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© Disability and Business Technical Assistance Center—Northeast 1

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The ADA and Its Impact on Your BusinessJoe Zesski

Technical Assistance Specialist\


Module 1

Introduction to Disability


Empathy, not Sympathy:An overview of effective and respectful communications with customers who have disabilities


The Human Experience of Disability and the

Disability Community

• Tragic• Helpless poster children• Objects of inspiration to

others• Stoic or brave• Angry or vengeful

We are not…• Helpless• Imperfect• Superheroes• Clinging to a desire to be

“normal” or “whole”• All alike

We are not…


The Human Experience of Disability and the

Disability Community

• Do things a little differently

• Have a unique perspective

• Have the same needs, desires, talents and preferences as anyone else

We are people who…

• May see our disability as a part of our self identity — as part of who we are

• Demand access to the same opportunities as anyone else

We are people who…


The Basics…

• Focus on other person, not your own comfort/ discomfort

• Listen and pay attention to cues for other person—what is THEIR experience of disability

• Build connection—open up conversation

Sympathetic “Pity-Based” Communication

• Focus on yourself and not on others

• “Run with” your own automatic assumptions of their experience of disability

• Treat adults like children

• Creates distance—emphasizes how you are different

• Condescending tone

Empathetic Communication


The Basics…

• Focuses first on the person, not their disability

• Focuses on their ability and not their disability

• Draws attention to the unique individual

Disability-First Language

• Draws attention to limitation and weakness

• Defines the person as their disability

• Handicapped• Crippled• Invalid• Retarded

• Draws attention to stereotype

Person-First Language


“Are There Wheelchairs in

Heaven?”Ben Maittlin

NPR Morning EditionDecember 7, 2005

http://www.benmaittlin.com


In Summary…

• Make sure your facility is accessible to people with a variety of disabilities

• Connect with the person, not just the disability• Treat adults like adults• Treat people as individuals…unique talents,

interests and preferences• When in doubt, it’s OK to ask• Relax…Be authentic and spontaneous


Neurological and brain injury disabilities

Mobility disabilities

Speech disabilities

Psychiatric disability

Hearing/deafness

Vision/blindness

Developmental disability

Serving Customers withSpecific Disabilities…


Module 2

The 5 Reasons:

Why being welcoming and accessible to customers with disabilities is good business


Reason #1

Can you afford to turn away about one-fifth of your current and potential customer base?

It’s about business…


Consider this…

• How many people in the U.S. have a disability? (A: 51.2 million)

• What percent of your customers are likely to have a disability? (A: about 20%)

Steinmetz, 2006


Reason #2

This number is likely to increase



Consider this…Two simple, but very clear trends:

1.There will be more people with disabilities in the years to come

2.People with disabilities will represent an increasingly greater portion of your customer base


Consider this…

• Baby boomers make up 35% of the population

• They have 77% of the financial assets

• They have 57% of the discretionary income

AARP, 2002


Reason #3

If you are not welcoming and accessible to customers with disabilities, you are not welcoming to their families/ companions either



People with disabilities are not using your business/agency by themselves

• 20 million families have a member with a disability

• About 30% of your potential customers will be using your business WITH someone who has a disability

• You will not only lose the business of people with disabilities, you will also lose the business of anyone with them

Qi Wang, 2005; Harris Interactive, 2005


Reason #4

These customers are getting more savvy—they are more likely than ever to research business/agencies for their disability-friendliness

Word is getting around…



Consider this…

• People with disabilities are more likely to use the internet to identify disability-friendly businesses/agencies

• Many new websites or blogs are devoted to describing customer experiences for people with disabilities at specific businesses/agencies

Are you disability-friendly? Word is getting around!

The Verde Group, 2006


Reason #5Customers with disabilities are more likely than other customers to be loyal to those businesses where they had a good experience

It’s not just the right thingto do…


Consider this…

A study sponsored by the European Union found that tourists with disabilities were far more likely to return to businesses where they had a good experience.*

The Customer Loyalty Dividend

And . . . the converse is also true.

Enterprise and Industry, 2004


A look at your business/ operation from the perspective of customers with disabilities


Module 3

The ADA and Employment


Americans with Disabilities Act

• Title I — Employment

• Title II — State and Local Government

• Title III — Places of Public Accommodation

• Title IV — Telecommunications

• Title V — Miscellaneous


The Americans with Disabilities Act

5 Titles…Made it unlawful to discriminate against a person who has a disability in employment, state/local government services, places of public accommodation, transportation or telecommunication

ADA Amendments Act (2009)• Elaborated on original ADA — encourages

broader coverage

• More illustrative list of activities — i.e. reading, bending, communicating, — also includes limitations to major bodily functions

• “Substantially limits” need not be severely restricts; only need to limit one activity

• Shifts focus back to determining discrimination vs. determining disability


Definition of Disability

Determination of eligibility is always the first step

Disability is a relative term. . .it means different things to different people


Definition of Disability

• A physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activity, a record of such an impairment or being regarded as having such an impairment


About Hiring…

Here’s the basics

The employer must provide reasonable accommodations to make the hiring/interviewing process accessible.

