ADA Pipeline Volume 15, Number 1 2006 A Publication of the Southeast Disability and Business Technical Assistance Center A Project of the Center for Assistive Technology and Environmental Access at Georgia Tech ADA Pipeline is published three times per year by the Southeast Disability and Business Technical Assistance Center (DBTAC). The Southeast DBTAC is authorized by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, Grant #H133D010207 to provide information, materials, and technical assistance to individuals with rights, as well as entities, that are covered by the ADA. The information, materials, and technical assistance are intended solely as informal guidance; this assistance does not serve as determination of your legal rights or responsibilities under the ADA, nor is it binding on any agency with enforcement responsibilities under the ADA. ADA Pipeline is available, free of charge, to subscribers in the eight southeastern states. ADA Pipeline is available in large print, braille, audio cassette, and computer disk, upon request. Southeast DBTAC Project Staff * Shelley Kaplan Project Director * Pamela Williamson Assistant Project Director * Cheri Hofmann Information Specialist * Kevin Price Educational IT Specialist * Sarah Endicott Information Specialist * Angelita Colbert Training Manager * Amy Oliveras Office Administration/Hispanic Outreach * Mary Morder Help Desk Specialist/Newsletter Editor * Marsha Allen Web Developer * Sally Weiss Materials Development * Jimmie Taylor Data Entry Clerk * Programs for Accessible Living Technical Assistance Coordination How Do We Measure Success? Outcome By Outcome This issue of the ADA Pipeline features several activities conducted by the Southeast DBTAC's Leadership Network that are considered "Promising Practices." Information is provided to illustrate evidence-based practices about what works to facilitate voluntary compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and to promote the use of accessible information technology across educational settings. During fiscal year (FY) 2004-2005, the national network of 10 DBTACs shifted from an activity to an outcome-based orientation and developed a logic model to reflect priority areas associated with its two-fold mission. Those efforts, focusing on reasonable accommodation in employment and increasing the accessibility of Information Technology (IT) in schools also shaped other Center activities in terms of outcomes. Outcome-based projects focus on results of a specific activity. They are designed so that these results are measurable and real change can be seen at the regional, state or local level. Increasingly, federal agencies are being asked to describe and demonstrate clearly the value of the programs and projects they fund. In fact, these agencies are expected to measure and report on how their funding served a particular purpose and how they can prove that progress toward that purpose has been realized. Making this shift requires federal agencies to become less interested in the types of activities that are funded and more interested in the outcomes project activities produce within certain target systems. These outcomes are expected to be demonstrable and measurable because they are generally equated with change and effect. [Source: "Shifting Expectations: From Activities to Outcomes," The Research Exchange Newsletter, www.ncddr.org/du/researchexchange/v09n02/] The Southeast DBTAC got a jumpstart on this shift in orientation due to its ongoing work with its State Affiliate in North Carolina. Currently, all eight states served by the Southeast DBTAC are in various stages of adopting the North Carolina Project Model. This model is described below, and the results of this new endeavor are highlighted across the Southeast Region. The North Carolina Project Model In 1999, the North Carolina Council on Developmental Disabilities tried a different approach to increase their grassroots network and build ADA capacity. They sent out a Request for Proposals (RFP) to local advocacy groups for projects that addressed specific accessibility issues in their local communities. Projects had to promote voluntary compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and address at least one of the Southeast DBTAC's core functions (information dissemination, technical assistance, training, public relations, capacity building). Beginning in FY 2005, in a move towards measurable outcomes, the projects now included a component to clearly identify and measure outcomes. No matter how small, projects had to attempt to make a specific tangible change in their community's compliance with the ADA. Projects approved by the Council received funding ranging from $250 to $1000. Was the approach successful? The answer is a resounding YES. Examples of outcomes resulting from the 2005 ADA projects include: * Kapabilities (Eden) conducted awareness activities and distributed ADA publications, resulting in seven stores making changes to assure accessible paths of travel to goods and services; * Alliance of Disability Advocates (Raleigh) conducted training and follow-up activities leading to three businesses improving or increasing accessible parking spaces; * As a result of their efforts in providing technical assistance, representatives from the Gaston County Advocacy Council (Charlotte) are now ad hoc members of the design team for the new Whitewater Park; * The Association of Self Advocates of North Carolina (Raleigh) hosted a train-the-trainer workshop for five self advocates who in turn trained 45 self advocates about their rights when applying for a job. The design and implementation of these projects represent a shift in the way that success is measured. Fifteen years after the passage of the ADA, it is no longer just enough to measure the Southeast DBTAC and its ADA Network's impact on voluntary compliance with the ADA by the number of trainings held, calls answered, and materials disseminated. Although such activities are still very important and are continuing, the determination of success has shifted to achieving measurable, tangible, and specific outcomes as the direct result of DBTAC-funded projects and activities. The DBTAC-funded North Carolina projects clearly demonstrate that the impact of such activities can be measured. By focusing their efforts on a specific, measurable goal, these projects, large and small, have resulted in outcomes that clearly demonstrate a change in their community's voluntary compliance with the ADA - and increased access for community members who have disabilities. An Idea Whose Time Has Come Other states within the Southeast Region have replicated this model, supporting small, outcome-based ADA-related projects that focus on improving access in local communities. Alabama is in its second year of funding these types of projects. Florida and Kentucky implemented the model for the first time in FY 2005. Georgia and Tennessee are implementing this model in FY 2006. The key to success in adopting this project model lies in the fact that each local group is allowed the flexibility to design an activity to meet a specific community need that falls within their mission. Adding a follow-up component to determine if the intended change occurred is new to most Affiliates and proved to be more challenging. However, everyone recognizes that follow-up is the key in measuring the impact of their efforts and determining if additional services are needed to bring about positive change. Variations on a Theme One of the projects funded by the Birmingham Independent Living Center (BILC) - the Southeast DBTAC State Affiliate for Alabama - focused on outreach to employers through local Chambers of Commerce. The Mobile (AL) Center for Independent Living (CIL) contacted the Chamber of Commerce in three cities in Southern Alabama: Mobile, Atmore, and Monroeville. The Center offered to conduct a free workshop for employers on how to provide reasonable accommodations for their employees. The Chambers' response was enthusiastic, with each Chamber taking over most of the organizing, inviting employers and providing refreshments. As a result of the three trainings, employers reported increased knowledge of the ADA and the reasonable accommodation process. Employers who attended the training also reported that they would review their application and hiring procedures including web-based applications and make a concerted effort to recruit employees with disabilities. The collaborative trainings have also allowed the Mobile CIL to partner with other area Chambers to replicate this training model for FY 2006. When BILC issued an RFP for the second year, they described the Mobile CIL's successful project, which included a curriculum and other materials, and expected that other CILs would be interested in replicating it in their community. To their surprise, however, they found that of the six organizations responding to the RFP, only one was interested in replicating the Mobile project. The others said, "Thanks, but we would really like to do something different." BILC is now in process of working with these six groups, taking the application