, which can delay by weeks the
student's ability to use the materials. Others will give
permission upon payment to provide this service, and some
never respond. Many Community College campuses are able
and willing to add the captioning; however, legal authority
is necessary to caption audiovisual and other types of
media when publishers are not responsive to college
requests.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/17/09)
California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office (source)
California Faculty Association
California Federation of Teachers
California Postsecondary Education Commission
Center for Independence of the Disabled, Inc.
City College of San Francisco
Community College League of California
Disability Rights California
Faculty Association of California Community Colleges
Long Beach Community College District
Los Angeles Community College District
Los Rios Community College District
Peralta Community College District
Rio Hondo College Disabled Students Programs and Services
Rio Hondo Community District
San-Jose Evergreen Community College District
Student Senate for California Community Colleges
Yuba Community College District
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Beall, Bill
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Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield,
Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter,
Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon,
DeVore, Duvall, Emmerson, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong,
Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick,
Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill,
Huber, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Krekorian, Lieu,
Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Monning,
Nava, Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, John A. Perez, V. Manuel
Perez, Portantino, Ruskin, Salas, Silva, Skinner, Smyth,
Solorio, Audra Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres,
Torrico, Tran, Villines, Yamada, Bass
NO VOTE RECORDED: Eng, Price, Saldana
DLW:nl 8/17/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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