1. (a) All laws and rules applying to instructional materials provided to students with no visual impairments that are not in conflict with the Texas Education Code, §31.028, or this section shall apply to the distribution and control of specialized instructional material formats, including, but not limited to, the following.

   1. (1) A requisition for special instructional materials shall be based on actual student enrollment to meet individual student needs.
   2. (2) Each school district or open-enrollment charter school shall conduct an annual physical inventory of all currently adopted accessible instructional materials that have been requisitioned by and delivered to the district or charter. The results of the inventory shall be recorded in the district's or charter's files and made available to the Texas Education Agency (TEA) upon request.
2. (b) Reimbursement and/or replacement shall be made for all volumes of specialized instructional material formats determined to be lost.
3. (c) Publishers shall grant permission to the state to have adopted instructional materials converted into specialized instructional material formats without penalty or royalty.
4. (d) On or before the deadline specified in the schedule of adoption procedures, each publisher of newly adopted print instructional materials shall provide computerized files to the state as specified in the proclamation to be used for producing specialized instructional material formats to be used by students who are blind or visually impaired. All information contained in adopted instructional materials shall be included on the computerized files. Computerized files may be copied and distributed to a school district, upon request, for instructional use with a student who is blind or visually impaired and requires the use of computerized instructional materials, pursuant to an individualized plan developed for the student under the Rehabilitation Act, §504; the Americans with Disabilities Act; or the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
5. (e) Gifts of instructional materials in a specialized format for educating students who are blind or visually impaired tendered by individuals, groups, or school district officials may be accepted by the commissioner of education and shall become state property. Gift materials may be shipped by Free Matter for the Blind and Other Physically Handicapped Persons to the Special Textbook Redistribution Center or other location designated by the TEA.

6. (f) Adopted instructional materials needed by a person who is blind or visually impaired to carry out the duties of a teacher in the public schools of this state shall be furnished in a specialized format without cost. The materials are to be loaned to the public school districts as long as needed and are to be returned to the state when they are no longer needed. Materials in the medium needed by the teacher may be requisitioned by an instructional materials coordinator after the superintendent of schools has certified the following to the commissioner:

   1. (1) the name of the teacher;
   2. (2) the grade or subject taught; and
   3. (3) the fact of the teacher's visual impairment.
7. (g) Large print instructional materials intended for student use must comply with the standards in the latest edition of the Manufacturing Standards and Specifications for Textbooks approved by the Advisory Commission on Textbook Specifications.
8. (h) Adopted instructional materials in a specialized format that are requested by a parent who is blind or visually impaired shall be furnished without cost by the state. Materials in the medium needed by the parent may be requisitioned by an instructional materials coordinator. Requests for electronic files will be filled by the TEA after the parent signs and the TEA receives a statement, through the appropriate school district, promising that the parent will safeguard the security of the files and observe all current copyright laws, including those that forbid reproduction of the files and their transfer to other parties. All specialized instructional material formats and electronic files with educational content that have been provided to parents who are blind or visually impaired must be returned to the local school district at the end of the school year for reuse.
9. (i) Publishers that offer electronic instructional materials (e.g., CD-ROMs, DVDs, or Web-based instructional materials) for adoption shall offer these materials in an accessible format in accordance with the technical standards of the Federal Rehabilitation Act, Section 508.
10. (j) Publishers that offer Web-based instructional materials for adoption shall ensure that these materials conform to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0, Level AA.
11. (k) Adopted instructional materials that are not compliant with the technical standards of the Federal Rehabilitation Act, Section 508, or do not conform to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0, Level AA, will be removed from the EMAT system and will not be available for order through the TEA.
12. (l) Producers that enter into a contract with the TEA for the production and distribution of specialized instructional material formats shall provide the instructional materials to students with disabilities at the same time other students in the same school district receive print instructional materials.

Source Note:The provisions of this §66.1311 adopted to be effective July 23, 2012, 37 TexReg 5413; amended to be effective May 12, 2014, 39 TexReg 3704.