Just Joined a New Federal Commission!

I recently was sworn in by Undersecretary of Education Martha Kanter as one of nineteen people serving on the Advisory Commission on Accessible Instructional Materials in Postsecondary Education for Students with Disabilities. The Commission has one year to do research, hold public hearings and make recommendations to Congress on what should be done to make higher education materials more accessible to students with disabilities.
Undersecretary of Education Martha Kanter administering the swearing in oath, with Assistant Secretary Alexa Posny smiling in the backgroundWe have top leaders from the Department, the disability community including students, publishers, the Copyright Office, academia and other experts. The law that Congress passed that directed the creation of the Commission has quite a number of issues we're supposed to work on, including definitions of qualifying students and instructional materials as well as considering what systems might be established to help accessibility be better delivered.

The details are linked to here in the Federal Register, and includes a pointer to the actual law section. Our first meeting was mainly preparatory:
  • We elected Gaier Dietrich and Jim Wendorf as chair and vice chair (two noteworthy disability leaders)
  • We were taught all about our ethics obligations and dos and don't as commissioners
  • We divided into groups tackling different aspects of our charge
I'm excited about the promise of this Commission to figure out where we should go next. Opportunity to higher education is a crucial need for all students, and especially students with disabilities. People and organizations with an interest in this issue should be sure to participate in the public process and make sure their voices are heard.

Comments

EnjoyHi5!Autism said…
10/15/2011
Congratulations Advisory Commissioner Jim Fruchterman on your 1 year anniversary as a federal commissioner with the Advisory Commission on Accessible Instructional Materials in Postsecondary Education for Students with Disabilities. Many Parents of Students with Disabilities appreciate your contributions as you direct your technology expertise towards 'technology serving humanity' endeavors.
Commissioner Fruchterman, may you, Benetech and our AC AIM PSE PwD Commission continue in successful educational collaborations on accessible instructional materials for Students with Disabilities in are matriculating in their post secondary education pursuits.
Looking forward to participating in another productive Advisory Commission Meeting on October 31st.
Thank you,
Mrs. Brenda Lee Cosse'
Parent Advocate
Louisiana Developmental Disabilities Council
Health/Education/Employment Committee
Partners In Policymaking - LADDC
Work Pays Coalition - MIG,
Consumer
Advocacy Center
2:52 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bringing Millions of Books to Billions of People: Making the Book Truly Accessible

Image
I believe in the power of books to change the world. That is not a particularly radical belief among librarians, but I hope to make you believe even more in the power of books. Literacy and access to knowledge underpins just about every social good, from education, to economic development, to health, to women’s empowerment, democracy and respect for human rights. Today, we are poised at a moment in time where we can transcend the limitations of past book technologies and bring the power of books to all humans. To bring the power of books to everybody on this planet, we must make books truly accessible. Love of the print book. It made me who I am. I’m a big fan of the printed book and always have been. However, as a technology, printed books come with serious challenges for some communities (like blind people) that technology can unlock. Consider the issues with printed books. First, they are place-based. In order to read a printed book, you must have physical access to it....
Read more

10X: CEO’s Update: Spring 2014

Image
10X: ten times the impact. That’s what’s been on my mind lately. How can our existing successful programs reach ten times more people? How can we use technology in a new way to improve people’s lives that is an order of magnitude better? Can we help stimulate the creation of far more technology-for-good ventures? The Benetech team has already accomplished great things for our users, but there is so much more we can do. Technology currently serves privileged groups through tools that provide access to education, literacy, health, and justice. But what about everybody else? While it’s not a panacea, technology has been the engine of so many improvements in society. The time has never been better to think 10X bigger! I have disruptive approaches to social innovation in mind, with an increasingly connected society where the cost of prototyping and deploying new products is extremely low, and where innovation is no longer the sole purview of well-funded for-profit corporations. We del...
Read more

On the Future of Braille: Thoughts by Radical Braille Advocates

Image
Guest Beneblog by  Betsy Beaumon, VP and General Manager, Benetech’s Global Literacy Program. Betsy Beaumon I recently had the honor to speak at the first-ever Braille Summit , hosted on June 19-21, 2013 by the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) and Perkins School for the Blind. With the goal of promoting braille literacy, this landmark meeting brought together braille experts from around the world to Perkins’ campus in Watertown, Massachusetts. My biggest takeaway from the summit: the time could not be more urgent, and more hopeful, for the future of braille and the prospects of those who need it. That’s why braille is an important focus for us in Benetech’s Global Literacy Program — we know that we must keep braille relevant and make it more available. One of the biggest reasons is that among people who are blind, braille literacy has been linked with higher education levels, higher likelihood of employment and higher income. Accor...
Read more