>From the web page http://www.bbb.org/library/ada-excp.html BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU Excerpts from the series of nine ADA Compliance Guides: Access Equals Opportunity Your Guide to the Americans With Disabilities Act Overview Of The Americans With Disabilities Act * Introduction * Actions that are discriminatory * Effective Communication With the Public * Removal of architectural barriers: What is "Readily Achievable"? * Landlord and tenant - Allocation of responsibility for complying with Title III of the ADA * Tax incentives SHOPS & SERVICES * Are small shops and services considered to be places of public accommodation? * Are shops that offer parking required to provide accessible parking spaces for people with "handicap" tags or placards? If such parking is required, how many spaces must be provided? Are shops required to stock special goods for persons with disabilities? RETAIL STORES * Are retail stores required to have TTYs (text telephones for people who are deaf or hard of hearing)? * Must retail stores allow service animals, including guide dogs, to accompany customers with disabilities into stores? * Do dressing rooms need to be accessible? * Are clothing stores required to provide assistance in dressing rooms to people with disabilities? * How can a retail establishment communicate with a customer who is deaf or hard of hearing or who has a speech impairment? TRAVEL & TOUR AGENTS * Must agencies and other offices allow service animals, including guide dogs, to accompany clients into their facilities? * Must agencies install visual alarms? * Can a cruise ship or tour company insist that a person with a disabilitytravel with a companion? * How does the ADA address the physical accessibility and construction of cruise ships? MEDICAL OFFICES * Can health care facilities refer a patient or client with a disability to another practitioner solely because the other practitioner is familiar with the patient's type of disability? * How can a health care facility determine whether its premises are accessible to people who use wheelchairs or other mobility devices? What steps must they take to provide access? * What assistance must health care facilities provide for patients and clients who use wheelchairs or other mobility devices to ensure equal and effective treatment and services? GROCERY STORES * How can grocery stores make their merchandise accessible to customers with various disabilities? * If a grocery store is staffed with only a single cashier, is the cashier required to leave the cash register to assist a customer with a disability? * Is a grocery store required to purchase special items for customers with disabilities? CAR SALES & SERVICE * Are automotive sales establishments required to provide vehicle hand controls so a customer can test drive a car? * What other alternative methods can automotive sales establishments use to deliver services if it is not readily achievable to remove barriers to "getting through the door"? * Are automotive rental establishments required to provide vehicle hand controls so a customer who needs them can rent a car? * Is an auto rental establishment required to provide a special operator's dashboard identification card so customers with disabilities may use accessible"handicap "parking spaces? PROFESSIONAL OFFICES * If a professional office is in an historic building, is it exempt from the requirements of the ADA? * How can a professional service provider communicate with a client who is deaf or hard of hearing or who has a speech impairment? * How can a professional perform a service that requires confidential communication or written materials with a client who is deaf or hard of hearing? * Must a professional office that is located within a private residence be accessible? RESTAURANTS & BARS * What special services might restaurants and bars provide to customers with vision impairments? * Must restaurants and bars allow service animals, including guide dogs, to accompany customers with disabilities into restaurants? * What other services are restaurants required to provide to customers with disabilities? FUN & FITNESS CENTERS * How can a recreation or fitness facility determine whether its premises are accessible to people who use wheelchairs or other mobility devices? What steps must be taken to provide access? * Are recreation and fitness facilities required to provide any assistance to individuals with disabilities so they can participate in the facilities' programs and activities? * Must fitness centers provide accessible rest rooms and showers? How can these facilities be made accessible? ---------- Overview * Introduction * Actions that are discriminatory * Effective Communication With the Public * Removal of architectural barriers: What is "Readily Achievable"? * Landlord and tenant - Allocation of responsibility for complying with Title III of the ADA * Tax incentives Introduction The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) is the only comprehensive civil rights law for people with disabilities. The ADA calls on businesses to make their goods and services easily accessible to people with disabilities. The ADA was enacted to eliminate discrimination against people with disabilities by ensuring equal opportunities in: employment, state and local government services and programs, places of public accommodation, public and private transportation, and telecommunications. This series of guides provides an overview of the Public Accommodations section of the ADA (Title III) and, specific to each industry, answers more detailed questions for existing facilities and current policies and practices. Actions that are discriminatory The ADA identifies and prohibits actions