[Blindmath] What to do when a US college DS office refusestoprovide braille when requested

[Amanda Lacy]

Agreed! Now we have a procedure to follow instead of making guesses.

I also have a question. Does it state in the law that the Braille has to be 
readable or that staff producing it must know Braille and be trained to 
produce it? The other response I've gotten at OSD has been to agree to 
deliver the Braille. They will not say WHEN the Braille is to be finished. 
After a few months, a very small piece of it is presented that is unusable 
because no one working on it knew Braille or how to proofread and make sure 
lines are not running into one another. If this scenario plays out again, 
will the regional ADA center know how to handle it?

Thanks for the info.
Amanda
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Edward" <personal.edward at gmail.com>
To: "'Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics'" 
<blindmath at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, July 19, 2011 12:36 PM
Subject: Re: [Blindmath] What to do when a US college DS office 
refusestoprovide braille when requested


> Wow, that's the most amount of useful information in one email I have come
> across in a long time.
> Thanks
> Edward
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org] 
> On
> Behalf Of Susan Jolly
> Sent: Tuesday, July 19, 2011 1:25 PM
> To: blindmath at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [Blindmath] What to do when a US college DS office refuses
> toprovide braille when requested
>
> I've contacted two experts in US disability rights and here is what I 
> found.
>
> Federal law applies to all colleges and universities except for private
> religious schools that accept NO federal money, not even grants, student
> loans, etc.
>
> First, if you are a braille reader and want braille textbooks and 
> materials,
> that is your right.
>
> Second, typically you need to purchase a print copy of your textbook and
> give it to the DS office.  This is to cover the cost of using a 
> copyrighted
> book.  This is because publishers typically require this and in any case,
> accessible materials shouldn't cost less than standard materials
>
> (Note that in Califorrnia, the law requires colleges to use texts from
> publishers that will provide e-format texts,  preferably braille-ready 
> ones.
>
> Any college should as a matter of course contact the publisher to see if 
> the
> text is available in e-format for blind people as that would save the DS
> office money and time.  However, this is the responsibility of the office,
> not the student.)
>
> Third, if the DS office says they will only provide audio when you request
> braille, you need to get this in writing.  There are two reasons.  One is
> that the DS office may rethink its position if you ask for it in writing.
> (If necessary, ask a sighted person to double check that the document they
> give you says what it should.) Second, it will help the Department of
> Justice (DOJ) if you move forward with a legal complaint.
>
> Fourth, call your regional ADA Center. There are 10 regional Centers 
> listed
> on this page with their phone numbers and websites.  The states in each
> region are given in print as well as being shown on a map.  They should 
> tell
> you what to do next. Or they may contact the college directly themselves.
> http://www.adata.org/Static/ContactUs.aspx
>
> Fifth, if for some reason your regional ADA Center hasn't solved your
> problem, contact the DOJ ADA Technical Assistance Program.
> http://www.ada.gov/taprog.htm
>
> Note that you can always call your regional ADA Center for advice even if
> you don't have written documentation of the DS office's refusal to provide
> braille.
>
> Best wishes,
> Susan
>
>
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