ADA Accessibility for Healthcare Facilities
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) is a federal civil rights law celebrating its 20th Anniversary this year. This law prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in everyday activities. This includes but is not limited to people with mobility disabilities. According to the website www.u-s-history.com, Some 43,000,000 Americans have one or more physical or mental disabilities, and that number is increasing as the population as a whole grows older. Someone with a disability could be someone who uses a wheelchair, scooter, walker, crutches, or no mobility devices at all. According to the Department of justice, The ADA prohibits discrimination and ensures equal opportunity for persons with disabilities in employment, State and local government services, public accommodations, commercial facilities, and transportation. http://www.ada.gov/
But what does that mean for the general public?
This means that “no individual may be discriminated against on the basis of disability with regards to the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, or accommodations of any place of public accommodation by any person who owns, leases (or leases to), or operates a place of public accommodation. "Public accommodations" include most places of lodging (such as inns and hotels), recreation, transportation, education, and dining, along with stores, care providers, and places of public displays, among other things.” In general terms, people with disabilities are legally protected from being excluded from accessing your business, website, or other facility. The range of this law continues to widen and evolve. We as Architects and designers have been charged to recognize and observe the laws and standards for an ever growing and changing population. Speaking of ever changing, recently the ADA has adopted a few changes to the law http://www.ada.gov/regs2010/factsheets/2010_Standards_factsheet.