that discriminate against people with disabilities. Denial of the right to participate and unequal or separate treatment are prohibited by the ADA. For example, a business cannot ask a person with a disability to leave the premises because an employee or another customer is uncomfortable with that person's disability or because its insurance company conditions coverage or rates on the absence of people with disabilities. Nor could people with disabilities be limited to being served only at certain times of the day when no other clients are present, like after regular business hours Effective communication with the public Public accommodations are required to ensure that their communications with customers or clients who are deaf or hard of hearing or who have speech or vision impairments are effective. Effective communication can often be achieved by using "auxiliary aids and services" such as qualified sign language interpreters; written materials; assistive listening devices; TTYs (text telephones for people who are deaf or hard of hearing); taped, Braille, or large print materials; readers; and other communication tools. The auxiliary aid requirement is flexible. The goal is to find an effective means of communication- appropriate to the particular circumstance. For example, jotting down prices on a note pad for shoe repair should suffice for some customers who are deaf or hard of hearing. A qualified interpreter may be necessary in situations regarding health, legal, or financial matters. Whether or not an interpreter is needed depends upon: * a deaf person's communications skills * context of the communication * number of people involved * importance of the communication * whether the information is complex or lengthy. A business is not required to provide an auxiliary aid or service that would fundamentally alter the nature of the goods or services being provided or cause an "undue burden" for the business. "Undue burden" is defined as significant difficulty or expense when considered in light of a variety of factors including the nature and cost of the auxiliary aid or service and the overall financial and other resources of the business. The undue burden standard is intended to be applied on a case-by-case basis. Removal of architectural barriers: What is "Readily Achievable"? "Readily achievable" means "easily accomplishable and able to be carried out without much difficulty or expense." In other words, removal of a barrier should be relatively inexpensive. Architectural barriers are elements of a facility that prevent or impede access by people with disabilities. The ADA requires that public accommodations remove architectural barriers where readily achievable, to ensure equal access for customers, clients, or patrons. Examples of barriers are curbs and steps; narrow doorways and aisles; rest room stalls that are too narrow for use by a person who uses a wheelchair; and inaccessible drinking fountains and telephones. Examples of barrier removal include providing a ramp for one or even several steps, widening doorways, reconfiguring display shelves to increase aisle width, moving toilet stall partitions, installing grab bars, and repositioning drinking fountains and telephones. Barrier removal that involves extensive restructuring or burdensome expense is not required beacause that is not "readily achievable". The readily achievable standard is flexible and applied on a case by-case basis. The Department of Justice (DOJ) recommends the following order of priorities for barrier removal: * access from parking areas, sidewalks, and entrances to the public accommodation so a person with a disability can "get through the door" * access to those areas where goods and services are provided, i.e. "path of travel" * access to rest room facilities when they are open to the public * other measures to provide access to the goods, services, or facilities. The issues in this Guide are organized according to these DOJ priorities. Landlord and tenant - Allocation of responsibility for complying with Title III of the ADA Both the landlord who owns the building where a public accommodation is located and the tenant who owns or operates the public accommodation are responsible for compliance with Title III. It is a shared responsibility. They may allocate between themselves the responsibility for meeting their mutual obligations however they wish. Allocation of responsibilities between landlord and tenant for removing barriers when readily achievable, providing auxiliary aids and services, and modifying policies, both in common areas as well as within places of public accommodation, may be determined by the lease or other contract between the parties. Alterations clauses in a lease often spell out what a tenant is allowed to do within leased space, while compliance clauses allocate responsibility to one party or another for compliance with federal, state, and local laws. Tenants are advised to review ADA obligations with their landlords. Tenants who are entering into new leases should negotiate and allocate responsibility for ADA compliance with their landlord. Failure to determine, allocate, and execute ADA responsibility may result in either the tenant's or landlord's liability for noncompliance. Tax incentives Congress amended the Internal Revenue Code to include tax incentives for businesses that incur expenses in removing barriers or increasing accessibility for people with disabilities. Physical Barrier Removal The "Tax Deduction to Remove Architectural and Transportation Barriers to People with Disabilities and Elderly Individuals" (Title 26, Internal Revenue Code, Section 190) allows a deduction for "qualified architectural and transportation barrier removal