process in stages and helping them to define outcome-based goals and refine their projects to meet desired results. The Georgia ADA Exchange faced a similar challenge: the agencies responding submitted grandiose ideas. They all wanted to do more training - but without identifying specific outcome measures. However, with much guidance from the Network Administrator, four projects were developed: 1) The 4-H Club in Griffin is distributing information to 50 businesses, explaining the protocols for service dogs entering their business; their goal is to have 10 businesses make it clear that "we welcome service animals;" 2) A CIL in Northwest Georgia is working with libraries, with a particular emphasis on providing the accommodations (e.g., Kurzweil reader) needed by people with learning disabilities to access services; 3) The Savannah CIL is training emergency first responders on how to communicate with people who are deaf; and 4) VSA Arts in Atlanta is working to assure that the annual Cultural Arts Festival is fully accessible to patrons with disabilities. In Tennessee, with guidance from the state Network Administrator on how to design an outcome-based project, five organizations have identified projects to meet local needs: two are doing in-depth training, and using pre- and post-training tests to assess knowledge gained; another is doing an accessible parking project, working with one business a month, by offering to help them make their parking lots accessible, including offering to re-stripe the accessible parking spaces for free; the Knoxville CIL is giving Best Business/Best Employer packets to various businesses, explaining the ADA and offering coupons for a free access survey and training on disability etiquette; and another group is partnering with their local ADA coordinator to put together a booklet on the ADA and disability, with a focus on people with disabilities as their target population, including a follow-up survey to see what people with disabilities have done with the information. Kentucky ADA Outreach, the State Affiliate for Kentucky, offered an RFP last year, but the response was limited, partly because the concept of doing outcome-based projects was a new one, but also because the turn-around time was short. They have issued another RFP this year, and the response has been very good. Despite the short turnaround time last year, Independence Place in Lexington, received funding to conduct a four-hour workshop on reasonable accommodations. The workshop focused on employers and featured guest speakers and a panel of people with disabilities. Eighteen participants completed pre- and post-training tests to assess what they had learned. In a telephone survey six weeks later, participants said that they had recommended the training to other employers and had implemented some of the accommodations in their own businesses. The Florida State Affiliate funded eight projects last year - with mixed results. The ADA Working Group was partnering with the Governor's Office to create a best practice guide to emergency response when Hurricane Wilma struck, delaying project completion to next spring. In Miami, the CIL of South Florida along with the Disability Independence Group is working with parents of school-aged children with disabilities on making information technology accessible, with training scheduled for March 2006. Other projects were more immediately successful. The Caring and Sharing CIL in Largo provided training and technical assistance to ADA Coordinators; and the CIL of Broward County conducted a training for building code inspectors from 14 municipalities. Both projects measured outcomes through follow-up surveys evaluating self-reported increases in knowledge. The ILC Resource Center in Jacksonville trained local Title III entities on making their businesses accessible, including successful barrier removal efforts at the physical sites. The CIL of Northwest Florida in Pensacola focused on businesses and local governments to enforce the regulations on accessible parking, with a goal of increasing parking in at least three businesses. The Self-Reliance CIL in Tampa brought in a trainer to teach 40 participants - CIL staff, people with disabilities and disability advocates - about how to conduct an ADA survey. This project also measured success through follow-up surveys evaluating self-reported increases in knowledge. Finally, not all outcomes are successful. Sometimes a negative outcome provides good information about where to target additional outreach. This is what happened in the project conducted by the Space Coast Center for Independent Living. The Center proposed a two-day training on effective communication between people who are deaf and members of the health care community. Invitations were sent to more than 600 healthcare providers - but on the day of the training, no one showed up. The second day of training was targeted to the disability community and with better turnout. Network Collaborations Build Capacity To date, the Southeast DBTAC works collaboratively with a network of 82 Affiliates interested in facilitating voluntary compliance with the ADA in their local communities. Participation in the Southeast DBTAC's Leadership Network is regarded as a value-added partnership to strengthen existing activities already underway and enhance credibility of member organizations. Affiliates actively collaborate with each other to build regional, state and local capacity. This collaborative spirit contributes to the Southeast DBTAC's ability to reach the project's ultimate self-sustaining ADA and educational IT efforts across the Southeast Region. Adopting an outcome-based model has been a learning experience. It requires that local projects develop activities that: * Relate to one or more DBTAC core functions; * Promote ADA compliance that is voluntary in nature; * Develop a clear, simple, and understandable goal(s); * Identify a desired outcome(s) that is clearly measurable; * Define goals, objectives and timelines that are realistic; * Develop a reasonable budget that supports the proposed activities; * Conduct systematic follow up to ensure that intended outcomes(s) are achieved; and * Disseminate materials that are authorized by the DBTAC to ensure accuracy of information. In summary, the Southeast DBTAC continues to advance its mission of creating a self-sustaining regional network that strengthens existing accessibility efforts already underway across the region. The Southeast DBTAC serves as a catalyst and facilitator for new partnerships and collaborative activities to encourage innovation and share promising practices for further replication. Fifteen years after the ADA was passed, these organizations are a making a difference in their communities, one project at a time. [The following notice is printed in bold type in a separate box on the page: Application deadlines for local outcome-based projects vary from state to state. To learn more, please contact the Network Administrator for your state. The list of State Network Administrators is found on page 8. ] [The list of Network Administrators is found elsewhere in this publication.] Highlights From Around the Region The Southeast DBTAC maintains a decentralized operation and funds a network of State and Local Affiliates to broaden its reach across the eight-state region. These Affiliates - known as the ADA Leadership Network - conduct a diverse range of "outcome-based" activities that facilitate voluntary ADA compliance. These activities address specific local needs for ADA information and education and/or access to IT in educational facilities through short-term projects that result in tangible changes such as more accessible parking spaces, increased accessibility in polling places, restaurants, public transit, and the arts among others. In this manner, Affiliates leverage resources via in-state collaborations and maximize outcomes for people with disabilities in their local communities and result in tangible changes. In addition, a 21-member Educational Leadership Team (ELT) guides the Southeast DBTAC in promoting accessible information technology across educational settings. These "champions" of accessible IT provide strategic linkages with educational entities in order to conduct innovative activities that increase access to education by students and faculty with disabilities. The shift to from an activity to an outcome focus, as illustrated by the "Promising Practices" featured in this issue, influenced other activities conducted by the Southeast DBTAC's Leadership Networks. Below are highlights of these practices. CAPACITY BUILDING One of the ways that the Southeast DBTAC builds the capacity of its Leadership Network is by developing and sharing its "Promising Practices." Promising practices are specific, real-world examples of effective ADA compliance and accessible information technology that can be replicated in local communities. The Southeast DBTAC is committed to developing and sharing promising practices that exemplify implementation of the ADA in the following areas: ADA in Action Practices, ADA Enforcement Activities, various ADA Websites Promoting Compliance, and IT in Education Practices. To learn about successful promising practices in the Southeast region, visit the Promising Practices "Quick Link" on the home page of our web site or go to www.sedbtac.org/promisingpractices.php. