§ 7-910. Equivalent access requirements for students with disabilities
West's Annotated Code of MarylandEducationEffective: July 1, 2022
Effective: July 1, 2022
MD Code, Education, § 7-910
§ 7-910. Equivalent access requirements for students with disabilities
(3)(i) “Equivalent access” means the ability to receive, use, and manipulate information and operate controls necessary to access and use information technology, including by nonvisual means, so that a student with disabilities can access the same services as a student without disabilities with substantially equivalent ease of use.
(b)(1) The State Superintendent and the Secretary of Disabilities jointly shall ensure that specifications used in all grants and procurement contracts for digital tools require equivalent access for students with disabilities, including blindness, in accordance with the technical standards for electronic and information technology issued under subsection (a)(2) of Section 508 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. § 794d(a)(2).
(c)(1) Invitations for bids, requests for proposals, procurement contracts, grants, or modifications to contracts or grants issued by the State or any local school system shall include notice of the equivalent access requirement whenever funds awarded may be used to develop or obtain digital tools.
(ii) The accessibility conformance report required in subparagraph (i) of this paragraph shall explain how information and communication technology products, including software, electronic content, and support documentation, conform to the most recent Section 508 standards for information technology accessibility under the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
(d) The State and each local school system shall also ensure that the equivalent access standards are included in guidelines used for design specifications for and evaluation and selection of digital tools.
(e)(1)(i) Following an evaluation of digital tools, the State or local school system shall, from among digital tools that offer pedagogical value, prioritize the available product that best meets the specifications and has the greatest functionality for equivalent access for students with disabilities, including blindness.
(ii) Beginning October 1, 2024, following an evaluation of digital tools, a local school system shall select, from among the available products that offer pedagogical value, the available product that best meets the equivalent access standards and has the greatest functionality for equivalent access for students with disabilities, including blindness.
(2)(i) If a local school system determines that a product that meets the equivalent access standards is not available, or if obtaining an available product would fundamentally alter the nature of the instructional activity or would result in an undue burden, the local school system shall notify the Department.
(iv) If, after the consultation process, the Department determines that there is no available product that meets the equivalent access standards, a local school system may, with the Department's approval, obtain a product that does not meet the equivalent access standards but provides the best equivalent functionality.
(f)(1) A digital tool developed or purchased by a county board for use by the local school system shall include specifications for access for students with disabilities, including nonvisual access, in accordance with the technical standards for electronic and information technology issued under:
(g)(1)(i) If a local school system finds that a digital tool fails to meet the equivalent access standards under subsection (f) of this section, including nonvisual access, within 18 months after development or purchase of the digital tool, the local school system shall send a written notice to the vendor of the vendor's failure to comply with the equivalent access standards required under the procurement contract.
(h)(1) If digital tools are provided to a student without a disability and not to a student with a disability, the State or local school system shall implement an alternative method of instruction, including use of other digital tools, if available, designed to enable a student with a disability to achieve the same instructional outcomes consistent with the student's IEP Plan, as defined in § 8-408 of this article, or the student's 504 Plan, as provided under the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
(2) An online platform, online content, website, web service, webpage, educational resource product, or online curriculum developed or purchased by a county board that is made available to enrolled students of the local school system or online to the public shall comply with the most recent version of the World Wide Web Consortium's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.
(i)(1) On or before October 1, 2023, and each October 1 thereafter, each local school system shall submit a report to the Department on the accessibility of the digital tools the local school system developed or purchased for use during the immediately preceding fiscal year.
(j) The Department shall:
Credits
Added by Acts 2002, c. 457, § 1, eff. Oct. 1, 2002. Amended by Acts 2009, c. 60, §§ 1, 5, eff. April 14, 2009; Acts 2015, c. 22, § 5; Acts 2019, c. 8, § 5; Acts 2022, c. 215, § 1, eff. July 1, 2022.
MD Code, Education, § 7-910, MD EDUC § 7-910
Current with legislation effective through July 1, 2023, from the 2023 Regular Session of the General Assembly. Some statute sections may be more current, see credits for details.
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