Americans With Disabilities Act Penn State

1. Americans With Disabilities ActPenn State Engineering Design and Graphics 100 October 11, 2001 Bill Ritzman, Coordinator, ADA Programs Chair, University Access Committee

2. Agenda • Brief History • Brief ADA overview • Accessibility in the built environment • Resources

3. History • Rehabilitation Act of 1973 • Section 503/504 • The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 • Comprised of five Titles.

4. Americans with Disabilities Act • Purpose • Anti-discrimination statue that requires that individuals with disabilities be given the same access to programs, services, and activities that individuals without disabilities are given.

5. Title 1-Employment • Business must provide reasonable accommodations to protect the rights of individuals with disabilities in all aspects of employment. That might include job restructuring, altering layout of workstations, etc. Includes the application process, hiring, wages, benefits and all other aspects of employment.

6. Title II – Public Services Includes state & local government, the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, and other commuter authorities; cannot deny services to people with disabilities to programs or activities which are available to people without disabilities. Public transportation systems, such as buses, must be accessible.

7. Title III – Public Accommodations All new construction and modifications must be accessible. For existing facilities, barriers to service must be removed if readily achievable. Public accommodations include facilities such as restaurants, hotels, grocery stores, retail stores, etc., as well as privately owned transportation systems.

8. Title IV - Telecommunications Telecommunications companies offering telephone services to the general public must have telephone relay service to individuals who use telecommunication devices for the deaf (TTY’s) or similar devices.

9. Title V - Miscellaneous Includes a provision prohibiting either (a) coercing or threatening or (b) retaliating against the disabled or those attempting to aid people with disabilities in asserting their rights under the ADA.

10. Who Is Covered??? • Three Prong Definition • physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of such individual • a record of such an impairment • being regarded as having such an impairment

11. First Prong • Physical or mental impairment which substantially limits a major life activity

12. Second Prong • Record of a Substantially Limiting Condition • has a history of, or has been misclassified as having a mental or physical impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities

13. Third Prong • Regarded as having such an impairment • An employee has controlled high blood pressure that is not substantially limiting

14. Exceptions • Illegal Use of Drugs • Alcohol Abuse • Temporary Impairments

15. Penn State Collaboration • Who Does What?? • Office for Disability Services • Office of Physical Plant • Affirmative Action Office • University Access Committee • Office of Human Resources

16. Look at the definition! • An individual who, with or without reasonable modification to rules, policies, or practices, the removal of architectural, communication, or transportation barriers, or the provision of auxiliary aids and services, meets the essential eligibility requirements for the receipt of services or the participation in programs or activities provided by the public entity.

17. University Access Committee • Responsibilities • Identifies physical barriers to programs and services and develops solutions for removing such barriers • Recommends the relocation of programs and services housed in inaccessible locations to accessible location • Requires the University to remove structural barriers, if necessary, to achieve program and service accessibility

18. UACProcess • Common Sense Approach to Barrier Removal • Get into the building • Get to the program or service offered in the building • Use the rest rooms and building services • Get additional accommodations to access a program or service

19. UAC Leadership • Office for Disability Services • Office of Physical Plant • Affirmative Action Office • Non-UP locations • Parking Office • Staff Support • Student Services • Faculty Senate • Student Government • Disability Advocacy Groups • Registrar • Auxiliaries • Human Resource Office

20. Accessibility in the Built Environment • Think of Universal Design • What regulations to we have to follow? • What guidance do we have? • ADA Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG) • State and local building codes • Fire codes • ICC and ANSI

21. What’s wrong here?

22. Three steps to access

23. Drainage grate danger!

24. Gravel surface problems

25. Inaccessible water fountain

26. Dangerous overhang

27. One solution to overhangs.

28. Is this accessible?

29. Inaccessible thermostat

30. Inaccessible doorway

31. Unbelievable!

32. No access here

33. Sure, our beach is accessible!

34. Where to get information on Accessibility on the web The US Access Board – they wrote ADAAG! http://www.access-board.gov/ Department of Justice (DOJ) ADA Home Page: http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/adahom1.htm

35. Two sites on Universal Design Center for Universal Design – NC State Univ http://www.design.ncsu.edu:8120/cud/ Industrial Designers Society of America Special Interest Section http://www.idsa.org/whatsnew/sections/udidsa/noframes.htm

36. If you have time – look at this • This is a quarterly report from the US Department of Justice (DOJ) – it provides some idea of the types of issues DOJ encounters in the field with the built environment. Enforcing the ADA – DOJ’s status report from April to June 2001 http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/aprjun01.htm