expenses" not to exceed $15,000 for any taxable year. Increasing Accessibility The "Disabled Access Tax Credit" (Title 26, Internal Revenue Code, Section 44) is available to eligible small businesses with 30 or fewer employees in the preceding tax year or $1 million or less in gross receipts for the preceding tax year. This provision allows a tax credit of 50 percent of eligible access expenditures that exceed $250 but do not exceed $10,250 made for the purpose of complying with the ADA during the tax year. A business may take the credit each year that it makes an eligible access expenditure. Eligible access expenditures are amounts paid or incurred by an eligible small business for the purpose of enabling the business to comply with the ADA. These include amounts paid or incurred to: * remove architectural. communication physical, or transportation barriers; * provide qualified readers, taped texts, or other effective methods of making materials accessible to people with visual impairments; * provide qualified interpreters or other effective methods of making orally delivered materials accessible to individuals with hearing impairments; * acquire or modify equipment or devices for individuals with disabilities; or * provide other similar services, modifications, materials or equipment. Expenses in connection with new construction are not eligible. To be eligible for the tax credit, barrier removals or the provision of services, modifications, materials, or equipment must meet technical standards of the ADAD Accessibility Guidlines where applicable. For more information on these tax provisions, contact: Internal Revenue Service, Office of the Chief Counsel P.O. Box 7604, Ben Franklin Station Washington, DC 20044, 1 (800) 829-1040 Voice 1 (800) 829-4059 TTY ---------- SHOPS & SERVICES * Are small shops and services considered to be places of public accommodation? * Are shops that offer parking required to provide accessible parking spaces for people with "handicap" tags or placards? If such parking is required, how many spaces must be provided? * Are shops required to stock special goods for persons with disabilities? Q. Are small shops and services considered to be places of public accommodation? A. Yes. Dry Cleaners, shoe repair shops, video stores, hairdressers and barber shops, copy centers and other similar shops and services are covered by Title III. Q. Are shops that offer parking required to provide accessible parking spaces for people with "handicap" tags or placards? If such parking is required, how many spaces must be provided? A. Yes. If a shop owns and operates the parking lot, it must provide accessible parking, if it is readily achievable to do so. If a shop is a tenant, responsibility for accessible parking rests with both the landlord and the tenant and may be allocated in the lease or other contract (see page 7). The spaces must comply with the Standards for Accessible Design (see page 8), if it is readily achievable. The Standards provide a formula to determine the number of accessible spaces necessary, and set out the requirements for their dimensions and locations. If it is not readily achievable to comply with the Standards, provide as many accessible spaces as possible. If it is not readily achievable to provide any accessible spaces, a store must provide other options. For example, valet parking is another way to provide access. Q. Are shops required to stock special goods for persons with disabilities? A. No. Stores are not required to stock special goods. For example, a copy center is not required to provide copies in Braille. If the shop routinely makes special orders for its customers, it is required to do so for a customer with a disability, if the goods are available from a supplier with whom the shop customarily does business. ---------- RETAIL STORES * Are retail stores required to have TTYs (text telephones for people who are deaf or hard of hearing)? * Must retail stores allow service animals, including guide dogs, to accompany customers with disabilities into stores? * Do dressing rooms need to be accessible? * Are clothing stores required to provide assistance in dressing rooms to people with disabilities? * How can a retail establishment communicate with a customer who is deaf or hard of hearing or who has a speech impairment? Q. Are retail stores required to have TTYs (text telephones for people who are deaf or hard of hearing)? A. No. Only those businesses that allow customers to make outgoing calls on more than an incidental convenience basis must provide TTYs. For making calls to or receiving calls from customers with hearing or speech impairments who use TTYs, stores are able to rely on the relay systems that telephone companies have established. Operators employed by relay systems will relay communications between TTY-users and people using conventional telephones. Retail stores can ensure effective communication by training staff who answer the telephone to anticipate incoming calls through the relay services. Handling these calls may take longer because an operator at the relay system will be receiving typed communications from the caller and will also be using the relay system equipment to type communications from the store staff person to the caller. Training should be undertaken as soon as possible because at least 40 states already offer some type of relay service. For your information, however, a TTY is relatively inexpensive, usually costing about $275 and would be a welcome service for customers with hearing or speech impairments. If you have a TTY, be sure to list your telephone number followed by "Voice/TTY" in any publications or advertisements to signify that customers can communicate with you by voice or TTY. Q. Must