Harvard and M.I.T. Sued Over Failing to Caption Online Courses

Re:Harvard and M.I.T. Sued Over Failing to Caption Online Co... by libria on Thursday February 12, 2015 @01:31PM (#9040390)

I generally agree with you, but the counter argument would be something like, If you opened a soup kitchen downtown to provide food for the homeless, should you be required to install accessibility facilities (ramps, elevator, bathroom, etc.)?

I know the law says yes, but is it what we want? Have the extra building codes discouraged potential altruists?

I wonder if there's a government subsidy for that part of it, and if so could a similar provision be allowed for educational institutions opening their courseware.

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Re:Harvard and M.I.T. Sued Over Failing to Caption Online Co... by Agustus on Thursday February 12, 2015 @01:38PM (#9040444)

Absolutely, people will not buy / old buildings in buildings older than ADA passage date because there is so much money that needs to be spent to retrofit it to code. Building a new building is cheaper long term, but how can you start a soup kitchen to gauge demand.

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Re:Harvard and M.I.T. Sued Over Failing to Caption Online Co... by handojin on Friday February 13, 2015 @01:36AM (#9043194)

The standard is reasonable accommodation. Having someone walk the soup to people unable to climb the steps might perhaps constitute reasonable accommodation and not be an undue burden on the soup kitchen (which we'll assume for the sake of argument to be the recipient of a federal grant).

The law is not as black and white as you make it out to be.

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