Just Joined a New Federal Commission!

I recently was sworn in by Undersecretary of Education Martha Kanter as one of nineteen people serving on the Advisory Commission on Accessible Instructional Materials in Postsecondary Education for Students with Disabilities. 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.
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.

The details are linked to here in the Federal Register, and includes a pointer to the actual law section. Our first meeting was mainly preparatory:

• We elected Gaier Dietrich and Jim Wendorf as chair and vice chair (two noteworthy disability leaders)
  
• We were taught all about our ethics obligations and dos and don't as commissioners
• We divided into groups tackling different aspects of our charge
  

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.