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE As a follow up to the U.S. Department of Justice Project Civic Access Settlement Agreement with Birmingham, Alabama (www.ada.gov/birminghamalsa.htm), the Birmingham Independent Living Center (BILC) is working with city officials to provide ADA training and technical assistance to address compliance issues included in the agreement. Dan Kessler, BILC Executive Director, and Larie Ross Hunter, Alabama ADA Network Administrator, have been asked to serve on the Mayor's Americans with Disabilities Committee for 2006. The Committee will make recommendations to the City of Birmingham as they review ADA policies, practices, and procedures pertaining to program accessibility and the built environment. Other members of the committee will include cross-disability representatives and organizations for the aging. The Committee will also be involved in making the services and accommodations more well-known in the community. TRAINING In December, the South Carolina ADA Network hosted an ADA workshop for the staff of the new Latino One-Stop, Vocational Rehabilitation, Employment Security Commission, Low-Country Workforce Investment Area, and Chamber of Commerce in the Hilton Head-Bluffton area. This new One-Stop Center will focus specifically on job applicants whose primary language is Spanish. The Southeast DBTAC provided an overview of the available resources in Spanish as well as a library of ADA publications in Spanish and English. The One-Stop Center is planning to provide workshops for employers and other agencies in the future. The Center for Accessible Living received funding from Kentuckiana Works, a One-Stop serving the Louisville Metro area, to provide training on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and disability awareness. The first training was held in January '06. Check Out the Newly-Revised Online Course, At Your Service: Welcoming Customers with Disabilities to Your One Stop. This free course is designed to increase understanding of the needs and experiences of people with disabilities, develop basic etiquette for interacting with a customer who has a disability, and offer suggestions about how to adjust general customer service standards to meet the needs of the customer with a disability in a One Stop Center environment. You can access the course at www.wiawebcourse.org. Over 5,000 People Have Taken the DBTAC's online course, "ADA Basic Building Blocks." This introductory web course on the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) explores the legal requirements and spirit of the ADA. The course content is self-paced and available for CEU and CRCC credits. The course is free, however, there is a $50 CEU fee that must be paid to receive continuing education credit. To access the course, log on to www.adabasics.org. Southeast DBTAC's ADA Game is Re-designed Based on User Feedback. Earning points is now easier as you build virtual communities around the country. Check out the new and improved game features at www.adagame.org. The ADA Game simulates how advocacy can promote positive changes in communities. To date, over 4,500 people from four countries are playing. The Southeast Region is fast becoming the most accessible virtual area in the U.S. Join in the discussions and work together to improve compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in your community of choice in the areas of: Program Access, Public Accommodations, Transportation, Employment, and Communication. INFORMATION DISSEMINATION An average of 2,799 people visit the Southeast DBTAC website each month. Check it out at www.sedbtac.org. Check out the new Spanish portal at www.sedbtac.org/espanol/index.php. OUTREACH AND PUBLIC AWARENESS County election officials should not assume that a building equipped with a wheelchair ramp is accessible. Survey reports from teams across Northern Kentucky indicate that many barriers still exist that prevent people with disabilities from equal access to the voting process. Some ramps are too steep or lack handrails. Gravel parking lots make it difficult if not impossible for people who use wheelchairs, walkers or canes to get to the polling place. Building doorways are often too narrow to allow a wheelchair through. Some warn that relocating as many as 30 percent of Northern Kentucky's polling places could lead to mass confusion next November. Board of Elections officials need to give voters plenty of advance warning and directions if their voting site has to be changed. A new pocket guide, "Access to Voting" and other informative information and materials are available from the Rocky Mountain ADA & IT Center at www.VotingAccess.org/ or by searching the ADA Document Portal at www.adaportal.org. On December 13, 2005, the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) approved new guidelines that states can follow on a voluntary basis to ensure that voting systems function accurately and reliably. The Voluntary Voting System Guidelines cover usability, including accessibility for people with disabilities, security, and privacy. Access is addressed for all types of users, including those with vision impairments. The guidelines were developed under the Help America Vote Act of 2002 which Congress enacted in response to the ballot controversies that arose in the presidential election of 2000. The new guidelines and related information are to be posted on the Commission's website at www.eac.gov. OTHER NEWS AROUND THE SOUTHEAST REGION The Southeast DBTAC bids farewell to Regina Ratterree who retired from South Carolina Employment Security Commission at the end of December. She served as the State Network Administrator for South Carolina since the Southeast DBTAC was established and wants to thank everyone for sharing promising practices, wonderful friendships and all the assistance with challenging ADA questions. People with disabilities soon will find it easier to get around at Northeast Mississippi Community College, according to a story featured in the Daily Journal. In November, college leaders agreed to spend $50,000 to make building improvements throughout the Booneville campus. "It's just the right thing to do,” Northeast President Johnny Allen said after trustees endorsed his recommendation for door-opening equipment. “We are seeing more people [with disabilities] seek higher education.” The work to make changes to 36 doors at 14 buildings will begin in the spring, said Allen, whose father uses a wheelchair. For more information, contact Andy Kanengiser (601-678-1590) or andy.kanengiser@djournal.com. The Southeast DBTAC welcomes Angelita Colbert as its Training Manager. Angelita has a Masters of Science degree in vocational counseling from Ft. Valley State University and is a certified Rehabilitation Counselor. Angelita will coordinate the various training activities conducted by the project's regional training team. Accessible Information Technology Update Awareness + Tools for Assessing Access = Systems Change Kentucky’s Accessible Information Technology in Schools Project Kentucky’s Accessible Information Technology (AIAT) law, passed in April 2000, requires school districts to ensure that the information technology they use will provide students with disabilities with access “that is equivalent to the access provided individuals who are not disabled” (KRS 61.982). Anecdotal reports, however, suggested that many school districts were not even aware of this law and, of those that were, very few had created formal policies to help deal with this issue. In response to this apparent need, the Kentucky Assistive Technology Service (KATS), in collaboration with the Kentucky Department of Education, initiated the Accessible Information Technology in Schools Project (AITS). Core funding for this initiative was provided by the Southeast DBTAC under its unique Leadership Initiative Program. Its goal was to develop accessibility guidelines, checklists, and other technical assistance materials that could be used to assist school systems in understanding how to fulfill their obligations under Kentucky’s Accessible Information Technology law. The project began by creating a School District Information Technology Accessibility Survey to provide a snapshot of where Kentucky’s schools were in understanding and complying with the AIT law. First administered in 2004 and repeated the following year, the survey traced the increasing awareness among District Technology Coordinators of the requirements of both Section 508 and the Kentucky AIT law. The survey also identified the training and technical assistance needs within the various school districts. In response to identified needs, the AITIS Project has developed the following documents: * School District Information Technology Accessibility Policy Matrix — provides district personnel with citations for the applicable sections of both the Kentucky