Laws
Making Sense of All the Laws
There are several laws concerning accessibility, many of them overlapping or affecting different types of organizations. Below is an overview of the various laws that affect Cosumnes River College as an Educational Insitution, and as a public entity and what these laws cover.
Rehabilitation Act
Federal Law Passed in 1973.
Section 504 - Part of the original Rehabilitation Act
Applies To: Any program or activity(including colleges) receiving Federal financial assistance.
Mandates: No otherwise qualified individual with a disability shall be descriminated against, excluded from participation or denied benefits solely by reason of his or her disability.
Guidelines: Section 504 contains guidelines that the applicaple entities should follow.
AB422 - Obligates Publishers to comply with ADA Accommodations
Under existing law, a publisher or manufacturer of instructional materials offered for adoption or sale in California is required to comply with specified requirements, including providing to the state, at no cost, the right to transcribe, reproduce, and distribute the material in braille, large print, recordings, or other accessible media for use by pupils with visual disabilities. This right includes computer diskette versions of instructional materials if made available to any other state, and those corrections and revisions as may be necessary.
AB386 - Instructional Materials for Disabled Students Reducing Access Barriers for Deaf Students
AB 386 expands the definition of nonprinted instructional materials to include "audiovisual works and digital media files". The bill also allows public colleges and universities to create captioned versions of audiovisual works if a publisher does not respond to a written request within two weeks.
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
Federal Law passed in 1990
Applies To: Public Entities
Mandates: Requires that reasonable accommodations be provided in meeting the needs of individuals with disabilities. This covers regulations for public and commercial facilities, transportation including accessible bathrooms, telephones and other basic needs.