NAD wins settlement against Harvard over captioning video

Harvard has settled a lawsuit over captioning. The school has agreed to make its website and online courses "friendlier" to those who are deaf or hard of hearing. The National Association of the Deaf filed the suit four years ago, saying "many of its videos and audio recordings lacked captions or used inaccurate captions." NAD CEO Howard Rosenblum said, "This lawsuit (puts) universities and colleges on notice that all aspects of their campus including their websites must be accessible to everyone." At first, Harvard tried to get the lawsuit dismissed. A judge rejected Harvard’s argument that its websites do not constitute a physical “public accommodation” covered by federal civil rights laws. The judge ruled that Harvard’s online are offerings can be seen as an extension of the campus. Read more details on the settlement from the NAD here.

NAD in ATL

The 52nd Biennial National Association of the Deaf Conference is underway in Atlanta. It runs through Saturday at the Atlanta Hilton. For more information, click here.

Blast from the NAD past

47 years ago the 28th NAD Convention took place in San Francisco. See what the National Association of the Deaf event looked like in this video that includes then Gallaudet President Leonard Elstad.

New NAD Leadership

Shane Feldman is the new RID Executive Director. The Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf announced his selection today. Feldman has served as the organization's COO for the last three years.

Netflix Suit Update

Settlement talks are under way in the lawsuit against Netflix filed by the NAD (National Association of the Deaf). The judge in the case is putting the legal proceedings on hold while the parties try to work out a compromise. NAD wants the video streaming service to provide captioning for all of its videos - something Netflix says it is working on, but not as quickly as the NAD would like to see. Read more about the lawsuit here.

Latest in NAD vs Netflix

Netflix is asking a Massachusetts judge to be allowed to appeal his decision about ADA law. The ruling Federal Judge Michael Ponsor requires the streaming company to put captioning on its Internet videos. The NAD (National Association of the Deaf) filed the lawsuit against Netflix a year ago. Netflix says the ruling is:

"..the broadest-ever extension of the ADA's scope, thereby opening the door to amorphous and seemingly limitless regulation of the Internet in a way Congress did not envision and no other court has accepted. In addition to these troubling consequences for Internet providers, this ruling now opens this case to broad-ranging litigation into every detail of, in particular, Netflix's streaming video business — from the technology it invents to make streaming possible, to its relationships with third parties in the complex supply-chain ranging from upstream video content owners to downstream manufacturers of end-user devices. Interlocutory review, to allow either confirmation or reversal of the Court's decision by the First Circuit, would help settle many of the questions raised by this case — not to mention reduce the spiraling costs of this case, which, as Plaintiffs' recent filings make clear, seeks to open Netflix's entire streaming business to scrutiny and litigation."

Netflix says ADA does not apply to the Internet but the Video Accessibility Act does.

New NAD President

The first video from Chris Wagner since becoming President of the National Association of the Deaf is posted on DeafNewsToday. Wagner was voted to the post during the 51st Biennial NAD Conference in Louisville, Kentucky.

TSA: No Deaf Harassment

The TSA says it never happened. The federal agency denies a report going around the Internet and passed around social media that a deaf student was harassed by agents last week at the Louisville airport following this year's National Association of the Deaf conference. A look at more than 100 hours of video does not support the claim, the TSA announced. The airport is small and there is only one security checkpoint. The original blog post claimed a TSA agent took candy out of a deaf students bag and called him a "f- deafie." The account where the claim was made was taken down by Tumblr. The complainer never identified himself.

NAD award

NAD gave its Accessibility Award to CPC of Rockville, Maryland. The closed captioning software company was honored by the National Association of the Deaf at its biennial conference in Louisville last week. CPC Vice President and co-founder Sid Hoffman said:

"CPC is grateful to receive the award, and proud of any contributions it has made via closed captioning software, to fostering the independence of deaf and hard of hearing individuals that make use of closed captioning in their daily lives."

CPC has more than 35 closed captioning software firsts under its belt, including the first simultaneous closed captioning/teleprompting software, the first software closed caption encoder with a U.S. patent, and software that automatically synchronizes closed captions with spoken dialogue.

NAD Biennial Conference

The National Association of the Deaf meets in Louisville, Kentucky starting this Tuesday (July 3) through Saturday (July 7). The theme of this year’s NAD conference is “Nothing About Us, Without Us!” There will be workshops, exhibits, the NAD College Bowl, Miss Deaf America Ambassador Competition and a BBQ on the closing day of the conference.

Next Stop Atlanta

The NAD has announced it will meet next in Atlanta for its 52nd Biennial NAD Conference meeting. It will take place July 1-5, 2014. The National Association of the Deaf says the event will include College Bowl Finals, a youth competition, fireworks and a festival hosted by the Georgia Association of the Deaf. The 2012 NAD Conference takes place in a few days (July 3-7) in Louisville, Kentucky.

And the Winners are...

A list of award recipients at next month's NAD conference here.

Q & A with Candidates

Interviews with people who are up for election to the NAD board here.

Gov Drops NAD

South Dakota's governor will not speak at this year's NAD. Dennis Daugaard withdrew after complaints arose about his views on gay marriage and other issues. NAD responded to the complaints with this video posted below on DeafNewsToday.com.

NAD Controversy

There's a controversy over an NAD speaker at this year's biennial meeting in Louisville. The National Association of the Deaf meets in the Kentucky town from July 3-7.  South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard is scheduled to speak on the importance of the deaf community taking part in the political process, particularly when it comes to advocating for their rights. Daugaard is considered the first CODA (Child of Deaf Adults) to serve as a governor. He grew up using ASL and he even worked as a certified interpreter. However, there are complaints in the LGBT community that "Daugaard's view doesn't belong at the NAD conference" and his invitation should be cancelled. The Republican opposes many of the goals of the deaf LGBT community such as same-sex marriage. Some have accused Daugaard of having a hand in the recent closing of the South Dakota School for the Deaf in Sioux Falls, but he was not governor at the time it was shut down. In response to the controversy, NAD has reportedly added a LGBT luncheon to the conference and a LGBT equality policy.

Adventures in Kentucky

If you are heading to Louisville for the NAD Conference in July, here's a video in ASL explaining some things you can do in town.

Gov to Speak at NAD

South Dakota's governor will speak at NAD's biennial meeting in Louisville on July 6. The National Association of the Deaf will meet in the Kentucky town from July 3-7. Dennis Daugaard will discuss the importance of the deaf community taking part in the political process, particularly when it comes to advocating for their rights. Daugaard is considered the first CODA (Child of Deaf Adults) to serve as a governor. He grew up using ASL and he even worked as a certified interpreter. The theme of this year’s NAD conference is “Nothing About Us, Without Us!”

Sanderson Passes

Former NAD president Robert G. Sanderson has died at the age of 92 at his home in Utah.  Sanderson graduated from Gallaudet with a chemistry degree and went on to earn a doctorate in educational administration from Brigham Young University. Affectionately known as Sandie, he served on the NAD board for 14 years and became its president in 1964. He was re-elected in 1966.

End of Miss Deaf America

NAD will hold its final Miss Deaf America Competition at the group's conference in Louisville next year. In its place, the National Association of the Deaf will start the NAD Miss Deaf America Ambassador Program beginning with the 2014 conference. The new program is not be a pageant. Instead, it will focus on selecting youth to serve as goodwill ambassadors for the deaf and hard of hearing.

Debate: "Do States Need Schools for the Deaf?"

The National Association of the Deaf is responding to the New York Times published debate as to whether "States Need Schools for the Deaf". You can read it here.