state law and enforceable Federal regulations. It contains enumerated guidelines and policy language components, and a matching checklist for each guideline subject area. * School District Section 508 Technical Standards Checklists — contains checklists for each subsection of the Federal Section 508 Accessibility Standards to assist school districts in selecting accessible electronic and information technology products that are covered under Section 508. * Kentucky Library Information Technology Accessibility Checklist — contains checklist materials from the Policy Matrix that were revised to deal more specifically with library services. * TRT Accessible Information Technology Resource Page — a training resource for Technology Resource Teachers containing an “easy to digest” resource page of some of the most basic accessibility resources. For more information about the AITIS project, including links to AITIS documents, go to www.katsnet.org/aitis.html. Systems Change If the only result from the AITIS Project had been the Surveys and the resulting technical assistance documents, the Project would be considered a success. The fact that AITIS has also had a significant impact on policy change within the state means that this initiative has been even more successful. At the K-12 level, the Project has worked with the Kentucky Department of Education to establish criteria for publishers providing electronic files to ensure that they are accessible for students with disabilities. The criteria suggested by the AITIS project were used as the basis of Kentucky’s textbook accessibility regulations. The Project also worked with the Kentucky Accessible Materials Consortium to develop a digital content checklist that is used to assess all publishers’ electronic textbooks submitted for state adoption. In addition, the AITIS Project worked on accessibility issues relating to publishers providing digital textbook content at the post-secondary level, including the involvement of the AITIS Project staff in the writing, passage, and continuing implementation of the Kentucky Postsecondary Textbook Accessibility Act. This act requires publishers to provide an accessible electronic version of textbooks and instructional materials upon request. ADA Pipeline is now online! www.sedbtac.org/ada/publications/pipeline.php Looking for accurate information about the ADA and education-based accessible IT for your newsletter? Back issues of the ADA Pipeline newsletter are now available online at the Southeast DBTAC’s website. You are encouraged to reprint the information contained in each issue in your own newsletter, with proper acknowledgment given to the Southeast DBTAC. And don’t forget to check out the ADA Headliner, our monthly e-mail publication at www.sedbtac.org/ada/publications/headliner.php, as well as other publications at www.sedbtac.org/ada/publications/index.php. Access Board Update Additional Information about the Access Board is available at www.access-board.gov New Accessibility Standards Adopted for Federal Facilities The General Services Administration (GSA) has adopted new accessibility standards for federally funded facilities based on updated guidelines the Board issued in 2004. The adopted standards will apply to a wide range of new or altered buildings under the Architectural Barriers Act (ABA), which requires access to facilities designed, built, altered or leased with Federal money. The new standards will apply to construction and alterations that commence after May 8, 2006, and to leases entered into after this date. Compliance with the previous standards, the Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards, will be permitted for construction and alterations that begin before this date and for projects whose design is substantially complete by this date. The standards apply to all federally funded facilities, except residential, postal, and military facilities, which are covered by standards maintained by other Federal agencies. Last May, the U.S. Postal Service similarly updated its standards which govern post offices and other postal facilities. The departments of Housing and Urban Development and Defense will follow suit and complete the implementation of new standards under the ABA. New standards based on the Board’s guidelines also must be adopted under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which complements the ABA by ensuring access to facilities in the private and state and local government sectors. ADA standards are maintained by the Department of Justice and, in the case of transit facilities, the Department of Transportation. The Board updated its ABA and ADA guidelines jointly in order to establish a uniform level of accessibility under both laws. Further information on the status of efforts to issue new standards under the ABA and ADA, including the recent action by GSA and links to its notice, is posted on the Board’s website at www.access-board.gov/ada-aba/standards-update.htm. Stay current about the Access Board’s initiatives by visiting the Board’s website at www.access-board.gov. Editor’s Note: This text appears in a box below the preceding article: Do You Have Questions About the ADA? Call the Southeast DBTAC at 1-800-949-4232 (voice/TTY) ADA Document Center Search Tips www.adaportal.org The ADA Document Center is one of the most comprehensive resources available to find answers to a wide range of topics dealing with disability issues. It consists of more than 7,400 documents relating to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Other disability-related collections are also available at this same site, including Fair Housing, Section 508, IDEA, Air Carrier Access Act, Help American Vote Act, among many others. Check out these tips to make your online searching more successful. Ctrl F ("find on this page") Many times when you perform a search, your results will include a lengthy document with your key words hidden among the pages. This tip provides an easy way to find the word(s) you want within that document. When you pull up the document, you can hit "Ctrl F" and a "find" box will appear. Put the words you are searching for in this box; hit enter; and you are immediately at the first occurrence of the word(s). You have the option to "find next" to locate all the places the word(s) appear. As an example, if you are executing a search on "gang showers," one of the results is Guide to ADAAG Provisions, which is over 100 pages in length. Hit Ctrl F; enter "gang showers;" and you are instantly on the right page. This technique works with all web pages and applications like Word, Outlook and others. Give it a try! "Key Words" The more "key words" a person uses, the better the results will be. Below is an example about how to use "key words." Question: When traveling out-of-state, can I use my paratransit pass? How to Search the Portal: The more appropriate "key words" a user inputs into the search box, the better the search results will be. For example: Key Words: Search Results: paratransit 173 matching documents found paratransit eligibility 70 matching documents found paratransit eligibility visitor 15 matching documents found With each key word that is entered, the search results are narrowed and the results are more efficient. If you now click on "highlight key words," the search will be even easier. SOUTHEAST REGION ADA LEADERSHIP NETWORK The Southeast DBTAC works with a lead organization in each state to help broaden its reach across the eight states served by the project. Below is a list of those organizations along with contact information for each Network Administrator who serves as the primary organizational contact. If you are interested in conducting a local outcome-based project, you are encouraged to contact the Network Administrator that serves your state. ALABAMA Larie Ross Hunter Birmingham CIL 206 13th Street South Birmingham, AL 35233-1317 205-942-4940 205-251-2223 (v) 205-254-7333 (tty) 205-251-0605 (fax) larierosshunter@bellsouth.net FLORIDA Jack Humburg Boley Centers 445 31st Street North St. Petersburg, FL 33713 727-821-4819 Ext. 5717 727-822-6240 (fax) jackhumburg@boleycenters.org GEORGIA Nancy Duncan Georgia ADA Exchange 4164 Admiral Drive Chamblee, GA 30341 770-451-2340 770-451-9725 (fax) nduncan@bellsouth.net www.gaada.info KENTUCKY Lou Ann Qualls Center for Accessible Living 305 W. Broadway Suite 200 Louisville, KY 40202 866-214-1007 (v) (toll free) 866-479-7030 (tty) (toll free) 502-589-6620 (v) 502-589-3980 (fax) lqualls@calky.org www.calky.org/kao.html MISSISSIPPI Eddie Jones LIFE of South Mississippi 710 Katie Avenue Hattiesburg, MS 39401 800-898-8977 (v/tty) 601-583-2108 (v/tty) 601-583-1814 (fax) eandjjones@comcast.net NORTH CAROLINA Karen Hamilton NC Council on Developmental Disabilities 3801 Lake Boone Trail Suite 250 Raleigh, NC. 27607 800-357-6916 919-420-7901(v) 919-420-7917 (fax) adaproject@nc-ddc.org SOUTH CAROLINA Camille Fallaw SC Employment Security Commission 1550 Gadsden Street Columbia, SC 29201 800-436-8190 (v/tty) 803-737-2593 (v/tty) 803-737-0140 (fax) CFallaw@sces.org TENNESSEE Donna De Stefano TN Disability Coalition 480 Craighead