Bill > HR4643

Introduced Session

Addresses accessibility issues of students with disabilities in higher education. Specifically, the bill revises a grant program that supports postsecondary institutions of higher education (IHE) in educating students with disabilities. The Department of Education must award at least five grants to an IHE that provides professional development and technical assistance in order to improve access to and completion of postsecondary education for students, including students with disabilities. The bill also (1) revises and reauthorizes through FY2024 a program for national technical assistance centers that assist students with disabilities, and (2) reauthorizes through FY2024 a program to promote training and job placement of real-time writers to provide closed captioning of videos. Further, the bill establishes a new program that awards grants to IHEs for certain activities that improve accessibility of instruction and materials, such as distance education courses. The bill also establishes an independent commission to develop guidelines for accessible postsecondary electronic instructional materials and related technologies. In addition, the bill requires each IHE to establish an office of accessibility to develop and implement policies that support students with disabilities.

Committee Categories

Mark DeSaulnier (D)*,  Josh Harder (D),  Jared Huffman (D),  Ro Khanna (D),  James Langevin (D),  Ayanna Pressley (D), 

Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor. (on 10/11/2019)

Official Document