[Blindmath] Students Should Know Their Legal Rights

[Amanda Lacy]

Susan, Susan, and Birkir,

Thank you all for affirming that I have more than just the right to remain 
silent. Is there an online resource where blind students can learn about 
their rights and the steps they should take to get the OSD to do what it is 
supposed to do? I would like to stop fighting, avoid suing anybody, and 
focus all my efforts on getting a good education. Thanks again.

Amanda
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Susan Jolly" <easjolly at ix.netcom.com>
To: <blindmath at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, July 16, 2011 8:31 PM
Subject: Re: [Blindmath] Students Should Know Their Legal Rights


> Amanda,
>
> Susan M. is right (and a cyber kiss back at her).  You get to choose your 
> desired accessible medium, not anyone else.  The only restriction is that 
> you must choose a medium that is generally recognized as an accessible 
> medium, not sure of the exact legal terminology.  All that restriction 
> means is that you can't use Klingon or something you've invented yourself, 
> not that some official decides what's best for you.
>
> Birkir,
>
> Most US colleges and universities, even private ones, get a large amount 
> of public funding.  For example, it is typical for them to take 50% off 
> the top of  any federal research grant for their own purposes.  And they 
> benefit from students' getting loans, and so forth. Plus they get various 
> tax breaks.
>
> Meanwhile, most publishers are commercial enterprises.  So that is why the 
> government places the legal responsibility on the colleges and 
> universities here in the US.  However, US textbook publishers are 
> definitely becoming more aware because of their obligations because of the 
> US Department of Education's  National Instructional Materials 
> Accessibility Standard (NIMAS) for textbooks.
> http://tinyurl.com/6l6xud
>
> I understand your larger point and agree with you that anything we can do 
> to make publishers more aware is good but we can't really blame them for 
> considering the bottom line.
>
> I also agree that all the DSS people that I know personally or have had 
> some contact with are extremely hard-working and well-intentioned. 
> However, I'd think that if students complained to the proper persons, it 
> could help their DSS offices to get more funding.
>
> This might be a good place to point out that some DSS offices are between 
> a rock and a hard place because if they get known as providing good 
> service, their institution may end up getting more students who need their 
> services while they don't get a proportional increase in resources.
>
> Susan
>
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