Textbook and Instructional Materials Administration Handbook: publisher rule on electronic files for Braille textbooks (NIMAS)

Part 196 of Title 7 of the Mississippi Administrative Code, the Textbook and Instructional Materials Administration Handbook of the Mississippi Department of Education, requires textbook publishers to follow its publisher regulations and procedures to participate in the state adoption process.

Its provision on electronic files for Braille textbooks requires publishers and vendors to have available a hard copy and electronic media for Braille versions of literary and non-literary subjects under the conditions of section 37-43-24 of the Mississippi Code. Publishers must provide an electronic file that includes transcribed, formatted Braille files, including tactile images, that adhere to the standards of the Braille Authority of North America.

On request, publishers and vendors must furnish a hard copy and electronic media within ten working days to the Mississippi Schools for the Deaf and the Blind. A publishing company that violates a provision of the handbook may have its textbooks left out of consideration for adoption, or the State Board of Education may impose any other penalty it deems appropriate.

Section 37-43-19 of the Mississippi Code authorizes the State Board of Education to promulgate rules and regulations for the purchase, care, use, disposal, distribution and accounting for all books furnished under the textbook chapter. Section 37-23-199(2) of the Blind Persons' Literacy Rights and Education Act directs the State Board of Education to promulgate and publish regulations, policies and procedures for the administrative operation of the Mississippi Instructional Resource Center.