Street Suite 200 Nashville, TN 37204 615-383-9442 (v) 615-292-7790 (tty) 615-383-1176 (fax) donna_d@tndisability.org www.tndisability.org Picture Perfect Another Promising Practice When the Frist Center for the Visual Arts, located in a stately former Post Office in Nashville, Tennessee, first opened its doors in April 2001, everything was "picture perfect." The staff and volunteers stood ready to welcome everyone to their museum, including people with disabilities, as well as all the other groups that make up the diverse city. This state of total readiness and welcome didn't just happen. The carefully planned and executed outreach to different populations started well in advance of the day the doors opened. In September 2000, Donna DeStefano, Southeast DBTAC Network Administrator for Tennessee and Assistant Director of the Tennessee Disability Coalition (TDC), received a call from the Frist Center's Visitor Services Manager. A Frist staff member, whose child had a disability, wanted to be sure that the new Center would be accessible to all people. This was an idea that was enthusiastically endorsed by the other staff. Could Donna prepare and organize disability awareness trainings in January and February for all of the Center's staff and volunteers? The Center wanted to make sure that they were doing the right things to ensure full access for people with disabilities. Time was of the essence. Donna had just started as Assistant Executive Director for the TDC, but she took a deep breath - and agreed. Donna's first action was to call upon Floyd Stewart, Independent Living Advocate at the Center for Independent Living of Middle Tennessee and then VISTA Volunteer Sofia Maneschi. Together the three advocates mapped out a training that focused on an overview of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and application of the ADA to museums in general and to the Frist Center in particular. The training focused on three key areas: * Architecture - assuring physical access (ramps, wide aisles, etc.); * Program modifications to increase participation; and * Auxiliary aids and services (interpreter services, tape/Braille) to ensure effective communication. The training featured a panel of individuals with disabilities and representatives from local disability organizations, who discussed their different access needs and answered questions from the audience. Perhaps the single most important element of the training was its emphasis on respect for the person with a disability and being open to discussing his or her specific needs. The disability awareness training has been presented over 50 times since January 2001-twice in the spring and fall for museum volunteers, and once a year for museum staff. The volunteers themselves often include people with disabilities, who start talking about their own experiences and access needs. Access is woven into every aspect of the Frist Center, which receives more than 20,000 visitors each year. Exhibits change every 6-8 weeks-and as exhibits go up, staff and representatives from the disability community often collaborate on ways to make the shows accessible. This includes creating a touch exhibit or more general access issues, such as increasing the contrast and type size on the explanatory cards posted beside each piece of art. Donna and others from the disability community are also on call to troubleshoot and help volunteers and staff respond to individual needs. The result has been an environment that is even more welcoming, comfortable and inclusive for all people. "At a recent free concert of the Nashville Philharmonic Orchestra," Donna reports, "I looked around the Frist auditorium. It was pretty full - and the audience was fully inclusive. There were families with children, people from the ritzy part of town, people with different ethnic backgrounds, and many people with a variety of disabilities - all part of the community gathered to enjoy the concert." As a result of the rapport established, Donna and her team have been consulted to ensure that the new exhibits, Beyond Sight -African Art Touch Gallery and (www.fristcenter.org/site/exhibitions/exhibitiondetail.aspx?cid=312)˜in conjunction with African Art, African Voices: Long Steps Never Broke a Back (www.fristcenter.org/site/exhibitions/exhibitiondetail.aspx?cid=263) are designed to be meaningful for people with visual impairments. Learn more about the Frist Center at www.fristcenter.org. Subscribe to our monthly e-mail newsletter, the Southeast DBTAC "ADA Headliner" Each month, members of the Southeast DBTAC's network listserv receive a newsletter dropped directly into their e-mail boxes. This newsletter is designed to keep you informed of important updates about the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and accessible IT in education. To join the listserv, send a message to sedbtacproject@coa.gatech.edu with 'subscribe' as the only word in the subject line of the email. Department of Justice Update Enforcing the ADA: A Status Report from the Department of Justice This Status Report highlights the ADA activities of the Department of Justice, primarily in the Southeast Region from April 2005 - June 2005. The full reports are available through the Department’s ADA website at www.ada.gov/statrpt.htm. Other news about enforcement is excerpted from Disability Rights Online News, a monthly update about Civil Rights Division activities in the area of disability rights at www.ada.gov/newsltr1005.htm LITIGATION The Department may file lawsuits in Federal court to enforce the ADA and may obtain court orders including compensatory damages and back pay to remedy discrimination. Under Title III the Department may also obtain civil penalties of up to $55,000 for the first violation and $110,000 for any subsequent violation. Decisions Supreme Court Finds Foreign-Flag Cruise Ships Covered by ADA - The Supreme Court ruled in Spector v. Norwegian Cruise Lines, Ltd., that a foreign-flag cruise ship operating in the internal waters of the United States is covered by Title III of the ADA, except where specific requirements of the law would interfere with the ship's internal affairs or operations in particular cases. The Supreme Court reversed the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit which held that such ships were not covered. The plaintiffs, who are individuals with mobility disabilities and their nondisabled companions, filed suit under the ADA alleging that the cruise line discriminated against them on a cruise from Houston, Texas, by imposing a surcharge for an accessible cabin; by failing to remove architectural barriers to ship facilities and services, such as public restrooms, restaurants, swimming pools, and elevators; and by failing to make reasonable modifications in policies needed to include people with disabilities in the ship's emergency evacuation procedures. The Department filed amicus briefs in both the appeals court and the Supreme Court in support of ADA coverage. Of all the Title III provisions at issue in Spector, involving both policy issues and barrier removal, only barrier removal was identified by the Supreme Court as raising the possibility of causing inappropriate interference with the ship's internal affairs or operations if it caused "permanent and significant modification to a ship's physical structure." Concern was expressed that requiring such changes to a foreign-flag ship might make it impossible for the ship to comply with all of the varied requirements that different countries might impose. The decision also noted, however, that interference with a ship's internal affairs or operations might generally be avoided because of the significant limitations on the barrier removal requirement, but that this determination would have to made on a case-by-case basis. Supreme Court Will Consider Constitutionality of Title II Prisoner Suits - The Supreme Court decided to review the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Goodman v. Ray, which held that private Title II suits against State prisons are barred by sovereign immunity. The Solicitor General asked the Supreme Court to review this decision in order to resolve the conflict between the 9th Circuit, which upheld the constitutionality of individual Title II suits against State prisons in Phiffer v. Columbia River Correctional and the 11th Circuit decision in Goodman, which held such suits unconstitutional. In its petition, the Department argued that the 11th Circuit decision in Goodman was wrong because it was inconsistent with the Supreme Court's decision in Tennessee v. Lane, which upheld the constitutionality of individual Title II suits against State court systems. The petition asserted that Title II is an appropriate congressional response to the history of constitutional violations against persons with disabilities in prisons. The plaintiff, who has paraplegia and uses a wheelchair, alleged that his cell was too small for him to maneuver his wheelchair, making it impossible for him to access his bed, toilet, and shower without assistance, and that assistance was often denied. He also claimed that the prison's barriers prevented