DBTAC: Great Lakes ADA Center

Welcome to the Great Lakes ADA and Accessible IT Center's monthly Newsletter

Trainings & Events

The Great Lakes Center offers technical assistance on a variety of issues under the ADA and Accessible Information Technology

Federal Agencies

The Great Lakes Center offers customized trainings on a variety of issues under the ADA and Accessible Information Technology.

Great Lakes Affiliates

The Great Lakes offers resource materials on a variety of issues under the ADA and Accessible Information Technology.

Resources from the Technical Assistance Desk

In the Headlines

The U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) announced that it was seeking to fund one Research Consortium. The mission would be to develop a standard design practice and to conduct case study research to identify ways in which an organization's structures, policies and day-to-day practices, facilitate the employment of people with disabilities. ODEP is making available up to $500,000 for an 18 - month period of research. Read more about the ODEP's Research Consortium announcement.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has posted to its web site an 8 part video series for law enforcement officials. The Video titled, "Police Response to People with Disabilities", is designed for use during roll call. The video provides information for situations involving individuals with mobility impairments, mental illnesses, mental retardation, epilepsy or seizure disorders, speech disabilities, deafness or hard of hearing , and blindness or low vision. In addition to being able to view the material on-line videos may be ordered through the DOJ web site. Read more about 8 part video series, "Police Response to People with Disabilities".

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has issued a new fact sheet titled, Reasonable Accommodations for Attorneys with Disabilities. The document seeks to clarify the application of the reasonable accommodation provisions of the ADA to attorneys with disabilities and their employers. The document discusses the rights and responsibilities of employees and employers under the ADA and also provides many examples. Read more on EEOC's new fact sheet, "Reasonable Accommodations for Attorneys with Disabilities".

Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao has announced that the theme for the October 2006 national disability employment awareness month will be, "Americans with Disabilities: Ready for the Global Workforce". The announcement of the theme allows employers, disability organizations and governmental entities to plan activities during the month to promote awareness of issues surrounding the employment of people with disabilities. Read more about 2006 National disability employment awareness month theme.

The National Council on Disability (NCD) has called on the U.S. Department of Transportation to update its Air Carrier Access Act regulations to address the issue of individuals with disabilities being unable to access kiosk. Kiosks allow travelers to independently get boarding passes for flights. The current design of these machines doesn't allow individuals with visual and mobility impairments the ability to access this service. Read more about access to kiosks at airports.

The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) and the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE) has produced The Tool Kit on Teaching and Assessing Students with Disabilities. The material is designed to assist states in raising the achievement of students with disabilities. The tool kit is targeted for those in state-level leadership positions. Read more about Tool Kit for Teaching and Assessing students with disabilities.

The Department of Justice has posted to its web site, Enforcing the ADA, A Status Report. The 2 new Status Reports cover activities of the DOJ from July-September 2005 and October-December 2005. The reports include information about DOJ litigation, settlement agreements, mediation efforts and new technical assistance materials. Read more about Enforcing the ADA.

The web site www.disabilityinfo.gov has been awarded the American Association of Webmasters Gold Award. The site is managed by the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), which is part of the U.S. Department of Labor. The web site serves as a one stop location for information on a wide range of disability topics. Twenty-one federal agencies contribute information to the site. Read more about DisabilityInfo.Gov receiving American Association of Webmasters Gold Award.

Great Lakes In Focus

Guidelines vs. Standards

The U.S. Access Board, an independent federal agency, is charged with creating guidelines under the Architectural Barriers Act (ABA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). When the Access Board publishes guidelines they are not enforceable standards. The guidelines become enforceable standards when adopted by the Federal agency that enforces the law, i.e. U.S. Department of Justice for entities covered by the ADA.

The Access Board has published several guidelines that have not yet been adopted as enforceable standards by the enforcing agency. The most recent guidelines published by the Board were the ADA/ABA revisions. Several federal agencies have adopted the revised guidelines as the enforceable standards under the ABA. However, the DOJ is still going through the rule making process, which ultimately will result in these being the enforceable standards under the ADA. Until that happens the current standards, known as ADAAG, are the enforceable standards.

To locate a list of federal agencies that have adopted the revised standards under the ABA or to view the ADA/ABA revisions visit the Access Board site at www.access-board.gov.

Accessible Information Technology (AIT)

The Great Lakes Accessible Information Technology (AIT) Initiative provides individuals, educational institutions, advocacy groups and organizations with technical assistance, training, referrals, materials, and resources on information technology and its accessibility. The Center's trainings are customized to fit the specific needs of the organizations requesting the presentations. Visit the AIT section of the Great Lakes web site for more information on the services provided by the Center.

