For months the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) and other Deaf rights advocates have been sending request after request to the White House, asking President Trump to provide American Sign Language for his daily coronavirus task force press conferences.
And for months there has been no response.
Now the NAD is making sure its request will not be ignored.
The organization, along with five Deaf plaintiffs, have filed a lawsuit in an effort to compel Trump and the White House to provide ASL interpreters during the Covid-19 press conferences.
CEO Howard Rosenblum posted a message on NAD’s Facebook page saying the reason for the lawsuit is to ensure Deaf and Hard of Hearing citizens receive equal access to important Covid-19 information, in ASL, not just with captioning, which has a tendency to be delayed and inaccurate.
The lawsuit alleges the White House is in violation of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act which mandates access for people with disabilities to all White House communications, especially during public health crises.
A DC District Judge has been assigned to the case.
The White House has yet to respond to the complaint.
Posted – 8.4.20