CNN Being Sued For Lack Of Closed-Captioning Online
Posted: 6:48 pm PDT June 15, 2011
ALAMEDA CO., Calif. -- A class action lawsuit was filed in Alameda County Superior Court Wednesday alleging that CNN.com discriminates against people who are deaf or hard of hearing by failing to provide any captioning of its online videos on its website.
The lawyers who filed the suit said they believe it is the first of its kind in the country.
The suit says videos of breaking news events are posted on news websites allowing the public to access critical information but, CNN.com, which it says is one of the largest media and entertainment companies in the world, refuses to provide any captioning of its online videos.
The lack of captioning excludes the deaf and partially deaf communities from accessing video news content on its website, the suit alleges.
The suit was filed by the Greater Los Angeles Agency on Deafness, or GLAD, on behalf of its members with hearing loss as well as three individual plaintiffs, one of whom lives in Alameda County.
The plaintiffs are represented by Disability Rights Advocates, a non-profit disability rights legal center based in Berkeley, and Goldstein, Demchak, Baller, Borgen & Dardarian, an Oakland law firm.
Anna Levine, an attorney with Disability Rights Advocates, said GLAD has been writing letters to CNN.com since late last year to ask for captioning but the website "has refused to commit to it.
"Levine said, "There were many months of effort to try to accomplish the captioning without litigation" and the lawsuit was only filed as a last resort.
She said CNN.com has never cited cost as a factor in not providing captioning, saying only that it does not believe it is required by law to have captioning.
A spokeswoman for CNN.com, which is a subsidiary of Time Warner Inc., declined to comment on the suit today, saying it had not yet been served.
The lawsuit alleges that CNN.com is violating California's anti-discrimination statutes, the Unruh Civil Rights Act and the Disabled Persons Act.
It seeks an injunction requiring CNN.com "to take steps necessary to ensure that the benefits and advantages offered by CNN.com are fully and equally enjoyable to persons who are deaf or have hearing loss in California."
Levine said the suit also seeks damages of between $1,000 and $4,000 for each violation of California's laws, which could total between $5 million and $10 million.
But Levine said the main focus of the lawsuit is getting CNN.com "to fix its Internet site to provide equal access" to people who are deaf or hard of hearing, not on damages.
The suit says broadcast and cable television content must be closed-captioned under federal communications law and there is readily available technology that would enable online news sites to provide similar closed captions.
The suit says, "Captioning can be readily provided as an option for hearing-impaired visitors to CNN.com without significant difficulty or expense and without interfering with the experience that non-disabled visitors to CNN.com enjoy."
Levine said coverage of the upcoming presidential election is an example of the importance of having videos with captions.
She said body language and facial cues are a central part of communication for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing and videos with captions would allow them to view speeches and debates in a meaningful manner.
Levine said she did not know of any news websites that provide captioning of online videos.
She said the plaintiffs chose to sue CNN.com "because it's an industry leader and we want to send a message to the industry that they must comply with anti-discrimination laws."
The lawyers who filed the suit said they believe it is the first of its kind in the country.
The suit says videos of breaking news events are posted on news websites allowing the public to access critical information but, CNN.com, which it says is one of the largest media and entertainment companies in the world, refuses to provide any captioning of its online videos.
The lack of captioning excludes the deaf and partially deaf communities from accessing video news content on its website, the suit alleges.
The suit was filed by the Greater Los Angeles Agency on Deafness, or GLAD, on behalf of its members with hearing loss as well as three individual plaintiffs, one of whom lives in Alameda County.
The plaintiffs are represented by Disability Rights Advocates, a non-profit disability rights legal center based in Berkeley, and Goldstein, Demchak, Baller, Borgen & Dardarian, an Oakland law firm.
Anna Levine, an attorney with Disability Rights Advocates, said GLAD has been writing letters to CNN.com since late last year to ask for captioning but the website "has refused to commit to it.
"Levine said, "There were many months of effort to try to accomplish the captioning without litigation" and the lawsuit was only filed as a last resort.
She said CNN.com has never cited cost as a factor in not providing captioning, saying only that it does not believe it is required by law to have captioning.
A spokeswoman for CNN.com, which is a subsidiary of Time Warner Inc., declined to comment on the suit today, saying it had not yet been served.
The lawsuit alleges that CNN.com is violating California's anti-discrimination statutes, the Unruh Civil Rights Act and the Disabled Persons Act.
It seeks an injunction requiring CNN.com "to take steps necessary to ensure that the benefits and advantages offered by CNN.com are fully and equally enjoyable to persons who are deaf or have hearing loss in California."
Levine said the suit also seeks damages of between $1,000 and $4,000 for each violation of California's laws, which could total between $5 million and $10 million.
But Levine said the main focus of the lawsuit is getting CNN.com "to fix its Internet site to provide equal access" to people who are deaf or hard of hearing, not on damages.
The suit says broadcast and cable television content must be closed-captioned under federal communications law and there is readily available technology that would enable online news sites to provide similar closed captions.
The suit says, "Captioning can be readily provided as an option for hearing-impaired visitors to CNN.com without significant difficulty or expense and without interfering with the experience that non-disabled visitors to CNN.com enjoy."
Levine said coverage of the upcoming presidential election is an example of the importance of having videos with captions.
She said body language and facial cues are a central part of communication for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing and videos with captions would allow them to view speeches and debates in a meaningful manner.
Levine said she did not know of any news websites that provide captioning of online videos.
She said the plaintiffs chose to sue CNN.com "because it's an industry leader and we want to send a message to the industry that they must comply with anti-discrimination laws."
Copyright 2011 by KTVU.com and Bay City News. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Hend Al-Showaier
Manager, Deaf and Sign Language Program
Prince Salman Center for Disability Research
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Mailing address (Home) :
P.O. Box 26031
Riyadh 11486, Saudi Arabia.
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