him from using the prison library, attending religious services, and participating in a wide range of counseling, education, and vocational training programs. Two Appellate Courts Rule Sovereign Immunity Is No Bar to Private ADA Suits Against Public Colleges - The U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Fourth and Eleventh Circuits ruled in favor of the Department of Justice in upholding the constitutionality of private Title II suits against State institutions of higher education. The Fourth Circuit in Constantine v. The Rectors and Visitors of George Mason University ruled that a GMU law student with "intractable migraine syndrome" can continue with her lawsuit against the law school for injunctive relief and damages. The suit alleged that the GMU law school, which is part of Virginia's public system of higher education, failed to accommodate her disability in the administration of a constitutional law exam and then retaliated against her when she complained. The Eleventh Circuit in Association for Disabled Americans, Inc. v. Florida International University upheld the constitutionality of the ADA's abrogation of State sovereign immunity in the context of public education, allowing a suit to go forward alleging that the university failed to provide interpreters, note takers, and other appropriate auxiliary aids and services to students. Consent Decrees Some litigation is resolved at the time the suit is filed or afterwards by means of a negotiated consent decree. Consent decrees are monitored and enforced by the Federal court in which they are entered. U.S. v. Apollo Theater Foundation - The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York simultaneously filed and resolved by consent decree a lawsuit against the Apollo Theater Foundation, which operates the historic Apollo Theater in Harlem, challenging barriers to access at the theater. The agreement requires the Apollo to install 12 permanent wheelchair seating locations with companion seats in its orchestra section. The agreement also requires the Apollo to renovate its front and rear entrances to provide accessible routes into the facility and to eliminate a wide variety of barriers by making changes to restrooms, elevators, drinking fountains, signage, and telephones. Formal Settlement Agreements The Department sometimes resolves cases without filing a lawsuit by means of formal written settlement agreements. Title II The Department has signed a new agreement with Florence, South Carolina under its Project Civic Access initiative, a wide-ranging effort to ensure that cities, counties, towns, and villages throughout the United States comply with the ADA. Read more at www.ada.gov/civicac.htm. Title III Exodus Women's Center, Lakeland, Florida - The Department entered an agreement with the Exodus Women's Center, which provides obstetrics and gynecology services in four different locations in Florida, resolving a complaint by an individual who has difficulty walking and uses a wheelchair due to a neurological condition. The complainant alleged that when she arrived for her scheduled appointment, Exodus staff refused to help her get onto the examination table and told her that she needed to bring someone with her to assist her. She left without receiving a medical examination. Under the agreement, Exodus agreed to purchase an adjustable height examination table for one office within three months of the agreement and purchase a second adjustable height examination table for a second office within 12 months. It also agreed, when scheduling an appointment for a first-time patient, to ask the patient if she will need any special assistance, modification of policy, or auxiliary aid or service at the examination because of a disability. In addition, Exodus agreed to pay the complainant $1000 and to conduct ADA training for all its medical and administrative staff on interacting with individuals with disabilities and techniques for assisting individuals with mobility disabilities to transfer to an exam table. The settlement agreement is posted at www.ada.gov/exodus.htm. Regal Cinemas Agrees to Accessibility in Stadium-Style Movie Theaters - The Department entered a far-reaching settlement resolving its litigation with the Regal Entertainment Group concerning the placement of wheelchair seating at its stadium-style movie theaters nationwide. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts filed suit against Hoyts Cinemas in December 2000 for violating the ADA by placing accessible wheelchair seating very close to the screen in front of the elevated risers of the stadium section, resulting in a distorted and uncomfortable view for wheelchair users. The lawsuit challenged the failure to provide persons with disabilities seating locations and lines of sight comparable to those of the general public. Regal Entertainment Group, which is the largest movie theater chain in the country with 3,500 screens, acquired most of the former Hoyts movie theaters in 2004. Regal agreed to provide improved lines of sight in both existing and future stadium-style theaters. All future construction of Regal theaters will be designed in accordance with design requirements that place wheelchair seating in the stadium section near the middle of the auditorium. Regal also agreed to make changes to nearly 1000 existing stadium-style theaters by moving wheelchair seating further back from the screen. At the remaining theaters, Regal will ensure that any wheelchair seating be relocated as far back from the screen as possible without major reconstruction. Other Settlements The Department resolves numerous cases without litigation or a formal settlement agreement. In some instances, the public accommodation, commercial facility, or State or local government promptly agrees to take the necessary actions to achieve compliance. In others, extensive negotiations are required. Following are some examples of what has been accomplished through informal settlements. In the Southern District of Mississippi, the following settlements were signed: * An individual with a mobility disability complained that a bank in Mississippi had a built-up curb ramp that protruded into the accessible parking space. The bank replaced the existing curb ramp with one that did not protrude into the space, adjusted the slope of the space, provided van-accessible parking spaces in both the customer parking lot and the employee lot, installed proper signage designating all accessible parking, provided a folding shelf at the front teller's service counter, and made several modifications in the toilet room. * An individual complained that the office of a national real estate agency franchisee was inaccessible. The agency added accessible parking, including a designated a van-accessible parking space, replaced two ramps, created level landings at the top of each ramp, and installed accessible hardware on the doors. * An individual with a mobility impairment complained that a city hall was not accessible to individuals with disabilities. The city installed an elevator and created an accessible entrance where none existed before. MEDIATION Under a contract with the Department of Justice, The Key Bridge Foundation receives referrals of complaints under Titles II and III for mediation by professional mediators who have been trained in the legal requirements of the ADA. Over 80% of the cases in which mediation has been completed have been successfully resolved. Following are recent examples of results reached through mediation in the Southeast Region. In North Carolina, a wheelchair user who called a racetrack for tickets complained that he was told the racetrack did not have companion seating. The owners of the racetrack confirmed in mediation that they did, in fact, have companion seating available, but that employees were not aware of it at the time the complainant called. The racetrack owners developed a comprehensive policy on providing companion seating and trained employees in implementing the policy. In addition, the racetrack owners provided four suite tickets to a future NASCAR race at any of their facilities and $8,500 in compensation. They also agreed to try and arrange a meeting between the complainant and a racing superstar. A wheelchair user in Florida complained that a cinema complex with ten movie theaters did not provide accessible seating or accessible doors in the individual theaters and failed to provide accessible restrooms. The cinema owner removed existing seats and installed accessible seating in a variety of locations within each theater and added signage identifying the location of the accessible seating. The owner also modified the toilet stalls in both the men's and women's restrooms to make them accessible and reduced the door opening force on all restroom and auditorium doors. In Florida a person who is hard of hearing complained that the only theater in the area that showed art films had a poorly functioning assistive listening system, making it difficult for persons who are hard of hearing to enjoy the films. The theater installed a new assistive listening system. Other Enforcement News Housing Units