NAD v. MIT Case Study

Filed alongside the Harvard case in 2015, the National Association of the Deaf's lawsuit against MIT challenged the accessibility of MIT's open courseware and online educational content, including MIT OpenCourseWare and edX platform materials.

Accessibility Issues Alleged

• OpenCourseWare Videos: Thousands of MIT lecture videos without accurate captions
• edX Courses: Online courses lacking accessible video content
• Automatic Captions: Reliance on inaccurate auto-generated captions
• STEM Content: Technical and mathematical content particularly inaccessible
• Global Reach: Millions of deaf/hard of hearing learners excluded from free education

Special Challenges for STEM

STEM content presents unique captioning challenges:

Challenge	Impact
Mathematical Notation	Equations and formulas difficult to convey in captions
Technical Vocabulary	Specialized terms often misinterpreted by auto-captions
Visual Diagrams	Spoken explanations of visual content need description
Code/Programming	Syntax and code requires precise representation

Settlement Requirements

MIT agreed to comprehensive accessibility improvements:

• Caption all new video content with 99% accuracy
• Remediate priority existing content
• Implement captioning quality standards
• Train content creators on accessibility
• Establish accessibility review processes
• Create accessible content guidelines

Impact on Open Education

The case established that free educational content must still be accessible:

• Open courseware falls under ADA/Section 504 requirements
• Global reach doesn't exempt institutions from US law
• STEM content requires specialized captioning expertise
• Proactive accessibility planning essential for large content libraries

Related Resources

• NAD v. Harvard Case Study
• Education Sector Accessibility Guide
• Accessible Video Guide
• All Case Studies