Cook County is making tiny steps toward being more accessible to individuals with disabilities with improvements such as the installation of a handicapaccessible door at the School District166 campus. However, on the 20th anniversary of the passage of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) there is a long way to go.
Julie Bishop, of Hovland, an above-the-knee amputee who has traveled extensively offering outreach to other amputees, noted that it is sad that fundraisers must be held to raise money and install something that is so important to so many community members.
Bishop said she understands that some requirements of the ADA are expensive and could require major changes to the operations of a business. However, she pointed out that it is the law to make these adaptations. The Americans With Disabilities Act signed into law by President George H.W. Bush not only required businesses to stop workplace discrimination against qualified people with disabilities, it also required improved access to public places and transportation. Many businesses believe they are “grandfathered” and allowed to have inaccessible entries or restrooms.
That is not the case. In the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) publication ADA Guide for Small
Businesses,
it is explained that the ADA requirements for existing facilities built before 1993 are less strict than for ones built after 1993. However, all businesses that serve the public are required to “remove barriers that are readily achievable.” Examples of barriers are parking spaces too narrow to accommodate people who use wheelchairs, a step or steps at an entrance, round doorknobs that are difficult to grasp, aisles too narrow for a person using a wheelchair, electric scooter, or walker, narrow checkout aisles, or fixed seats in eating areas.
The SBA acknowledges that small business may not have the financial means to remove barriers, however, it stresses that barrier removal is an ongoing obligation.
And it is obviously an obligation that businesses are required to fulfill when making architectural changes to a building. If a business owner modifies a structure (for example re-striping a parking area, replacing the entry door or renovating a sales counter), they should consult the ADA Guide for Small
Businesses.
Businesses that modify their workspace or retail space may qualify for tax credits of up to $15,000 per year for removing certain architectural or transportation barriers, such as steps, narrow doors, inaccessible parking spaces, and restrooms that do not meet ADA standards.
In addition to tax credits, Bishop stressed that the community could benefit financially by being more accommodating to the disabled population. Bishop was a member of a wheelchair basketball team before she received her prosthetic leg and she recalls that her teammates only went one place for vacations— Disneyland. Those are the only vacation spots that guarantee ADA accessibility.
“With the aging demographic of our country, local businesses should really take the ADA rules into consideration. How many times have you seen a family pushing an elderly person around town in a wheelchair? There are a number of places in Grand Marais that are just not accessible for someone in a wheelchair,” said Bishop.
Not only wheelchair bound people need assistance to get around. To qualify for ADA protection, an individual must have a physical or mental disability that impairs a “major life activity,” such as walking, seeing, hearing, or speaking.
“You’re turning your back on so much business,” said Bishop. She encourages business owners to visit the Department of Justice (DOJ) ADA website to download the aptly named Expanding Your Market
brochure, which details how businesses can benefit from making changes to accommodate potential customers with disabilities.
The DOJ explains that more than 50 million Americans with disabilities are potential customers for retail businesses across the country. The brochure states, “These 50-millionplus customers, along with their families and friends, patronize clothing boutiques, mall outlets, grocery stores, and more, if the businesses are accessible. This market grows even larger if the 78 million baby boomers in this country – who do not always require but benefit from accessibility – are included. Accessibility makes good business sense: an accessible retail establishment brings in new customers and keeps them coming back again and again.”
For specific information about how to comply with the ADA, visit the U.S. Department of Justice’s ADA Business Connection site at www.ada.gov or call the toll-free ADA information line at (800) 514-0301. For businesses for which non-accessible entrances are not “readily achievable,” home delivery or curbside delivery or other alternate service is required. If it is possible to request service by telephone and have a staffer come outside to provide the service, this must be publicized so a customer knows how the goods or services are offered.
This is the case with the Cook County News-Herald.
Any community members who wish to drop off information or an ad for the newspaper may call ahead to (218) 387- 9100. A staffer will happily meet the customer at the curb to serve him or her.
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