OSERS: OSEP: Educational Technology, Media, and Materials for Individuals with Disabilities: Educational Materials in Accessible Formats for Children and Students with Visual Impairments and Print Disabilities CFDA Number 84.327D | ED GRANTS 052417 002

Opportunity Information: Apply for ED GRANTS 052417 002

This grant opportunity comes from the U.S. Department of Education, within OSERS and the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), under the Educational Technology, Media, and Materials for Individuals with Disabilities Program. The specific competition is titled "Educational Materials in Accessible Formats for Children and Students with Visual Impairments and Print Disabilities" and it is listed under CFDA (now commonly referred to as an assistance listing) 84.327D. The overall aim is to improve educational results for students with disabilities by increasing the availability and effective use of accessible, classroom-ready instructional materials and related supports.

The program’s purpose is framed around four connected goals. First, it focuses on improving outcomes for students with disabilities by promoting the development, demonstration, and use of technology. Second, it supports educational activities that have clear instructional value in classrooms serving students with disabilities, rather than technology for its own sake. Third, it includes support for captioning and video description appropriate for classroom use, reflecting an emphasis on access to multimedia content as part of everyday instruction. Fourth, and most centrally for this competition, it prioritizes ensuring that accessible educational materials (often referred to as AEM) reach students with disabilities in a timely manner, with a particular emphasis on children and students who are blind or have low vision, as well as students with print disabilities who cannot effectively use standard print materials.

The award mechanism for this opportunity is a cooperative agreement, which typically indicates a more substantial level of federal involvement during the project period than a standard grant. In practice, cooperative agreements often mean the Department of Education may collaborate with the awardee through ongoing technical direction, review, or coordination expectations, so applicants generally need to be prepared for active partnership and regular performance monitoring tied to federal project goals and measures.

The funding opportunity information provided indicates there was an anticipated single award (ExpectedAwards: 1) with an award ceiling of $8,500,000. The opportunity category is discretionary, and the activity category is education. The original closing date listed for the posted competition was July 10, 2017, and the opportunity number is ED GRANTS 052417 002. While those dates are historical for this particular posting, the structure and requirements described highlight how OSEP runs these competitions and what applicants are generally expected to do to be considered responsive.

Eligibility is broad and spans many types of entities that might contribute to accessible materials production, distribution, coordination, research-to-practice translation, or statewide and national implementation support. Eligible applicants include State educational agencies (SEAs); local educational agencies (LEAs), including public charter schools treated as LEAs under state law; institutions of higher education (both public/state controlled and private); other public agencies; private nonprofit organizations (including those with and without 501(c)(3) status); freely associated states and outlying areas; Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations; and for-profit organizations (other than small businesses, as listed in the source data). This wide eligibility reflects the reality that accessible-format ecosystems often require coordination across K-12 systems, higher education, nonprofits with specialized expertise, and private-sector production or technology capabilities.

Applications for this competition were required to be submitted electronically through Grants.gov, using the Grants.gov Apply workflow. Applicants would download the application package, complete it offline, and then upload it for submission through the portal. Email submissions were not permitted. A notable detail is the search instruction: applicants were required to search by the CFDA number without the alpha suffix, meaning they would search for "84.327" rather than "84.327D" to locate the correct package in Grants.gov. The synopsis also strongly emphasizes that the authoritative requirements, priorities, selection criteria, performance measures, and detailed submission instructions are contained in the official Federal Register notice, and applicants are expected to rely on that notice for the full set of rules, program contacts, and any pre-application requirements.

In practical terms, the opportunity is designed to strengthen the pipeline that delivers instructional materials in formats that students with visual impairments and print disabilities can use at the same time as their peers. That typically includes accessible digital formats and other specialized formats, and it often involves coordination with schools and states so materials arrive without delays that can undermine instruction. The emphasis on classroom appropriateness, captioning, and video description also signals that accessibility is expected across the broader instructional environment, not limited to textbooks alone.

• The Department of Education in the education sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "OSERS: OSEP: Educational Technology, Media, and Materials for Individuals with Disabilities: Educational Materials in Accessible Formats for Children and Students with Visual Impairments and Print Disabilities CFDA Number 84.327D" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 84.327.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2017-05-24.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2017-07-10. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $8,500,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For-profit organizations other than small businesses, Others.

Apply for ED GRANTS 052417 002

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