Justice Department Secures Agreement to Improve Web Accessibility for Public Transportation Users with Disabilities in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois
The Justice Department announced today that it has entered into a settlement agreement with the Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District (MTD) to resolve alleged violations of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Under the agreement, the MTD must make its website and mobile applications accessible for users with visual and manual impairments. Public transportation users rely on the MTD’s website and mobile applications to plan trips, check arrival times, and find fare information. The agreement requires the MTD to conform its website and mobile applications to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), Version 2.1, Level AA.
Justice Department Alleges That Chicopee, Massachusetts, Housing Authority and its Executive Director Discriminated Against Tenants on the Basis of Race, National Origin and Disability
The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts announced today that they have filed an amended complaint alleging that the Chicopee Housing Authority and its Executive Director violated federal law by discriminating against residents based on race, national origin and disability. These allegations, which are significantly broader than those in the original complaint, include claims under the Fair Housing Act (FHA), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Rehabilitation Act. The original complaint, filed in April, alleged that the defendants had discriminated against one tenant because of her disability.
The department also alleges that residents with disabilities who requested reasonable accommodations, such as transfers to first-floor or elevator-accessible units, have waited for years, even though the Housing Authority could have accommodated them.
Barnet Dulaney Perkins Eye Center, PC Complaint
The United States files this action to enforce Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (“ADA”), 42 U.S.C. §§ 12181-12189, and its implementing regulation, 28 C.F.R. Part 36, against Defendant Barnet Dulaney Perkins Eye Center, PC (“Defendant” or “BDP”), a medical provider with 24 facilities specializing in optometry and ophthalmology care.
Title III of the ADA requires that public accommodations, including medical providers, give individuals with disabilities a full and equal opportunity to access their health care services and facilities. Title III also prohibits medical providers from imposing additional fees or surcharges to cover the costs of measures that are necessary to provide individuals with disabilities with the nondiscriminatory treatment required by the ADA.
Defendant discriminates against individuals with disabilities who, because of disability, need assistance transferring to and from wheelchairs for surgery. Defendant requires such individuals to retain third-party medical support personnel to not only assist with transferring them to and from surgical tables but also to transport them to and from BDP facilities on gurneys or stretchers.