Advocates for the deaf are suing Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, claiming discrimination over a lack of closed captioning for online courses, podcasts and other educational materials, which are exploding in popularity.
"If you were deaf or hard of hearing, you would not have access to this online content, and the online content we're talking about is being provided by two institutions that are leaders in a new movement in education," said Bill Lann Lee, a lawyer for the National Association for the Deaf, which filed class action lawsuits in federal court yesterday. "The National Association for the Deaf is interested in making sure the hard of hearing and deaf are not left out."
The lawsuits seek to compel Harvard and MIT to add closed captioning to their online materials and the NAD hopes the court action will prompt other schools to address the issue proactively.
"(The NAD) decided to sue two of the leaders in this movement, because their objective is not just to change the practices of two schools, but the practices nationally," Lee said.
In statements, both Harvard and MIT declined to comment on the suits, but said they are committed to making educational content accessible.
Harvard said new federal rules that will "provide much-needed guidance in this area" are expected to be proposed this year and the university will follow the new rules.
"Expanding access to knowledge and making online learning content accessible is of vital importance to Harvard and to educational institutions across the country," the statement said.
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