retail stores allow service animals, including guide dogs, to accompany customers with disabilities into stores? A. Yes. Q. Do dressing rooms need to be accessible? A. If it is readily achievable, stores must alter one or more dressing rooms to allow use by customers who use wheelchairs or other mobility devices. If it is not readily achievable to provide an accessible dressing room, alternative methods must be used, such as establishing a liberal return policy so customers who cannot use the dressing rooms can take merchandise home to try on. Q. Are clothing stores required to provide assistance in dressing rooms to people with disabilities? A. DOJ states that dressing assistance is required in stores where individualized assistance in selecting and trying on garments is provided. In a store where such assistance is not offered generally, it is not required because it is not provided to other customers. Q. How can a retail establishment communicate with a customer who is deaf or hard of hearing or who has a speech impairment? A. Most customers who are deaf or hard of hearing will identify themselves by writing a note or using hand gestures. When a salesperson has realized that a customer is deaf or hard of hearing, he or she can communicate by writing notes. Maintaining face-to-face contact is important for communications with a customer who reads lips. The services of a sign language interpreter should not be necessary to accomplish most retail transactions that are short and straightforward but may be necessary to communicate effectively in an unusually complex transaction. Stores that use public address systems to announce special offers or sale days should consider providing electronic bulletin boards or print announcements near doors and check-out counters to announce these events as a way to communicate effectively with customers who are deaf or hard of hearing. It is also important for retail businesses to communicate effectively with customers who have speech impairments. Allowing sufficient time for a person with such a disability to express himself or herself or read a message spelled out on a word board are examples of methods to achieve effective communication. ---------- TRAVEL & TOUR AGENTS * Must agencies and other venues allow service animals, including guide dogs, to accompany clients into their facilities? * Must agencies install visual alarms? * Can a cruise ship or tour company insist that a person with a disability travel with a companion? * How does the ADA address the physical accessibility and construction of cruise ships? Q. Must agencies and other venues allow service animals, including guide dogs, to accompany clients into their facilities? A. Yes. However, service animals tend to spook wild animals in parks and zoos. Therefore, some zoos, like those in San Diego provide a place for service animals to stay while their owners are accompanied during their visit by trained zoo staff. Q. Must agencies install visual alarms? A. Where audible fire alarms are provided, visual ones must be added, if readily achievable. The Standards specify types of alarms that meet this requirement. People who are deaf or hard of hearing depend on visual alarms to alert them to emergencies. Signs can be placed next to the alarms indicating their purpose and maps or directories should point out the locations of visual alarms. Q. Can a cruise ship or tour company insist that a person with a disability travel with a companion? A. No. Requiring that a person with a disability have a traveling companion, if that is not a requirement for people who do not have disabilities, violates the ADA. The cruise line or tour company, however, does not have to provide services of a personal nature. Q. How does the ADA address the physical accessibility and construction of cruise ships? A. Places of public accommodation aboard ships must comply with all of the Title III requirements, including removal of barriers to access where readily achievable. Currently, however, a ship is not required to comply with specific accessibility standards for new construction or alterations, because specific accessibility standards for new construction or alteration of cruise ships have not yet been developed. It should be noted, however, that cruise ships are still subject to the requirements of Title III. Physical barriers must be removed if it is readily achievable to do so, programmatic barriers must be eliminated, and travelers with disabilities cannot be treated differently from passengers who do not have disabilities. ---------- Medical Offices * Can health care facilities refer a patient or client with a disability to another practitioner solely because the other practitioner is familiar with the patient's type of disability? * How can a health care facility determine whether its premises are accessible to people who use wheelchairs or other mobility devices? What steps must they take to provide access? * What assistance must health care facilities provide for patients and clients who use wheelchairs or other mobility devices to ensure equal and effective treatment and services? Q. Can health care facilities refer a patient or client with a disability to another practitioner solely because the other practitioner is familiar with the patient's type of disability? A. Medical or health care facilities that routinely make referrals may refer an individual with a disability to another facility for service only if the patient seeks or requires treatment or services outside the referring facility's area of specialization. For example, a clinic specializing exclusively in drug rehabilitation could refuse to treat a person who is not a drug addict but could not refuse to treat a person who