The Department of Justice (DOJ) revised Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) regulations are now in effect as of March 15, 2011. This is the first major revision of its guidance on accessibility in twenty years. The changes are expected to have a sweeping impact on the everyday lives of people with disabilities in the United States. The new revisions mainly focus on making places of public accommodations more accessible for people with disabilities. They also expand some current non-discrimination policies.
Below is an outline of the potential impact of these rules for deaf and hard of hearing individuals.
Title II of the ADA Regulatory Changes
Title II prohibits discrimination by public entities.
- Improves access in jails, detention and correctional facilities by prohibiting discrimination based on disability.
- Requires public entities to provide effective communication to families, friends, or associates of individuals seeking access to a service, program, or activity of a public entity.
- Prohibits a public entity from relying on accompanying adults or children to interpret or facilitate communication except in emergencies.
- Establishes quality standards for public entities that chose to use Video Remote Interpreting.
- Requires public entities to respond to relay calls in the same manner that it responds to telephone calls.
Title III of the ADA Regulatory Changes
Title III prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability by public accommodations and requires places of public accommodation and commercial facilities to be designed, constructed, and altered in compliance with the accessibility standards established by this part.
- Limits the definition of service animal to dogs that have been “individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability.”
- Establishes quality standards for public accommodations that chose to use Video Remote Interpreting (VRI).
- Defines qualified interpreters to include sign language interpreters, oral transliterators, and cued-language transliterators, and also includes VRI interpreters.
- The definition of auxiliary aids and services is expanded to include VRI, real-time captioning, voice, text, and video based communication products and systems.
- Requires that when a public accommodation furnishes auxiliary aids to provide effective communication, it must consider the method of communication used by the individual; the nature, length, and complexity of the communication involved; as well as the context. Further that the public accommodation should consult with the individual with a disability, but the ultimate decision as to what measures will be provided rests with the public accommodation as long as effective communication is provided.
- Requires public accommodations to provide effective communication to families, friends, or associates of individuals seeking access to, or participating in, the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations of a public accommodation.
- Prohibits public accommodations from relying on accompanying adults or children to interpret or facilitate communication except in emergencies.
- Requires public accommodations to respond to relay calls in the same manner that it responds to telephone calls.
- Requires private entities offering examinations or courses related to applications, licensing, certification, etc. to give considerable weight to prior accommodations received in similar situations when determining which accommodations will be granted for examinations or courses. Further, documentation requests from these entities must be reasonable.
DISCLAIMER: This is a summary of the revisions and should not be relied upon for legal advice. One should consult with an attorney or the Department of Justice (DOJ) to address any individual legal concerns.
To view the actual changes, visit the DOJ ADA website at: www.ada.gov
To view the DOJ’s summary of changes go to:
Title II: www.ada.gov/regs2010/factsheets/title2_factsheet.html
Title III: www.ada.gov/regs2010/factsheets/title3_factsheet.html