<p><font size="2" style="background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0)">The Justice Department announced that it has filed Statements of Interest in two private cases pending in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts,<a href="http://links.govdelivery.com/track?type=click&enid=ZWFzPTEmbWFpbGluZ2lkPTIwMTUwNjI1LjQ2NDg0ODUxJm1lc3NhZ2VpZD1NREItUFJELUJVTC0yMDE1MDYyNS40NjQ4NDg1MSZkYXRhYmFzZWlkPTEwMDEmc2VyaWFsPTE3NDk0Mjc3JmVtYWlsaWQ9dmFzcXVlekBzYmNjLmVkdSZ1c2VyaWQ9dmFzcXVlekBzYmNjLmVkdSZmbD0mZXh0cmE9TXVsdGl2YXJpYXRlSWQ9JiYm&&&100&&&http://www.ada.gov/briefs/harvard_soi.pdf" title="Link to Harvard Statement of Interest PDF" target="_blank" style="text-decoration:none">National Association of the Deaf, et al., v. Harvard University, et al</a><em>., </em>and <a href="http://links.govdelivery.com/track?type=click&enid=ZWFzPTEmbWFpbGluZ2lkPTIwMTUwNjI1LjQ2NDg0ODUxJm1lc3NhZ2VpZD1NREItUFJELUJVTC0yMDE1MDYyNS40NjQ4NDg1MSZkYXRhYmFzZWlkPTEwMDEmc2VyaWFsPTE3NDk0Mjc3JmVtYWlsaWQ9dmFzcXVlekBzYmNjLmVkdSZ1c2VyaWQ9dmFzcXVlekBzYmNjLmVkdSZmbD0mZXh0cmE9TXVsdGl2YXJpYXRlSWQ9JiYm&&&101&&&http://www.ada.gov/briefs/mit_soi.pdf" title="Link to MIT Statement of Interest PDF" target="_blank" style="text-decoration:none">National Association of the Deaf, et al., v. Massachusetts Institute of Technology</a><em>. </em>In these cases, plaintiffs allege that Harvard and MIT violated the ADA and Section 504 by denying equal access to free online courses and lectures to individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing.  Specifically, plaintiffs allege that Harvard and MIT fail to provide appropriate auxiliary aids, benefits and services, including captioning. The U. S. Department of Education, which enforces Section 504 against post-secondary institutions such as Harvard and MIT, is a signatory to the Statements of Interest.</font></p><p><br></p><div><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="height:1px;width:1px"><tbody><tr><td><font size="2"><span style="background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0)"> </span></font></td></tr></tbody></table><p><font size="2"><span style="background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0)"><br></span></font></p></div><font size="2"><span style="background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0)"><img src="http://links.govdelivery.com:80/track?enid=ZWFzPTEmbWFpbGluZ2lkPTIwMTUwNjI1LjQ2NDg0ODUxJm1lc3NhZ2VpZD1NREItUFJELUJVTC0yMDE1MDYyNS40NjQ4NDg1MSZkYXRhYmFzZWlkPTEwMDEmdHlwZT1vcGVuJnNlcmlhbD0xNzQ5NDI3NyZlbWFpbGlkPXZhc3F1ZXpAc2JjYy5lZHUmdXNlcmlkPXZhc3F1ZXpAc2JjYy5lZHUmZmw9JmV4dHJhPU11bHRpdmFyaWF0ZUlkPSYmJg==" width="1" height="1" alt="" style="border-width: 0px; border-style: hidden;"></span></font>