Is Your Business ADA Accessible?
Carl Brahe
ADA regulations are part of a civil rights law passed in 1990 to guarantee people with disabilities access to the same public amenities as everyone else. Unfortunately, there has been widespread abuse of lawsuits, sometimes filed on behalf of people with disabilities who had never actually visited the business. These drive-by lawsuits have been filed against thousands of small business in hopes of a quick settlement for minor violations. One local business closed down being unwilling to be blackmailed into paying thousands of dollars resulting from a urinal being mounted too high and a toilet paper dispensary that was mounted 10” off ADA regulations. Congress is working on a bill (for 2 years at this point – 2018) to stop these abuses by requiring a filing by the person who claims to have been denied access, the nature of the denial and the time when it happened. Business owners would then be given time to make a plan to correct violations and even more time to make alterations.
For people with disabilities not being able to access goods and services can be annoying, humiliating and even life threatening. I’ve heard many stories of people in wheelchairs being unable to join family and friends in restaurants unless they are willing to be carried up and down stairs. During a survey for a strip mall a handicap van pulled up in front of a beauty salon. The van parked in the traffic flow to unload because the handicap van spaces were too small to accommodate a power wheelchair. Angry, impatient drivers made the man and his wife, who was in the wheelchair, feel uncomfortable and unsafe as they squeezed by while the wife in her chair were being unloaded. Dangers exist for disabled people where most of us would never imagine. I saw my 97-year-old aunt, using a walker, trip over a small lip in the sidewalk, less than the ¼” defined by the insurance industry as a trip hazard.
A person with a wheelchair or walker is unable to use stairs or navigate on steep inclines. People who are blind may be able to get around well using a cane, but if there are things, like drinking fountains, that protrude into their path of travel they have no way of knowing without hitting them with their bodies.
These are some of the most basic elements of ADA. They mainly concern the safety of travel arriving on a property, entering the property and accessing goods and services, common public areas and restrooms.
Tier I surveys are included in our inspections. This survey is a quick, visual assessment and opinion of accessibility in path of travel, access to entry, elevators and restrooms.
Tier II ADA surveys document variations from these basics. This survey may be appropriate for existing businesses.
There are many more detailed aspects of ADA that cover an abundance of issues that an able-bodied person might never consider. A hotel is required to have a specific number of accessible rooms with precise requirements to accommodate people with a wide variety of disabilities. Wheelchairs need extra room to maneuver and roll in showers. People with hearing challenges need visual cues for phone calls, people at the door and emergencies. Blind people need audio alerts. Bathrooms are required to have a specific number of grab bars, of exact sizes and exact placement. There are many precise regulations for every aspect of access in public places and places of business. Tier III ADA surveys check all existing facilities against all applicable regulations. A Tier III report might be 4 times the size of a Tier II. Colorado Inspection Services llc offers Tier II and Tier III ADA Surveys.
We had a friend with ALS who spent his last years with us. He was on a ventilator and required a large, power wheelchair. It was highly stressful to take him anywhere. Getting him into and out his van was a slow, stressful process that was sometimes dangerous to him. There were unexpected problems like pulling into a parking garage and finding that it was not tall enough for a handicap van, blocking traffic coming into the garage. There were expected problems like no handicap parking, handicap spaces taken by cars that didn’t belong and no room to unload a van. Some people thought we should just keep him at home. He couldn’t walk or talk, and some people equated that with being unable to feel or experience. What he taught us is that quality of life is what’s most important when you’re life is limited. Even when you are unable to walk or talk, life can still be rich if you participate in it, or it can be hell if you’re hidden away with little environmental enrichment. ADA compliance can be the difference between a rich life and hell for a person with disabilities.