LAWS&

ACCESSIBILITYPart 1. Overview

and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Support for this work cam from NSF grant DUE 0088807 for the development of accessible design curriculum material. (Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.)

© Robert Erlandson, 2003

College of Engineering, Wayne State University

Federal Laws dealing with accessibility have spawned a collection of guidelines covering products and services that impact most industries and businesses while touching the lives of all people, in one way or another.

Yet accessible and universal design concepts and principles are not finding their way into engineering educational programs. This represents a serious knowledge gap – one that needs to be addressed.

Laws:Accessible

Design

The three laws which deal most directly with the accessibility of products and services are:

•Americans with Disabilities Act a major civil rights law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of disability in the private and public sectors.

•Telecommunications Act (Section 255) requires access to new telecommunications and customer premises equipment where "readily achievable."

•Rehabilitation Act Amendments amends section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act to ensure access to electronic and information technology in the Federal sector.

Laws

http://www.access-board.gov/indexes/aboutindex.htm

Discipline Laws

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Indu

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Chem

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Biom

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Americans with Disabilities Act

X X X X X X X X X X

Telecommunications Act – Section 255

X X X X X X

Rehabilitation Act Amendments -Section 508

X X X X X X

Federal Laws and the Engineering Disciplines Impacted

“The ADA recognizes and protects the civil rights of people with disabilities … prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race and gender.

The ADA covers a wide range of disability, from physical conditions affecting mobility, stamina, sight, hearing, and speech to conditions such as emotional illness and learning disorders.”

The Americans with Disabilities Act

(ADA) of 1990

http://www.access-board.gov/about/ADA.htm

The ADA addresses:

•Title I - access to the workplace

•Title II - State and local government services

•Title III - places of public accommodation and commercial facilities

•Title IV - requires phone companies to provide telecommunications relay services for people who have hearing or speech impairments (title IV)

http://www.access-board.gov/about/ADA.htm

ADA Jobs & Workplace

The ADA (Title I) deals with:

•jobs

•essential functions of jobs

•reasonable accommodations

•use of assistive technology

•accessible design

•universal design

Americans with Disabilities Act: Jobs & Workplace

Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990

prohibits private employers, state and local governments, employment agencies and labor unions

From discriminating against qualified individuals with disabilities in job application procedures, hiring, firing, advancement, compensation, job training, and other terms, conditions and privileges of employment.

http://www.eeoc.gov/facts/fs-ada.html

An individual with a disability is a person who:

Has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities

Has a record of such an impairment

Is regarded as having such an impairment

A qualified employee or applicant with a disability

is an individual who,

with or without

reasonable accommodation,

can perform the essential functions of the job in question.

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What is a Disability? cont’d.

– caring for oneself

– performing manual tasks

– seeing

– hearing

– eating

– sleeping

– walking

– standing

– lifting

– bending– speaking– breathing– learning – reading– concentrating – thinking– communicating– working

Impairment that substantially limits one major life activity need not limit other major life activities to be considered a disability.

Definition of a “major life activity” includes:

14

What is a Disability? cont’d.

Major bodily functions:– immune system– digestive– bowel– bladder– neurological (dyslexia – brain and learning disabilities)– respiratory– circulatory– reproductive functions – endocrine

Reasonable accommodation may include, but is not limited to:

•Making existing facilities used by employees readily accessible to and usable by persons with disabilities

•Job restructuring, modifying work schedules, reassignment to a vacant position

•Acquiring or modifying equipment or devices, adjusting modifying examinations, training materials, or policies, and providing qualified readers or interpreters

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Disabilities & Substance AbuseAlcohol

An alcoholic is protected by the ADA as having a disability.

• [A] person who currently uses alcohol is not automatically denied protection simply because of the alcohol use. An alcoholic is a person with a disability under the ADA and may be entitled to consideration of accommodation, if s/he is qualified to perform the essential functions of a job. However, a[n] employer may discipline, discharge or deny employment to an alcoholic whose use of alcohol adversely affects job performance or conduct to the extent that s/he is not “qualified.”

Drugs

A drug addict is protected as having a disability only if he or she is receiving recovery treatment and is not a current user.

Persons addicted to drugs, but who are no longer using drugs illegally and are receiving treatment for drug addiction or who have been rehabilitated successfully, are protected by the ADA from discrimination on the basis of past drug addiction.

An employer is required

to make an accommodation to the known disability of a qualified applicant or employee

if

it would not impose an "undue hardship" on the operation of the employer's business.

Undue hardship

is defined as

an action requiring significant difficulty or expense when considered in light of factors such as an employer's size, financial resources and the nature and structure of its operation.

An employer is not required

·to lower quality or production standards to make an accommodation

·nor is an employer obligated to provide personal use items such as glasses or hearing aids

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990

Titles II & IIIThe building guidelines cover places of public accommodation, commercial facilities, and State and local government facilities.

http://www.access-board.gov/about/ADA.htm

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

The ADA mandates that information sources be accessible.

In the past, this need was met with Braille texts, large print, captioning, and other types of aides.

With the introduction of the World Wide Web and other telecommunications-related information sources, however, many businesses and communities are falling short of meeting their ADA obligations for the accessibility of information sources including web-based resources.