is a drug addict simply because the patient tests positive for HIV. Conversely, a clinic that specializes in the treatment of individuals with HIV could refuse to treat an individual who does not have HIV, but it cannot refuse to treat a person for HIV infection simply because that person is also a drug addict. Facilities that are not accepting any new patients may refer new patients to another facility. Q. How can a health care facility determine whether its premises are accessible to people who use wheelchairs or other mobility devices? What steps must they take to provide access? A. These are some common sense approaches medical and health care facilities can use to determine whether their premises are accessible. After determining whether "getting through the door" is possible, facilities should determine whether aisles between office furniture and equipment are wide enough for a person using a wheelchair or other mobility device to pass. Examination, treatment, and dressing room doorways must also be wide enough for individuals using wheelchairs or other mobility devices. (See earlier question for information about doorway widths.) Widening doors and rearranging furniture and storage items are examples of methods to provide access that will be readily achievable for most health care facilities. Registration and patient interview areas with built-in counters should be evaluated to determine whether individuals using wheelchairs can use them. If readily achievable, accessible counters (28 to 34 inches high with knee spaces at least 27 inches high, 30 inches wide, and 19 inches deep) must be made available. If it is not readily achievable to provide accessible counters, then alternative measures must be taken to provide access, such as providing a table or a clipboard that patients and clients can use while filling out forms. Facilities should also evaluate whether there are level changes between treatment and service areas. For most health care facilities, providing a ramp for one or even several steps is a readily achievable measure to provide access. If it is not readily achievable to install a permanent ramp, then a facility must use a portable ramp if it is safe and readily achievable. Q. What assistance must health care facilities provide for patients and clients who use wheelchairs or other mobility devices to ensure equal and effective treatment and services? A. Individuals with mobility impairments often find it difficult or impossible to use certain standard equipment found in medical and health care facilities. For example, people who are not ambulatory cannot use standard-height examining tables. Therefore, health care providers cannot conduct certain examinations that require patients to lie prone or supine unless the individual is lifted onto the table. Such measures can be unsafe, embarrassing, and undignified for many patients. Although people who use wheelchairs or other mobility devices are most often affected by this particular barrier to treatment, older patients and others who are semi-ambulatory also can experience difficulty. An adjustable-height examining table is an ideal solution if it is readily achievable to obtain one. Such tables can be lowered to the height of a wheelchair seat, thus enabling some patients who use wheelchairs to move independently or with minimum assistance from their wheelchairs to the table and back again. The adjustable feature also allows medical or health care personnel to elevate the table to a comfortable height to conduct an examination. A group of physicians could purchase such a table and make arrangements to share its use. If it is not readily achievable to obtain such a table, facilities must obtain an inexpensive, padded table the height of a wheelchair seat for use by patients who cannot use the conventional tables. This type of low table can also be used for some examinations of patients who do not have disabilities. If neither of these options is readily achievable, then medical and health care facilities must provide assistance to help patients onto the high tables, including lifting them if necessary. Such measures must be undertaken in a safe manner to avoid injury to both the health care personnel and the patient and to preserve the dignity of the patient as much as possible. Similarly, health care facilities must provide such assistance to patients with mobility impairments who are having radiology exams or other tests conducted on surfaces that cannot be adjusted for height or that are inaccessible in some other way. In all of these situations, medical and health care personnel should follow the instructions and preferences of the patient with regard to lifting or providing other assistance. Modifications to the manner in which certain examinations are conducted are also required. For example, some X-ray equipment used to take mammograms is built so the patient must stand to have the X-ray taken. Other mammogram equipment requires the patient to sit on a wheeled stool with a swivel seat. In both situations, a woman with a disability that prevents her from standing or sitting safely on such a stool would not be able to undergo the X-ray examination. Replacing the stool with a stable chair or allowing the patient to undergo the examination from her wheelchair are appropriate methods of providing access. Medical and health care facilities must provide assistance to undress and dress as needed or requested by patients with disabilities unless doing so fundamentally alters the services provided. If they have a blanket policy prohibiting individuals other than patients in examination or treatment facilities, medical and health care facilities must modify the policy to allow a family member, friend, or