<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" http-equiv=Content-Type>
<META name=GENERATOR content="MSHTML 8.00.6001.18939">
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Hello:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial> I thought the following
would be of interest. If you want to join the Beneblog, see the end of the
message.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Regards,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Robert Jaquiss</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message -----
<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A
title=jim@benetech.org href="mailto:jim@benetech.org">Jim Fruchterman</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=rjaquiss@earthlink.net
href="mailto:rjaquiss@earthlink.net">rjaquiss@earthlink.net</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Monday, October 04, 2010 12:14 PM</DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> [Beneblog: Technology Meets Society] Just Joined a New
Federal Commission!</DIV></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>I recently was sworn in by Undersecretary of Education Martha
Kanter as one of nineteen people serving on the <A
href="http://www.ed.gov/news/media-advisories/first-meetings-postsecondary-education-advisory-commission-accessible-instruct">Advisory
Commission on Accessible Instructional Materials in Postsecondary Education for
Students with Disabilities</A>. 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.
<P></P>
<P><A
href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_lAXr465KvME/TKkf7kI2B2I/AAAAAAAABP8/TFII0pTUEiU/s1600/Buick+%2811+of+14%29.jpg"><IMG
style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 267px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: pointer"
id=BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523981526120138594 border=0
alt="Undersecretary of Education Martha Kanter administering the swearing in oath, with Assistant Secretary Alexa Posny smiling in the background"
src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_lAXr465KvME/TKkf7kI2B2I/AAAAAAAABP8/TFII0pTUEiU/s400/Buick+%2811+of+14%29.jpg"></A></P>
<P>We 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.</P>
<P>The details are linked to <A
href="http://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2010/09/14/2010-22883/advisory-commission-on-accessible-instructional-materials-in-postsecondary-education-for-students#p-8">here
in the Federal Register</A>, and includes a pointer to the actual law section.
Our first meeting was mainly preparatory:</P>
<UL>
<LI>We elected Gaier Dietrich and Jim Wendorf as chair and vice chair (two
noteworthy disability leaders)<BR>
<LI>We were taught all about our ethics obligations and dos and don't as
commissioners<BR>
<LI>We divided into groups tackling different aspects of our
charge<BR></LI></UL>
<P>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.</P>
<P>--</P>
<P style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px" dir=ltr><FONT color=#808080><A
href="http://www.benetech.org/">http://www.benetech.org/</A> <BR>480 S.
California Avenue <BR>Suite 201 <BR>Palo Alto, CA 94306 <BR>(650)
644-3400<BR><BR><FONT color=#808080>You are a subscriber to Benetech’s BeneBlog,
authored by Jim Fruchterman, as: rjaquiss@earthlink.net. To unsubscribe click
this link: <A
href="http://clickmeter.dundee.net/u?id=146666324.14dbd6354768037ae9f5bb135a6872ce&n=T&c=F&l=benetech">Unsubscribe</A>
</FONT></FONT></P></BODY></HTML>