The Access Board has formed an advisory committee to promote access to courthouses. The Courthouse Access Advisory Committee will explore issues related to the accessibility of courthouses, particularly courtrooms, including best practices, design solutions, promotion of accessible features, educational opportunities, and the gathering of information on existing barriers, practices, recommendations, and guidelines. This information will supplement design guidelines The Board previously issued for judicial facilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) entered into a settlement agreement with Accor, a firm operating hotels for Motel 6 Inc. regarding the inaccessibility of their facilities. The DOJ determined that there were architectural barriers at every Motel 6 facility surveyed and that each of these facilities violated either the new construction, alteration or barrier removal requirements of the ADA. Motel 6 has agreed to enter a system-wide settlement that will ensure access at all of its facilities and make all of its properties accessible and usable to individuals with disabilities.

The Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a new publication "How to Comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act: A Guide for Restaurants and Other Food Service Employers." The guide is designed to assist restaurants and other food service employers in complying with aspects of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Food and Drug Administration's model code for food safety that may overlap. The guide covers such topics as how the FDA's Food Code rules on restricting and excluding sick employees interact with the ADA's requirements concerning types of reasonable accommodations, and what an employer should do if charged with discrimination.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has released a fact sheet on the application of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to persons with intellectual disabilities in the workplace. The EEOC uses the term "intellectual disability" to describe the condition once commonly referred to as "mental retardation." It is estimated that at least one percent of the United States' population, about 2.5 million people, have an intellectual disability. Some studies indicate that only 31 percent of individuals with intellectual disabilities are employed, although many more want to work. The new fact sheet addresses such topics as: when an intellectual impairment is covered by the ADA; when an employer may ask an applicant or employee questions about his or her intellectual disability; what types of reasonable accommodations employees with intellectual disabilities may need on the job; how to address safety concerns and conduct issues in the workplace; and how an employer can prevent harassment of employees with intellectual disabilities.

Navigating a web site can be a frustrating task that is often time consuming. The EEOC improves researching by providing links to information that is the most requested by employers, employees, and advocates on one page of their web site. Under Disability Discrimination you will find links on "How to File a Title I Complaint" to an EEOC publication on "The Family and Medical Leave Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964." By providing this resource page, the EEOC saves researchers and those interested in ADA related issues countless hours of web searching.

The Federal Communication Commission (FCC) announced efforts to alleviate the funding crisis of the E-Rate program. E-Rate is a $2.25 billion project that gives schools and libraries discounts of up to 90 percent on their Internet and telephone service and wiring costs. E-Rate officials stopped mailing funding commitments to applicants right before the school year began. The Universal Service Administrative Co. (USAC), the agency charged with administering the program, explained that the funding stopped because new government accounting procedures, which the FCC directed USAC to adopt by Oct. 1, 2004 require USAC to have the money in hand before promising it to schools and libraries. Prior to this change, USAC would promise E-Rate discounts to applicants via funding commitment letters before it had collected that money from telecommunication companies. In a statement released October 6, 2004, the FCC stated that E-Rate has enough funds on hand to pay its current obligations and has ordered USAC to liquidate $210 million in investments to expedite approval of some of the delayed funding commitments to the schools.