NAD Presses DOJ to Tackle Deaf and Hard of Hearing Legal Issues

On Wednesday, November 10, 2010, the National Association of the Deaf (NAD), along with other disability rights advocates met with Tom Perez, the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division with the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). The DOJ described significant advances that they have made in defending the rights of people with disabilities through various litigation and settlement agreements. We shared that we are pleased that the DOJ is investing more in enforcing the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and reaching out to the cross-disability community; however, more work needed to be done to preserve the rights of deaf and hard of hearing community. The NAD requested that the DOJ to respond to financial institutions that refuse telecommunications relay calls, insufficient captioning in movie theaters, and lack of captioning and other effective communication auxiliary aids in sports stadiums. We look forward to working closely with the DOJ on the concerns we discussed, in addition to several other crucial issues affecting the deaf and hard of hearing community.