Major podcast providers sued for ‘inaccessibility’ in US lawsuit

Three American podcast platforms have had a legal case launched against them for “not [making] transcripts or captions available” on their content, as part of a new lawsuit from the National Association of the Deaf (NAD).

SiriusXM and Stitcher offer podcasts featuring Marvel characters and scientist Bill Nye respectively, while Pandora is a podcast recommendation service.

Together with Disability Rights Advocates, NAD allege that the three companies’ failure to include transcripts or captions means “more than 48 million deaf and hard of hearing Americans are denied full and equal enjoyment of the content they offer their hearing users”.

“These failures to provide equal access violate the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as well as state and local New York law,” they claim.

The NAD’s CEO, Howard A. Rosenblum, said in a press release: “Podcasts are the latest form of entertainment, and it is imperative that deaf and hard of hearing people not be left behind.

“SiriusXM, Stitcher, and Pandora have a duty under federal, state, and city laws to ensure their podcasts are fully accessible.”

Emily Seelenfreund, DRA staff attorney, added: “SiriusXM, Stitcher, and Pandora’s complete failure to consider access for individuals who are deaf and hard of hearing is an embarrassment and an abject violation of federal and local disability law.”

Five Deaf Americans have joined with NAD to take the legal action, which they hope will “end  [the trio’s] discriminatory business practices”.

One of the plaintiffs, Dr Amber Martin, said: “Access to information and entertainment is as interesting and important to deaf and hard of hearing people as it is to others. There have been many times when someone told me about something they heard on a podcast and it sparked my interest but there was no transcript.

“It’s disappointing not to be able to participate in the conversations with friends, but especially frustrating to know that I’m locked out of a lot of information I’d like to have.”

Sirius XM, Stitcher and Pandora have been approached by The Limping Chicken for comment.

Photo: Matt Botsford/Unsplash.

By Liam O’Dell. Liam is an award-winning Deaf freelance journalist and campaigner from Bedfordshire. He can be found talking about disability, theatre, politics and more on Twitter and on his website.

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Update – 15.12.21 – 22:45: When asked about the impact this lawsuit may have on the UK and other countries, Mr Rosenblum  told The Limping Chicken: “As platforms become more global, it is our hope that enforcement of accessibility mandates in any country including ours will benefit people everywhere.

“We often get thanks from deaf and hard of hearing consumers from across the world for our work in NAD v. Netflix that made streaming videos captioned for everyone including in countries where captioning of television programs are not available.”