I believe that a society is, in large part, defined by the way it cares for its weaker members. There is no doubt that our friends, family members and acquaintances with disabilities are the ones who suffer most due to the lack of basic facilities, versus the “lucky” ones that do not give it a second thought. The younger generation working hard towards getting an education deserves special attention.
While we enjoy the webinars, online courses and training sessions that help us become better professionals, the same cannot be said about our friends with hearing or vision problems.
It is our firm belief that education should be accessible to everyone. Your state should do everything in its power to ensure closed captions and audio descriptions are available for instructional videos to ensure equal opportunities are provided for all parties. Private schools and universities should also undertake their share of the burden.
With over 36 million deaf or hard of hearing citizens, the US is definitely leading the way with continuous efforts to pass several federal and state laws related to closed captioning. Nonetheless, the fast growth of online video has left the accessibility initiatives far behind. Some educational institutions have made sincere efforts to provide better access services, but most have much room for improvement in that area.
As accessibility laws become more stringent, the institutions that have not made an effort to comply will find themselves at a disadvantage and may find themselves on a high speed treadmill in at attempt to fulfill legal requirements.
The next time you are studying, take a moment to think about an education institution and consider – how good is their education system?
Haymillian advocates for the creation of accessible closed captioned and audio described educational materials in schools, universities and online.
Noteworthy court rulings on the subject
- The National Association of the Deaf vs Netflix
A precedent has been set that might have implications for online video interfaces, particularly for educational institutions or enterprise organizations.
- Current:
Advocates for the deaf on Thursday filed federal lawsuits against Harvard and M.I.T., saying both universities violated antidiscrimination laws by failing to provide closed captioning in their online lectures, courses, podcasts and other educational materials. (Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/13/education/harvard-and-mit-sued-over-failing-to-caption-online-courses.html)
For more on the US legislative acts that impact the subject please refer to:
- Section 508 – part of the Rehabilitation Act.
- Section 504 – part of the Rehabilitation Act. Also comprises Web-based communications for educational institutions and government agencies.
- The Americans with Disabilities Act – covers federal, state, and local jurisdictions.
Haymillian will be updating this article with further information on the legislative acts in EU in the near future.
