U.S. Department
of Justice
American Council of the Blind of Metropolitan Chicago, et al. v. Chicago
On April 8, 2021, the Justice Department moved to intervene in a lawsuit under Title II of the ADA and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act against the City of Chicago, and on April 14, 2021, the Department filed its complaint. The case concerns Chicago’s lack of accessible pedestrian signals (APS) at over 99% of its street intersections with pedestrian signals. APS provide safe-crossing information in a non-visual manner to allow people who are blind, deaf-blind, or have low vision to cross the street.
On March 31, 2023, the court granted summary judgment on liability to the United States and the American Council of the Blind under Title II of the ADA and Section 504. The court found that the city had provided APS at only a “miniscule portion of the whole,” and thus had failed to provide meaningful access to its network of pedestrian signals and to ensure that newly constructed signals are accessible. On November 6, 2023, the Department filed a joint proposed remedial plan.