in North Carolina Will Get Accessibility Improvements - Meridian Park Apartments in Greenville, North Carolina, will pay more than $35,000 in penalties and will make improvements on dozens of apartments. On October 11, 2005, a federal court in North Carolina approved a consent decree requiring accessibility improvements to the interiors of 73 apartment units and the common areas of the Meridian Park Apartments. The consent order also requires the defendants to pay $26,000 to victims of the inaccessible features and $10,000 to the government as a civil penalty. The defendants include the developers, owners, builders, and engineers of the complex. The original architect for the apartment complex resolved claims relating to the complex in February of 2003 by paying $100,000 into a retrofit fund. This lawsuit is the third enforcement action by the Department in Greenville concerning the accessibility requirements of the Fair Housing Act. The two previous cases were also resolved by consent orders in federal court. All three cases were brought to the attention of the Department by the North Carolina Fair Housing Center located in Raleigh. NEW PUBLICATIONS and ONLINE RESOURCES AVAILABLE FROM THE SOUTHEAST DBTAC Check out the Southeast DBTAC publication section at www.sedbtac.org/ada/publications/index.php for a list of available information about the ADA. Direct links to many documents are included to assist you in accessing important and accurate information. Promising Practices in Information Technology Accessibility in K-12 Education in the Southeast Region www.sedbtac.org/ed/edaction/promising_practices_K12.doc This publication describes six leadership initiatives supported by the Southeast DBTAC over a two-year period to improve access to information technology for students with disabilities in the K-12 arena. This report identifies these projects, highlights the development and implementation of each project, and reports on project outcomes. Barriers common to these projects and cross-project findings are also presented in this report. Final Report on Best Practices for the Employment of People with Disabilities www.eeoc.gov/initiatives/nfi/final_states_best_practices_report.html This comprehensive report contains findings from the EEOC's "States' Best Practices Project" launched in December 2003 — one of many Commission activities under President George W. Bush's New Freedom Initiative to integrate people with disabilities into all aspects of the nation's social and economic life. An interim EEOC report issued last October focused on state government practices affecting people with disabilities in Florida, Maryland, Vermont, and Washington. The final report covers these four states and five others—Kansas, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico and Utah. The final report also highlights some practices that may inadvertently act as barriers to the employment of people with disabilities in the states surveyed. Questions and Answers About the Association Provision of the ADA www.eeoc.gov/facts/association_ada.html The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has issued a question-and-answer-style document about a little-known but significant provision of the ADA that protects applicants and employees from discrimination based on their association with people with disabilities.  Questions and Answers About Blindness and Vision Impairments in the Workplace and the ADA www.eeoc.gov/facts/blindness.html This fact sheet is part of a series of question-and-answer documents addressing particular disabilities in the workplace. It explains how the ADA might apply to job applicants and employees with vision impairments. Reaching Out to Customers with Disabilities www.ada.gov/reachingout/intro1.htm A free ten-lesson online web course developed by the U.S. Department of Justice that explains how the ADA applies to businesses. Putting the lessons into practice allows businesses to comply with the ADA and welcome customers with disabilities. Tutorial on Accessible Telecommunication Products Available www.section508.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Content&ID=5 A web-based training course on ensuring access to telecommunication products under §508 of the Rehabilitation Act, which requires access to electronic and information technologies procured by the Federal government. Newly Revised ADA Game www.adagame.org The ADA Game is now better than ever with the Southeast Region fast becoming the most accessible area of our country. Log on today and check out the new features. ADA Document Center www.ADAportal.org A new on-line library of ADA documents developed by Meeting the Challenge Inc. of Colorado Springs with funding from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research. This website makes available more than 3,400 documents related to the ADA, including those issued by Federal agencies with responsibilities under the law.  It also offers extensive document collections on other disability rights laws and issues.  ADA Audio Conferencing Series www.ada-audio.org/ The Audio Conference Series is a collaborative project of the 10 Regional Disability and Business Technical Assistance Centers coordinated by the Great Lakes ADA and Accessible IT Center. ADA Audio Conferencing provides continuing education on regulations and trends under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Affiliates use this forum as an opportunity to address local accessibility issues and concerns by inviting members from their communities to first listen to the audio conference and then engage in follow up discussions. Check out the schedule of audio conference topics for 2005—2006. At Your Service: Welcoming Customers with Disabilities To Your One Stop www.wiawebcourse.org Originally developed for the staff of One-Stop centers, this free a self-paced web-based can easily be adapted for customer service training in other environments. Registration is free and the course can be taken, complete or in part, at any time. Questions and Answers About the Association Provision of the Americans with Disabilities Act www.eeoc.gov/facts/association_ada.html The EEOC has issued a question-and-answer-style document about a little-known but significant provision of the ADA that protects applicants and employees from discrimination based on their association with people with disabilities. Spanish Version of the DBTAC ADA Basic Building Blocks Now Available! www.adabasics.org This popular introductory web-based course on the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) is now available in English and Spanish. The course explores the legal requirements and spirit of the ADA. The course content is self-paced and organized into 12 topics. Upon completion of the course, you may be eligible to earn CRCC credit, a certificate and one CEU if you meet ALL established criteria. The course is free, however, a $50 CEU fee is required to receive continuing education credit. Supreme Court Allows Prisoner to Sue State for Damages Under the ADA This week [January 10, 2006], the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a prisoner can sue the state of Georgia for money damages under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for conduct that may have also violated his constitutional rights. Tony Goodman, a prisoner with paraplegia, had made several allegations about his incarceration ranging from frivolous to serious. Some of the more serious allegations included that he was kept in an inaccessible 12 by 3 foot prison cell where he could not turn his wheelchair around. He could not use the toilet or shower without assistance due to the lack of accessible facilities and was often denied assistance when asked. As a result, he often injured himself when attempting to transfer from his wheelchair to his inaccessible shower or toilet on his own. He had also been forced to sit in his own bodily waste while prison officials refused to help him clean up and was denied physical therapy and medical treatment. He was also denied access to most prison programs and services because of his disability. Title II of the ADA prohibits disability discrimination by public entities such as the state of Georgia. It prohibits a public entity from excluding a person from its programs and services on the basis of disability./1/ The Supreme Court had previously decided that state prisons were bound by these prohibitions./2/ Tony Goodman's allegations against the prison, if true, would amount to violations of the ADA. The State of Georgia did not dispute that the alleged conduct, if true, would violate the ADA. Instead, Georgia argued that it could not be sued for money damages under the ADA because of its sovereign immunity under the Eleventh Amendment./3/ Normally, private citizens cannot sue a state without its consent in federal court. Congress can override a state's immunity as long as it legislates to enforce the Fourteenth Amendment/4/ within a prescribed framework set out by a series of prior Supreme Court decisions. Two lower courts agreed with this position and threw out the ADA claims. Justice Scalia, in writing for a unanimous