The purpose of the Educational Technology, Media, and Materials for Individuals with Disabilities Program (ETechM2 Program) is to improve results for children with disabilities by:
- promoting the development, demonstration, and use of technology;
- supporting educational activities designed to be of educational value in the classroom for children with disabilities;
- providing support for captioning and video description that is appropriate for use in the classroom; and
- providing accessible educational materials (AEM) to children with disabilities in a timely manner.
The purpose of this grant is to fund a cooperative agreement to establish and operate a Center that will provide free educational materials, including textbooks, in fully accessible media for eligible children and students enrolled in postsecondary schools. The Center will provide high-quality AEM to eligible children and students with disabilities, including individuals from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds, at no cost, in a timely manner including dedicated outreach and collaboration with stakeholders (including those in high needs communities) to increase awareness and use of AEM. As a condition of this grant, the educational materials and textbooks distributed by the Center must be in accessible formats that are of high quality and meet or exceed industry standards for accessibility (e.g., Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA Standard; EPUB 3.2 Accessibility Standards) and digital rights management. Processes, strategies, and models used in the production, dissemination, and in digital rights management must be user-friendly, efficient, and cost effective. The AEM distributed by the Center must exemplify accessibility features required to receive third-party certification for accessibility. The Center will improve access to text, images, charts, graphics, equations, and other expressions, notations, or numerical content included in educational materials. To facilitate continuous improvement and promote equity in access to free, high-quality products and services, the Center will collect and analyze relevant data on the needs of its' users and barriers encountered by children and students eligible to use, but not currently using AEM.
Eligibility
Under section 1473, the term "eligible entity" has the meaning given the term in section 1461(b) of IDEA:
- State educational agency (SEA)
- Local education agency (LEA)
- Public charter school that is a local education agency under State law
- Institution of higher education (IHE)
- Public agency not described in subparagraphs (A) through (D)
- Private nonprofit organization
- Outlying area
- Indian Tribe or a Tribal organization (as defined under section 5304 of title 25)
- For-profit organization, if the Secretary finds it appropriate in light of the purposes of a particular competition for a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement under this part.
Note: The Secretary may limit which eligible entities described above are eligible for a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement under this part to 1 or more of the categories of eligible entities described in paragraph 1 of this section.
FY 2022 Grantee
Benetech
The Delivering Revolutionary Equitable and Accessible Materials (DREAM) Center
The purpose of the Educational Technology, Media, and Materials for Individuals with Disabilities Program (ETechM2 Program) is to improve results for children with disabilities by:
- promoting the development, demonstration, and use of technology;
- supporting educational activities designed to be of educational value in the classroom for children with disabilities;
- providing support for captioning and video description that is appropriate for use in the classroom; and
- providing accessible educational materials (AEM) to children with disabilities in a timely manner.
The purpose of this grant is to fund a cooperative agreement to establish and operate a Center that will provide free educational materials, including textbooks, in fully accessible media for eligible children and students enrolled in postsecondary schools. The Center will provide high-quality AEM to eligible children and students with disabilities, including individuals from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds, at no cost, in a timely manner including dedicated outreach and collaboration with stakeholders (including those in high needs communities) to increase awareness and use of AEM. As a condition of this grant, the educational materials and textbooks distributed by the Center must be in accessible formats that are of high quality and meet or exceed industry standards for accessibility (e.g., Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA Standard; EPUB 3.2 Accessibility Standards) and digital rights management. Processes, strategies, and models used in the production, dissemination, and in digital rights management must be user-friendly, efficient, and cost effective. The AEM distributed by the Center must exemplify accessibility features required to receive third-party certification for accessibility. The Center will improve access to text, images, charts, graphics, equations, and other expressions, notations, or numerical content included in educational materials. To facilitate continuous improvement and promote equity in access to free, high-quality products and services, the Center will collect and analyze relevant data on the needs of its' users and barriers encountered by children and students eligible to use, but not currently using AEM.
Eligibility
Under section 1473, the term "eligible entity" has the meaning given the term in section 1461(b) of IDEA:
- State educational agency (SEA)
- Local education agency (LEA)
- Public charter school that is a local education agency under State law
- Institution of higher education (IHE)
- Public agency not described in subparagraphs (A) through (D)
- Private nonprofit organization
- Outlying area
- Indian Tribe or a Tribal organization (as defined under section 5304 of title 25)
- For-profit organization, if the Secretary finds it appropriate in light of the purposes of a particular competition for a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement under this part.
Note: The Secretary may limit which eligible entities described above are eligible for a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement under this part to 1 or more of the categories of eligible entities described in paragraph 1 of this section.
FY 2022 Grantee
Benetech
The Delivering Revolutionary Equitable and Accessible Materials (DREAM) Center