III-1.0000 COVERAGE. Regulatory references. 28 CFR 36. 102 - 36 104.

General. Title III of the ADA covers-- 1) Places of public accommodation; 2) Commercial facilities; and 3) Examinations and courses related to applications, licensing, certification or credentialing for secondary or postsecondary education, professional, or trade purposes.

 

Title III - Public Acccommodations, January 26, 1992.

Unlike the employment provisions (Title 1), there is no small business exemption.

 

A place of public accommodation is a facility whose operations- affect commerce; and fall within at least one of the following 12 categories:

1) Places of lodging (e.g., inns, hotels, motels) (except for owner-occupied establishments renting fewer than six rooms);

2) Establishments serving food or drink (e.g., restaurants and bars).

3) Places of exhibition or entertainment (e.g., motion picture houses, theaters, concert halls, stadiums);

4) Places of public gathering (e.g., auditorium, convention center, lecture halls);

5) Sales or rental establishments (e.g., bakeries, grocery stores, hardware stores, shopping centers);

6) Service establishments (e.g. laundromats, dry-cleaners, banks, barber shops, beauty shops, travel services, shoe repair services, funeral parlors, gas stations, offices of accounts or lawyers, pharmacies, insurance offices, professional office of health care providers, hospitals);

7) Public transportation terminals, depots or stations (not including facilities relating to air transportations);

8) Places of public display or collection (e.g., museums, libraries, galleries);

9) Places of recreation (e.g., parks zoos, amusement parks);

10) Places of education (e.g., nursery schools, elementary, secondary, undergraduate or postgraduate private schools);

11) Social service center establishments (e.g., day care centers, senior citizen centers, homeless shelters, food banks, adoption agencies); and

12) Places of exercise or recreation (e.g., gymnasiums, health spas, bowling alleys, golf courses).

Within each category examples are given just as illustrations and

can include many facilities other than those specifically listed.

---

The Americans with Disabilities Act

III-3.0000 GENERAL REQUIREMENTS. Regulatory references. 28 CFR 36. 201 - 36 213.

1) Equal opportunity to participate; Section 36.202(a) The right to participate in or benefit from the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations of a place of public accommodation.

2) Equal opportunity to benefit; Section 36.202(b) example; persons with disabilities must not be limited to certain performances at a theater.

3) Receipt of benefits in the most integrated setting appropriate. Section 36-202(c) permits different or separate benefits or services only when necessary to provide opportunities as effective as those provided to others. This should be read together with section 36.203.

Section 36.203 Integrated settings

(a) States that a public accommodation shall afford goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, and accommodations to an individual with a disability in the most integrated setting appropriate to the needs of the individual. Permits separate programs when a more integrated setting would not be "appropriate," and in limited circumstances.

III-5.0000 NEW CONSTRUCTION

Regulatory references: 28 CFR 36.401 - 36.406 Appendix A.

III-5.0000 General. All newly constructed places of public accommodation and commercial facilities must be readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities to the extent that it is not structurally impracticable. Applies to any facility first occupied after January 26, 1993, for which the last application for a building permit or permit extension is certified as complete after January 26, 1992.

III-7.5165 Signage. (ADAAG §§4.1.3(16); 4.30.7). Different requirements apply to various types of signs: New symbols of accessibility identifying volume control telephones, text telephones, and assistive listening systems are required.

III-7.5180 Assembly areas. (ADAAG §4.1.3(19). This section specifies the number of wheelchair seating spaces and types and numbers of assistive listening systems required in assembly areas. Assistive listening systems: Certain fixed seating assembly areas that accommodate 50 or more people or have audio-amplification systems must have a permanently installed assistive listening system. Other assembly areas must have a permanent system or an adequate number of electrical outlets or other wiring to support a portable system. A special sign indicating the availability of the system is required. The minimum number of receivers must be equal to four percent of the total number of seats, but never less than two.

III-7.8600 Transient lodging (ADAAG §9). 1). Hotels, motels, dormitories, and similar places: Four percent of the first 100 rooms and approximately two percent of rooms in excess of 100 must be accessible to persons with mobility impairments and to persons with hearing impairments (i.e., contain visual alarms, visual notification devices, volume control telephones, and an accessible electrical outlet for a text telephone). 2). Homeless shelters, halfway houses, and other social service establishments: These entities must provide the same percentage of accessible sleeping accommodations as other places of transient lodging. At least one type of amenity in each common area must be accessible.