[Nfbmt] National Federation of the Blind Applauds DOJ Settlement with edX

[Bruce&Joy Breslauer]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:
Chris Danielsen
Director of Public Relations
National Federation of the Blind
(410) 659-9314, extension 2330
(410) 262-1281 (Cell)
cdanielsen at nfb.org

National Federation of the Blind Applauds DOJ Settlement with edX

Baltimore, Maryland (April 2, 2015): The National Federation of the Blind
<http://www.nfb.org/> , the nation's leading advocate for equal access by
the blind to educational technology,  today applauded a settlement agreement
<http://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/united-states-reaches-settlement-provider
-massive-open-online-courses-make-its-content>  reached by the United States
Department of Justice with edX, Inc., a nonprofit platform created by MIT
and Harvard University for select universities to offer massive open online
courses (MOOCs) to students throughout  the world. The settlement agreement,
which resolves allegations of discrimination under Title III of the
Americans with Disabilities Act, requires edX to make its website, mobile
apps, content management system, and other components of its MOOC platform
accessible to the blind and other students with disabilities. edX will also
provide guidance to developers of MOOCs that use its platform to help make
course content fully accessible. The settlement was announced by Carmen M.
Ortiz, U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, and Acting Assistant
Attorney General Vanita Gupta of the Civil Rights Division of the United
States Department of Justice.
 
Mark A. Riccobono, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said:
"We applaud this landmark settlement agreement, which sends a clear message
to providers of online courses and educational technology that their content
and services must be accessible to students with disabilities. The creation
and distribution of inaccessible educational content and technology denies
students with disabilities an equal education and is therefore a form of
discrimination against them. Indeed, the propagation of inaccessible
education materials is particularly egregious because digital information is
inherently accessible and is only made inaccessible by flawed platform
design. We commend the United States Department of Justice for its
commitment to equal access for all students, and we commend edX for agreeing
to take the needed steps to provide that access."
 

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