To get additional information about AIT in K-12 settings visit the K-12 Bulletin. You may reach the Great Lakes Center by calling 800-949-4232 (V/TTY) or through our on-line contact form.

The Docket

Class action status for Williams v. Blagojevich

Equip for Equality, Illinois's Protection and Advocacy Service, along with other organizations have filed suit in federal court against the State of Illinois for alleged violation of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The suit charges that Illinois institutionalizes individuals with mental illnesses in nursing homes instead of establishing community based services that would allow individuals to remain in their communities. Equip for Equality asserts that this practice of institutionalization violates the Supreme Courts ruling in the Olmsted case, which requires services in the most integrated setting.

The suit requests that the case, Williams v. Blagojevich, be granted class action status. The original case was filed in August of 2005 by 2 individuals charging that they were forced into nursing homes by the state.

Lawyers from a collaborative of organizations interested in disability rights issues are representing the plaintiffs. The organizations include Access Living, the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, Equip for Equality, the Roger Baldwin Foundation of the ACLU of Illinois and the Chicago office of the law firm Kirkland & Ellis.

Read more on class action status for Williams vs. Blagojevich.

Great Lakes Vine

ADA Illinois

The Illinois ADA Project is moving forward in planning the 2006 Illinois ADA Project Conference scheduled for September 25^th. The conference will again focus on employment and accessibility issues affecting businesses and other organizations. The four sessions planned for the conference are: Reaping the Rewards of Accessibility; Emergency Evacuation Procedures; Emerging Legal Issues; Practical Applications of the ADA.

In addition, the ADA Project is planning a workshop for the State of Illinois ADA Celebration on accessible voting issues. The workshop will discuss ADA and HAVA requirements and there will be accessible voting equipment for individuals to examine. It is anticipated that Deputy Registrars will be available to register people to vote.

ADA Indiana

2006 Local Community ADA Implementation Projects Highlight Throughout the summer, the Fort Wayne Deaf Advocacy Coalition will be implementing their Restaurant Drive-Through Project funded by ADA-Indiana. The project will determine the accessibility of Fort Wayne drive-through restaurants for people who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Individual reports of findings, recommendations for improvement, and tax incentive information will be prepared and distributed to the restaurant owners.

For more information about ADA-Indiana's Community ADA Implementation Projects, visit our website.

May 4^th Video Conference on Title I and Reasonable Accommodation Last month, ADA-Indiana and East Central Opportunities, a workforce development organization, in Muncie, Indiana provided training on Title I of the ADA to more than 30 participants. The trainers for the event were Peter Berg, Great Lakes ADA and Accessible IT Center, and Erin Riehle, Project SEARCH at Project SEARCH, at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center

The Built Environment and the ADA Audio Conference Series in Indiana In June, ADA-Indiana will be offering Great Lakes' audio conference on Accessible Signage featuring Mark Derry. The audio conference series will be offered in six Indiana locations: Bloomington, Evansville, Indianapolis (two locations), West Lafayette, and Westville. The audio conference is free (at the ADA-Indiana sponsored site locations) and open to the public and no pre-registration is required. The site locations and times are available on the ADA-Indiana website:
www.adaindiana.org.

Michigan ADA Steering Committee

The Michigan ADA Steering Committee will have a booth at the Disability Network's ADA Anniversary, which is scheduled for Wednesday, July 26^th, from 11 AM until 2 PM at Kearsley Park in Flint, Michigan. Food and beverages will be provided to all who attend, and there will be a DJ to provide entertainment. The Committee will be meeting on Tuesday, June 20, in Livonia, Michigan.

ADA Minnesota

ADA CELEBRATION: 16 Years Later What Do Recent Supreme Court Decisions Mean for the ADA Today?

An evening celebration has been planned in honor of the 16^th anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The evening will include entertainment by locally known performers Kevin Kling and Michael Deutsch. The evening also includes a keynote address by Barry Taylor, legal advocacy director, Equip for Equality, Inc., the Illinois Protection and Advocacy system. Mr. Taylor will discuss current Supreme Court decisions and the state of the ADA today.

