Legal Requirements and Guidelines

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is federal civil rights legislation prohibiting discrimination on the basis of disability in programs conducted by federal agencies, in programs receiving federal financial assistance, in federal employment, and in the employment practices of federal contractors. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and amended in 2008, is a civil rights law with Title II of the ADA applying to local public entities, such as school districts, city, county, and state entities. Both Section 504 and Title II of the ADA establish institutional obligations to not discriminate against individuals with disabilities and that an individual with a disability shall not be excluded from participation in or be denied the benefits of an institution’s services, programs or activities.

In 1999, the California State Assembly passed and updated Section 67302 of the California Education Code. This section ensured that California public higher education institutions could obtain electronic instructional materials from publishers. Several key aspects of the code, include:

That the university, college, or campus has purchased the printed instructional material for use by a student with a disability or that a student with a disability has purchased the material.
That the student has a disability that prevents him or her from using standard instructional materials.

That the printed instructional material is for use by the student in connection with a course in which he or she is registered or enrolled.

Alternate Media Guidelines

These guidelines have been developed by the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office and in collaboration with various Alternate Media Workgroups to provide guidance and direction for producing documents in alternate formats for students with disabilities.

The Addendum is the most recent information to provide guidance clarifying the timeliness of producing alternate media, the student request process, and providing specifics on monitoring college performance related to this task.