Recently the most popular online video company has been in the news about raising their prices for new members. This is understandable when many individuals are dropping their cable subscriptions to avoid high priced bills and filling their T.V. fix through paying a far less costly monthly Netflix subscription. However, what you might have missed is that Netflix is also making headlines in another way. On April 30, 2014 the FCC is forcing companies such as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon to provide closed captioning or they will be charged with the same fines as a traditional broadcasting company.
This all started in 2010 when a lawsuit was filed against Netflix. The National Association of the Deaf, Western Massachusetts, and Lee Nettles filed the suit. They are alleging that Netflix discriminated against hearing-impaired individuals by forcing them to pay higher subscription prices to receive DVDs that provided the closed captioning their online videos failed to provide. Netflix pushed back on the lawsuit, but eventually the site was forced to offer captioning for every video offered on their site.
This was the first time in history a company that operates exclusively online has faced charges pertaining to digital accessibility. There is a shift happening to require websites to follow ADA standards. Just as physical stores must provide equal opportunity to disabled individuals, so do their online counterparts. Web accessibility is on the rise in 2014 and it’s time for companies to wake up and realize that accessibility is no longer an option, it is law. If companies choose not to address the accessibility of their website they could find themselves in the same boat as Netflix.
Netflix Settlement:
This all started in 2010 when a lawsuit was filed against Netflix. The National Association of the Deaf, Western Massachusetts, and Lee Nettles filed the suit. They are alleging that Netflix discriminated against hearing-impaired individuals by forcing them to pay higher subscription prices to receive DVDs that provided the closed captioning their online videos failed to provide. Netflix pushed back on the lawsuit, but eventually the site was forced to offer captioning for every video offered on their site.
This was the first time in history a company that operates exclusively online has faced charges pertaining to digital accessibility. There is a shift happening to require websites to follow ADA standards. Just as physical stores must provide equal opportunity to disabled individuals, so do their online counterparts. Web accessibility is on the rise in 2014 and it’s time for companies to wake up and realize that accessibility is no longer an option, it is law. If companies choose not to address the accessibility of their website they could find themselves in the same boat as Netflix.
Netflix Settlement:
- Add captioning within 30 days of adding new content by 2014, in 2015 captions must done in 14 days’ time and by 2016 in 7 days’ time.
- Netflix can be used on more than 1,000 devices and for most captioning is available. Netflix has in a good faith promise, to make further efforts to make captioning work on all devices. Yet, they will not be held to make captioning work on 100% of devices.
- $755,000 to be paid to the plaintiffs’ lawyers. In addition $40,000 to go towards yearly accessibility implementation over 4 years’ time.
