Press Releases

NFB and Disability Advocates Charge Federal Health Agency With Civil Rights Violations

February 10, 2016
(Springfield, MA, February 10, 2016): The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) and individual plaintiffs Juan Figueroa, Derek Manners, and Martti Mallinen announced the filing of a major federal lawsuit today in U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts, Western Division. The lawsuit charges the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) through its sub-agency, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and its CMS sub-contractors, with systemically violating the civil rights of blind Medicare recipients.

NAD and Gogo Agree to Make Closed Captions Available on In-Flight Entertainment Systems

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January 26, 2016
Deaf and hard of hearing airline passengers will soon have closed captioned, on-demand in-flight entertainment videos. The National Association of the Deaf (NAD), a non-profit civil rights organization of, by, and for deaf and hard of hearing individuals, and Gogo LLC, the global leader in providing broadband connectivity solutions and wireless entertainment to the aviation industry, have reached a historic agreement for Gogo to make closed captioning available for 100 percent of programming content sourced by Gogo and streamed through its on-demand in-flight entertainment service, Gogo Vision.

Self-Driving Cars the Focus of Latest Report from the NCD

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November 2, 2015
Concord, NH – On Monday, November 2, 2015, the National Council on Disability (NCD) released “Self Driving Cars: Mapping Access to a Technology Revolution.” DREDF's Executive Director Susan Henderson and Senior Policy Analyst Marilyn Golden conducted the research and wrote this forward looking report.

Antioch School Officials Agree to Groundbreaking Collaboration

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March 26, 2015
Officials of the Antioch Unified School District have announced a groundbreaking effort to identify the causes of disparities in school discipline by examining the subtle, complex, and often unintentional ways in which race, disability and discipline intersect.

National Association of the Deaf Sues Harvard and MIT for Discrimination in Public Online Content

February 12, 2015
The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) and three deaf and hard of hearing individuals filed federal class action lawsuits today against Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), charging that the schools discriminate against deaf and hard of hearing people by failing to caption the vast and varied array of online content they make available to the general public, including massive open online courses (MOOCs).

National Federation of the Blind Reaches Agreement with U.S. Department of Education

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October 8, 2014
The agreement commits the DOE and its contracted student loan servicers to make websites, forms, and documents related to its Direct Loan program accessible to blind applicants and borrowers. NFB was represented by DREDF and Brown, Goldstein & Levy.

New Project Pioneers Enforcing the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Globally

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September 8, 2014
Big News! DREDF joins partners International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), Mobility International USA (MIUSA), U.S. International Council on Disabilities (USICD) and the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor of the U.S. Department of State in a new project: RightsNow! Strong Communities through Enforcing the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

NAD and Netflix Reach Historic Agreement

October 10, 2012
Springfield, Massachusetts — Netflix Inc. and the National Association of the Deaf (NAD), a nonprofit organization, have submitted a joint Consent Decree to a federal court in Springfield, Mass., ensuring closed captions in 100% of Netflix streaming content within two years.

Orange County Reaches Agreement on Changes to General Relief Program

For Immediate Release — August 10, 2012
Orange County Superior Court to Determine if Settlement of Class Action Lawsuit Involving General Relief Program Settlement is Fair and Reasonable
Orange County, California — The County of Orange has reached agreement on a comprehensive set of changes that will be made to the County’s General Relief Program (GR).