Accessibility and the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act)

How accessible are your bathrooms, building entrances, and parking facilities? You can hire a consultant to give you an analysis or check it yourself on the web. Knowing your legal requirements in any situation requires a legal opinion and technical assistance from people who work with this law. The following sites provide general information and links for technical assistance.

• The Access Board is the federal agency that oversees ADA accessibility guidelines. They provide specifications for new construction and renovations of parking and building facilities. They also offer suggestions on retrofitting.

  • This is the home page of the Access Board:
    http://www.access-board.gov/
  • This is the page for New Accessibility Guidelines for Recreation Facilities issued 9/02:
    http://www.access-board.gov/news/rec-guides.htm
  • Accessibility Guidelines for Recreational Facilities:
    http://www.access-board.gov/recreation/summary.htm

• This site has specific pictures on setting up your fitness center so it is accessible:
  http://www.fpg.unc.edu/~ncodh/FitnessGuide.pdf

• This is a checklist to ensure that your facility is 100% accessible before opening it to people with disabilities:
  http://www.ucp.org/ucp_channeldoc.cfm/1/15/11500/11500-11500/3964

• Alpha One, located in South Portland, offers accessibility consults. Here is their site and contact information: http://www.alphaonenow.com/accessdesign/

• For specific suggestions on how to begin to remove barriers from your fitness facility, check out this link:
  http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/reg3a.html#Anchor3800 and click on 36.304 – Removal of Barriers

• For a user-friendly guide to the ADA with more specific instruction, click on this link:
  http://www.adaptiveaccess.com/ada.php

• For legislative guidelines to the ADA’s Accessible Facilities, please click on the following link:
  http://www.access-board.gov/adaag/html/adaag.htm

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