CES Website Denies Access to Deaf, Violating ADA, Alleges Brooklyn Lawsuit

Jay Winegard, the legally deaf Queens, New York, resident responsible for filing dozens of Americans with Disabilities Act lawsuits against various enterprises since July 2019, is now targeting CTA in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn with his first known ADA complaint against a trade association. All of Winegard's suits allege inaccessibility to online content through lack of closed captioning or other assistive measures violates the ADA rights of those with hearing disabilities. CTA “excludes the deaf and hard of hearing” from “full and equal participation” in its CES website, CES.tech, in breach of the 1990 statute, said the Christmas Day complaint (in Pacer). Like all of Winegard’s lawsuits, it seeks class-action status on behalf of all people in the U.S. with hearing disabilities. “Without closed captioning deaf and hard-of-hearing people cannot enjoy video content” on CES.tech “while the general public can,” it said. CES.tech qualifies as a “place of public accommodation” that “denies equal access” to the deaf and hearing-impaired under the scope and meaning of the ADA, it said. CTA didn't comment Monday.