[Nfbnet-members-list] National Federation of the Blind Applauds DOJ Settlement with edX

[Wichmann, Jessica]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

National Federation of the Blind Applauds DOJ Settlement with edX
Baltimore, Maryland (April 2, 2015): The 
<http://www.nfb.org/>National Federation of the Blind, the nation's 
leading advocate for equal access by the blind to educational 
technology,  today applauded a 
<http://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/united-states-reaches-settlement-provider-massive-open-online-courses-make-its-content>settlement 
agreement 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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About the National Federation of the Blind

The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the 
characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise 
the expectations of blind people, because low expectations create 
obstacles between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life 
you want; blindness is not what holds you back.










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