personal care assistant to accompany a patient or client when necessary during the examination or treatment. ---------- GROCERY STORES * How can grocery stores make their merchandise accessible to customers with various disabilities? * If a grocery store is staffed with only a single cashier, is the cashier required to leave the cash register to assist a customer with a disability? * Is a grocery store required to purchase special items for customers with disabilities? Q. How can grocery stores make their merchandise accessible to customers with various disabilities? A. Customers who use wheelchairs, crutches, or other mobility devices, customers with limited manual dexterity, and customers who are blind or who have limited vision tend to experience access problems in grocery stores. For example, people who use wheelchairs often cannot move down aisles when stock or displays are placed in the way so there is no clear path to travel. Moving boxes and displays that could trip a customer with a vision impairment is a simple, common sense solution to certain access problems that also makes access easier for other customers. Although widening aisles where merchandise is displayed is an ideal solution for customers who use wheelchairs, in some grocery stores it may result in a significant loss of selling space and might, therefore, not be readily achievable. Large grocery stores, such as supermarkets, should be able to rearrange display racks and shelves in a way that does not result in a significant loss of selling space. For grocery stores housed in cramped facilities, there may be no storage alternative for boxes placed in the aisles. If readily achievable, the store could provide service at the door to customers who are unable to move down the aisles. Placing lightweight items on higher shelves and heavier items on lower shelves and offering the use of a device for reaching high items will improve the usability of a store not only for customers with mobility impairments but also for customers with manual impairments or customers who are short of stature. Produce bag dispensers and number dispensers used at deli, bakery, and other food service counters must be mounted within easy reach of customers who use wheelchairs if readily achievable.Otherwise, sales clerks should offer assistance in reaching items. Some people with disabilities cannot use shopping carts and must, instead, use hand-held baskets. This may require them to make several trips to the check-out counter to complete their purchases. Grocery stores should provide a temporary storage area for items selected by people who cannot use shopping carts. Q. If a grocery store is staffed with only a single cashier, is the cashier required to leave the cash register to assist a customer with a disability? A. No. The ADA does not require a cashier to leave the register if doing so poses a security risk. Q. Is a grocery store required to purchase special items for customers with disabilities? A. No. Grocery stores are not required to carry special products for people with disabilities. However, if the store routinely makes special orders of un-stocked goods for its customers and the special goods can be obtained from a supplier with whom the store customarily does business, the store must make special orders for customers with disabilities, too. ---------- CAR SALES & SERVICE * Are automotive sales establishments required to provide vehicle hand controls so a customer can test drive a car? * What other alternative methods can automotive sales establishments use to deliver services if it is not readily achievable to remove barriers to "getting through the door"? * Are automotive rental establishments required to provide vehicle hand controls so a customer who needs them can rent a car? * Is an auto rental establishment required to provide a special operator's dashboard identification card so customers with disabilities may use parking spaces reserved for them? Q. Are automotive sales establishments required to provide vehicle hand controls so a customer can test drive a car? A. Yes. For most dealers, installation of portable hand controls is readily achievable. Dealers may request reasonable advance notice from customers who need hand controls to ensure that a properly equipped vehicle will be available. Q. What other alternative methods can automotive sales establishments use to deliver services if it is not readily achievable to remove barriers to "getting through the door"? A. Automotive sales personnel must provide brochures and other information about available vehicles to customers at curbside, at other convenient locations, or by mail. Alternative accessible locations must be selected to conduct and finalize sales negotiations, or they can be conducted by telephone or at the customer's home. Q. Are automotive rental establishments required to provide vehicle hand controls so a customer who needs them can rent a car? A. For most rental establishments, installation of hand controls is readily achievable. Reasonable advance notice may also be required from customers who need hand controls to ensure that a properly equipped vehicle will be available. Q. Is an auto rental establishment required to provide a "handicap parking" dashboard identification card so customers with disabilities may use accessible "handicap" parking spaces? A. As a courtesy to customers, it is suggested that auto rental establishments provide dashboard "handicap" identification cards so customers can park in spaces reserved for people with disabilities. Rental establishments should accept parking permits or personal dashboard cards from customers as proof of eligibility for their card. It should be noted that some local authorities