The event will take place Wednesday, July 26 from 6:30 – 9:30 PM at the Radisson University Hotel, 615 Washington Avenue SE, Minneapolis

A cash bar will be available and light refreshments will be served. Admission is free! Accommodation requests must be received no later than July 12, 2006. Please RSVP for the celebration and/or make accommodation requests to Betty at bettyc@mcil-mn.org, or call 651-646-8342, TTY 651-602-2001. For more information visit www.adaminnesota.org

Sponsors of the event include ADA Minnesota, Access Press, Minnesota State Council on Disability, Metro Center for Independent Living, UCP, Institute on Community Integration, DOER, VSA Arts of Minnesota, Minnesota Department of Human Service/State Operated Services, Courage Center and ARC-Greater Twin Cities.

ADA Ohio

ADA-OHIO participated in the following special events in May:

1. ENABLEOHIO – "Removing Barriers for People with Disabilities, Rights & Responsibilities Under Ohio State Laws." This one-day conference was co-hosted by the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission, and the Ohio Rehabilitation Services Commission. Presentations were made by the United States Department of Labor. The business sponsor for this conference was the OCLC Online Computer Library Center. OCLC is a membership computer library service and research organization dedicated to furthering access to the world's information while at the same time reducing information costs.
2. The Third Annual Young Soloists Celebration presented by VSA arts of Ohio. The program included performances by this year's award winners. Finalists included a pianist, a vocalist, and a drummer. Since 1986, VSAO has provided an inclusive environment in which children and adults with disabilities are given the opportunity to celebrate life through the arts, education, and creative expression. VSAO also serves as an advocate for artists with disabilities, people with disabilities, and accessibility issues.

ADA Wisconsin

The ADA Wisconsin Partnership was pleased to be a sponsor of the 2006 Wisconsin Rehabilitation and Transition Conference. "Grow with Us" was held April 19 to 21, 2006 at the American Club in Kohler, Wisconsin, attracting over 600 service providers, educators, advocates and government staff concerned with enhancing services education and community independence for people with disabilities. ADA Wisconsin sponsored a track of five sessions at the conference addressing accessibility including topics on transportation, employment, hidden disabilities, diversity and legal issues. ADA Wisconsin also sponsored keynote speaker Randy Snow, who inspires audiences to embrace change, work together and achieve extraordinary results. Find out more at:
www.rfw.org/RehabConference/2006/RehabConference.htm

"Traveling and Out to Visit You... How to Succeed in a Disability Market" was recently written by ADA Wisconsin for the Wisconsin Department of Tourism. The article was featured in their "Tourism Today" newsletter which goes to thousands of businesses that advertise products and services through Department of Tourism publications. ADA Wisconsin will be working further with the Wisconsin Department of Tourism to develop ways to educate about accessibility, market accessible venues and businesses, and promote the growing spending power of travelers with disabilities.

The Madison 2006 Juneteenth Celebration is coming up June 17 and several thousand people are expected to participate. ADA WI has been a sponsor for several years for this event and will staff an exhibit booth, offer a training session on disability awareness and accessibility, and disseminate a variety of ADA publications.

ADA WI was very pleased to add Carol Dunn, Small Business Ombudsman, Wisconsin Department of Commerce as a steering committee member. Carol provides information on government regulations and financing alternatives to small businesses; promotes consideration for small businesses in the Wisconsin administrative rule making process; and assists with small business start-up, expansion and retention activities.

Technical Assistance Desk

Question: I had heard that at one point the requirement for detectable warnings had been suspended under the ADA. The other day I was speaking with a local building code official and was told that detectable warnings were now required under the ADA. Are detectable warnings required by the ADA accessibility standards?

Answer: The current enforceable standards under the ADA require the installation of detectable warnings. The Access Board requested a suspension of the requirement from 1994 to 2001 except at boarding platforms in transit stations. The U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Transportation, with enforcement responsibility under the ADA, also suspended the requirement. The suspension lapsed on July 26, 2001. The Board had initially sought the suspension because of questions regarding the technical design standards, availability of compliant material and products, issues of maintenance, usefulness and safety concerns.

Currently the accessible design standards require detectable warnings on the surface of curb ramps and at other areas where pedestrian ways blend with hazardous vehicular ways. They are also required along the edges of boarding platforms in transit facilities and the perimeter of reflecting pools.

The Access Board published revisions to the standards under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Architectural Barriers Act in July of 2004. These revisions don't have requirements for detectable warnings other then at boarding platforms at transit stations. The Access Board felt that the requirements fit better in the public rights-of-way guideline it is currently developing since this guideline deals with sidewalk accessibility. The revisions to the accessibility standards under the ADA are currently going through the rule making process and won't become enforceable until adopted by the DOJ and DOT.

For questions regarding the ADA and detectable warnings you may contact the Great Lakes Center by calling 800-949-4232 (V/TTY) or by visiting our on-line contact form.