An employer cannot refuse to consider a candidatebecause he/she requires a reasonable accommodation tocompete for or perform a job.


About Hiring…

Here’s the basics

“Can you perform the essentialfunctions of this job with orwithout reasonable accommodation.”

This is a permissible question, BUT…It is a yes/no question, NOT an either/or question.

Candidates do not need to disclose whether they will needany reasonable accommodations if hired.


About Reasonable Accommodation

• Any change in the work environment or way things are done that enables a person with a disability to enjoy equal employment opportunity

• Must be provided to qualified individuals unless this poses an undue hardship



• Provision of accessible worksite

• Modifying or acquiring equipment

• Support services for persons with vision or hearing disabilities

Common Reasonable Accommodations?

• Job restructuring and modified work schedules

• Reassignment to an available position

• Adjustment of training materials, exams or policies

• Providing readers or interpreters



• A reasonable accommodation must be effective.

• An employer may provide an alternate accommodation to the one suggested by the employee as long as it is effective.

Who Decides?



Rights and Duties of Employers• No pre-employment disability inquiries

• Advising current employees on rights• Reasonably accommodate known disabilities• Act upon request — can ask for more information

in order to act• Employers can request medical information for

accommodation purposes


Module 4

Transacting Business


Effective Communication

• Title II (“Communications”)• Title III (“Auxiliary Aids and Services”)• Definition of auxiliary aids revised to include additional

examples such as:• Accessible electronic and information technology.• Qualified interpreters on-site or through video remote

interpreting services.


Other Examples of Auxiliary Aids and Services:

• Voice, text, and video-based telecommunications products and systems.

• Braille or tactile displays.

• Screen reader software.

• Video remote interpreting (VRI).


Qualified Reader defined

“A person who is able to read effectively, accurately, and impartially, using any necessary specialized vocabulary.”


Qualified Interpreter defined “An interpreter who, via video remote

interpreting (VRI) service or an on-site appearance, is able to interpret effectively, accurately, and impartially, both receptively and expressively, using any necessary specialized vocabulary.” Includes sign language interpreters, oral transliterators and cued-language transliterators.


Revisions to Effective Communication Requirements

• Companions with disabilities.• Discussion of types of auxiliary aids and services that

are necessary to ensure effective communication.• Limitations on use of individual accompanying person

with a disability as an interpreter. • Performance standards for video remote interpreting

services.


Types of Auxiliary Aids or Services

• Type of auxiliary aid or service will vary in accordance with:

• Method of communication used by individual;• Nature, length, and complexity of communication

involved; and the context in which communication is taking place.

• Provide auxiliary aids in accessible formats, in timely manner, and in manner that protects privacy and independence of individual.


Video Remote Interpreting

Definition:

An interpreting service that uses video conference technology over dedicated lines or wireless technology offering high-speed, wide-bandwidth video connection that delivers high-quality video images.


ADA Title III – “Barrier Removal” Standard

• Title III requires that private entities that own, operate, or lease places of public accommodation may not discriminate on the basis of disability in providing goods and services and must remove all structural and architectural barriers to accessibility by persons with a disability if such removal is "readily achievable." (Easily accomplishable without much difficulty or expense)


Barrier Removal & Title III of the ADA – No such thing as “grandfathered”!

• Barriers can often be removed by making small changes to the physical environment, HOWEVER, the exact costs that must be spent on barrier removal are not detailed in the ADA.

• The judgment of what is readily achievable is done on a case-by-case basis. This process is not a one-time effort, but rather is something that must continually be re-evaluated. Something that is cost prohibitive today for a facility, might be affordable if planned for in the following year’s budget.


ADA – Highlights of Key Regulatory Changes for Titles II and III

• Safe Harbor.

– The new regulations include a general “safe harbor” under which those elements in covered facilities built or altered in compliance with the 1991 Standards are not required to be brought into compliance with the 2010 Standards until those elements are scheduled for alteration.

Northeast ADA CenterEmployment and Disability Institute

Cornell UniversityDolgen Hall Room 201

Ithaca, New York 14853-3901

Toll-Free 800.949.4232 (NY, NJ, PR, USVI)

Telephone 607.255.6686Fax 607.255.2763TTY 607.255.6686Email [email protected] www.northeastada.org

Rudstam, H., and Strobel, W. (2008) ADA Trainer Network Facilitator’s Guide, Cornell University: Ithaca, NY, prepared with the assistance of Carr, S., Cebula, R., Erickson, W., Lee, C., Smith, S., Sosna, B., Trerise, S., Unger, D. and Vargas, R.

This program has been funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (Grant H133A060088).

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.dbtacnortheast.org/

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