do not recognize or honor a rental establishment's dashboard card. ---------- Professional Offices * If a professional office is in an historic building, is it exempt from the requirements of the ADA? * How can a professional service provider communicate with a client who is deaf or hard of hearing or who has a speech impairment? * How can a professional perform a service that requires confidential communication or written materials with a client who is deaf or hard of hearing? * Must a professional office that is located within a private residence be accessible? Q. If a professional office is in an historic building, is it exempt from the requirements of the ADA? A. No. Barrier removal is required in all buildings, including historic buildings, if it is readily achievable. However, barrier removal is not considered readily achievable if it would threaten or destroy the historic significance of a building or facility that is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places under the National Historic Preservation Act, or is designated as historic under State or local law. Q. How can a professional service provider communicate with a client who is deaf or hard of hearing or who has a speech impairment? A. Most clients who are deaf or hard of hearing will identify themselves by writing a note or using hand gestures and will alert the professional to the best method of communication. Maintaining face-to-face contact is important to communicate with a client who reads lips. A sign language interpreter should not be necessary in most minor transactions, but may be necessary to communicate effectively in an unusually complex transaction. Professionals can share a computer with a client to type questions and answers back and forth to each other, if the client finds this approach is sufficiently informative. It is important to communicate effectively with customers who have speech impairments. Professionals must take the time for people with such a disability to express themselves or to communicate using a word board. Q. How can a professional perform a service that requires confidential communication or written materials with a client who is deaf or hard of hearing? A. For a client who is deaf or hard of hearing, effective communication may require a qualified sign language interpreter. Qualified sign language interpreters are required to maintain the confidentiality of any conversations they interpret. Q. Must a professional office that is located within a private residence be accessible? A. Yes. When a public accommodation is located in a private residence, the portions of the home used as a place of public accommodation are covered by the ADA. This is also true if those parts of the home that are used as a public accommodation are also used for residential purposes. The readily achievable standard continues to apply. Barrier removal will be required when considered in light of the financial and other resources of the professional office. ---------- RESTAURANTS & BARS * What special services might restaurants and bars provide to customers with vision impairments? * Must restaurants and bars allow service animals, including guide dogs, to accompany customers with disabilities into restaurants? * What other services are restaurants required to provide to customers with disabilities? Q. What special services might restaurants and bars provide to customers with vision impairments? A. Customers with vision impairments may need orientation to their seats. It is customary to offer a person with a vision impairment assistance to his or her seat. If he or she accepts the offer of assistance, the service person should offer his or her arm or elbow to the customer and guide the person to the table, alerting him or her to obstacles along the way. Menu information must be accessible to people with vision impairments. The best way to provide access to the menu depends, in part, on the type of restaurant and its resources. One method is for employees to read menus and daily specials to customers. Large print menus are another inexpensive method for providing independent access to some customers with limited vision. An inexpensive magnifier is also useful to some people with vision limitations. Braille menus are an option, but fewer than 20% of people who are blind read Braille. Providing audio cassette tapes of the menu and a cassette player will provide effective communication for most individuals with vision impairments. If a restaurant uses low lighting for ambiance, it could offer a small flashlight for use at the table. Q. Must restaurants and bars allow service animals, including guide dogs, to accompany customers with disabilities into restaurants? A. Yes. Q. What other services are restaurants required to provide to customers with disabilities? A. Restaurants are required to make reasonable modifications to their policies and procedures to prevent discrimination against customers with disabilities. Keeping straws on hand for use by customers with manual impairments and unwrapping them if requested; cutting up foods if requested by a customer; providing a glass, cup, or different sized dish that is easier for a customer to handle if requested; and providing assistance to customers who request help removing their coats or jackets are examples of reasonable modifications for most restaurants and bars. Restaurants must be prepared to respond accurately to telephone inquiries from customers who wish to know about the restaurant's accessibility. A common sense approach is to keep a typed list near the telephone outlining the restaurant's access features that any employee can read in response to an inquiry. These measures are courtesies that are generally accepted as good business practice. The ADA makes sure such courtesies are extended to all customers. ---------- FUN & FITNESS CENTERS * How can a recreation or fitness facility determine whether its premises are accessible to people who use wheelchairs or other mobility devices? What steps must be taken to provide access? * Are recreation and fitness facilities required to provide any assistance to individuals with disabilities so they can participate in the facilities' programs and activities? * Must fitness centers provide accessible rest rooms and showers? How can these facilities be made accessible? Q. How can a recreation or fitness facility determine whether its premises are accessible to people who use wheelchairs or other mobility devices? What steps must be taken to provide access? A. Although there are significant differences between various types of facilities, a few general, common sense rules apply to a basic evaluation of accessibility for most recreation and fitness centers. For indoor facilities, determine whether pathways and doorways between activity areas, such as video machines, lounges, bars, classrooms, pools, saunas, hot tubs, and other facilities, are wide enough for a person using a wheelchair or other mobility devices. Are there vending machines or supplies stored in hallways or other areas that might block passage? Minor changes in the arrangement of exercise equipment, furniture, and storage items, which can facilitate access, and widening doors and stalls are examples of methods to improve access that will be readily achievable for most facilities. Are there level changes between locker rooms and the exercise equipment, saunas, lounges, bowling lanes, or other activity areas? Installing a permanent ramp for one or even several steps is a method of improving access that will be readily achievable for most businesses. If installation of a permanent ramp is not readily achievable, safe, portable ramps are required if readily achievable. If portable ramps are used, a sign should indicate how to summon the ramps. For outdoor facilities, determine whether there are steps or other obstacles along paths or walkways that would prevent someone who uses a wheelchair or other mobility device from travelling on them or from reaching an activity area such as a swimming pool or picnic ground. As with indoor facilities, ramps are required to provide access if readily achievable. For picnic, boating, or other outdoor recreation or fitness facilities, evaluate whether people with disabilities can reach and use the facilities. Can people with disabilities reach the picnic tables? Does spectator seating provide wheelchair access? Is there an adequate sight line from the wheelchair accessible seating area to the events? Removal of such barriers is required to provide access when it is readily achievable. When it is not readily achievable for a recreation or fitness facility to remove some or all barriers to access, the facility must devise readily achievable alternatives. Q. Are recreation and fitness facilities required to provide any assistance to individuals with disabilities so they can participate in the facilities' programs and activities? A. In some situations reasonable modifications of policies, practices, or procedures to include minimal staff assistance may be required if the modification does not result in a fundamental alteration of the program. For example, staff members in some weight rooms stabilize weight lifters' wheelchalrs even if they do not routinely provide similar assistance to other clients or members. Some facilities also provide additional instruction about the use of particular exercise machines to individuals who have cognitive impairments such as mental retardation. Likewise, some health clubs assist individuals with disabilities into and out of pools and hot tubs, and some of them have installed floor-mounted pool lifts. If staff is limited, a customer or member could be allowed to provide his or her own attendant at a waived membership rate. Q. Must fitness centers provide accessible rest rooms and showers? How can these facilities be made accessible? A. Shower and rest room facilities are central components in many fitness centers' programs. Therefore, when readily achievable, at least one accessible rest room and shower must be available. Certain relatively simple steps can increase access and usability of rest rooms. Widening entry and stall doors; moving obstacles such as vending machines; rearranging toilet partitions to increase maneuverability for people using wheelchairs; installing a raised toilet seat; installing grab bars near the toilet; repositioning paper towel dispensers; installing lever handles on at least one sink; and installing insulation material around exposed lavatory pipes to prevent individuals who use wheelchairs from burning their legs while sitting at the sink are examples of changes that will be readily achievable for most businesses. Where showers are available, an accessible shower stall must also be available if readily achievable. If a fitness center provides more than one rest room and shower and not all are accessible, a sign should indicate where the accessible facilities are located. Simple symbols indicating which facilities are for men or women are easier for some people with cognitive impairments (such as mental retardation) to understand than words or other images. Raised letters and Braille differentiating men's and women's rest rooms and showers are important for people who are blind, and large, high contrast signs help people with limited vision. Fitness centers should take all of these measures to make shower and rest room signs accessible, if readily achievable. ---------- End of Document