court, noted that Tony Goodman's claims were different from the other plaintiffs in prior Supreme Court cases. Previous arguments on sovereign immunity had hinged on whether Congress had gone too far with the ADA in trying to enforce the Fourteenth Amendment. The previous cases addressed state conduct that may have violated the ADA without violating the Fourteenth Amendment which necessitated a complicated analysis. Goodman, in this case, may have valid constitutional claims for cruel and unusual punishment against the prison for its alleged mistreatment. Scalia wrote that Congress has the power to enforce the Fourteenth Amendment by creating private remedies for actual constitutional violations./5/ Therefore, states can not assert their immunity when there is an actual constitutional violation. Because Goodman had no lawyer and filed suit representing himself, his allegations varied from the frivolous to the unconstitutional. The Supreme Court directed the lower courts to analyze his complaint on a claim-by-claim basis to determine which claim violated the ADA and which claim also violated the Fourteenth Amendment. For claims that violated the ADA but did not violate the Fourteenth Amendment, the lower courts would have to go through the complicated framework used in previous cases to decide if Georgia could assert its sovereign immunity. Justice Stevens, in a concurring opinion, warned the lower court not to just focus on the cruel and unusual punishment aspect of Goodman claims in determining whether there have been constitutional violations. He reminded that prisoners with disabilities may face abridgment of religious liberties, undue censorship, interference with judicial access, and procedural due process violations due to a prison's treatment of their disability. These are some of the many constitutional rights that Congress had in mind when enacting the ADA. Editor's Note: The Supreme Court decision can be read at http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/04-1203.ZS.html. [Footnotes] 1. 42 U.S.C.  12132: No qualified individual with a disability shall, by reason of such disability, be excluded from participation in or be denied the benefits of the services, programs, or activities of a public entity , or be subjected to discrimination by any such entity. 2. Pennsylvania Dept. of Corrections v. Yeskey, 524 U.S. 206 (1998). 3. The Eleventh Amendment provides: " The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by citizens of another state, or by citizens or subjects of any foreign state." 4. Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment provides: " ...No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of the citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." Section 5 provides: " ...Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article" 5. "the Fourteenth Amendment incorporates the Eighth Amendment's guarantee against cruel and unusual punishment." P 6 of the slip opinion 04-1203. Reprinted with permission from the Disability Law Resource Project at ILRU (Legal E-Bulletin - January 2006, [copyright] 2006.) EEOC Update Employment Discrimination Statistics Employment discrimination continues to be a significant problem in the 21st century workplace. According to the EEOC’s preliminary statistics for the last fiscal year, which cover October 2004 through September 2005: • 75,428 charges of employment discrimination were filed with the agency nationwide. • 61% of charges were filed under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which covers race, color, sex (including sexual harassment and pregnancy), religion, national origin and retaliation. • 20% of charges were filed under the Americans with Disabilities Act. • 18% of charges were filed under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. Source: www.eeoc.gov/press/12-8-05.html Best Practices Emerge from Federal Partnership with Nine States The EEOC released a comprehensive report on the efforts of nine states to employ more people with disabilities in government jobs. The study, Final Report on Best Practices for the Employment of People with Disabilities in State Government, is available online at www.eeoc.gov/initiatives/nfi/final_states_best_practices_ report.html. It contains findings from the EEOC's "States' Best Practices Project" launched in December 2003 - one of many Commission activities under President George W. Bush's New Freedom Initiative to integrate people with disabilities into all aspects of the nation's social and economic life. An interim EEOC report issued last October focused on state government practices affecting people with disabilities in Florida, Maryland, Vermont, and Washington. The final report covers these four states and five others - Kansas, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico and Utah. The final report also highlights some practices that may inadvertently act as barriers to the employment of people with disabilities in the states surveyed. "All employers can learn from the best practices of our state partners cited in this report," Chair Dominguez said. "Individuals with disabilities deserve the freedom to compete in the workplace on a level playing field - without discriminatory barriers based on myths, fears and stereotypes." The governors of the nine participating states voluntarily allowed the EEOC to review a wide range of best practices affecting disabled state government employees or applicants. The practices related to the recruitment and hiring of people with disabilities for state jobs; the provision of reasonable accommodations for applicants and employees with disabilities; the retention and advancement of individuals with disabilities within state government; and the employment of people with disabilities more generally in both public and private sector jobs. Further information is available on its web site at www.eeoc.gov. DOJ Holds Ceremony to Recognize ADA Certification Equivalency for North Carolina Accessibility Code On February, 9, 2006, the Department of Justice announced during a ceremony in Cary, North Carolina, that the state's Accessibility Code has been awarded certification for compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). North Carolina is the sixth state in the country to receive ADA certification. Wan J. Kim, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division participated in the certification ceremony with several North Carolina officials and recognized the state for meeting or exceeding the ADA accessibility requirements for new construction and alterations. "Securing ADA certification benefits both the citizens and businesses of North Carolina," said Assistant Attorney General Kim. "Now individuals with disabilities can expect greater access to their community, while architects and builders will have more confidence that by following state law, they are also complying with federal ADA requirements." The Department issued its certification determination on November 28, 2005. The ADA requires newly-built and altered public accommodations and commercial facilities to be accessible to people with disabilities through compliance with the requirements of Title III of the ADA, including the ADA Standards for Accessible Design. To better coordinate the ADA construction requirements with established state and local building inspection procedures, the ADA authorizes the Justice Department to certify that submitted state or local accessibility codes are equivalent to the ADA requirements. Builders in North Carolina will find it simpler to comply with the ADA because the ADA requirements for facility accessibility are included within the state's code requirements. Local officials in North Carolina responsible for implementing state code requirements through plan review and building inspections will be able to check to determine compliance early in the design and construction process, when mistakes are more easily and inexpensively corrected. In addition, because ADA certification provides rebuttable evidence of ADA compliance, builders in North Carolina will have some additional legal protection in ADA lawsuits if they build in compliance with the certified code. Certification cannot apply, however, to variances, waivers or exemptions from ADA requirements if granted under the certified code. The Justice Department is committed to working with states to obtain certification for ADA-equivalent accessibility requirements. Previously, the Justice Department certified the accessibility codes of Texas, Maine, Florida, and Maryland. The Justice Department is currently working with several other states seeking ADA certification. These efforts work toward a fuller realization of President Bush's New Freedom Initiative, which promotes increased access to daily community life for Americans with disabilities. For further information, contact the Justice Department's toll-free ADA Information Line at 800-514-0301 (voice) or 800-514-0383 (TTY) or visit the ADA homepage at http://www.ada.gov. Contact Information SOUTHEAST DISABILITY & BUSINESS TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE CENTER Center for Assistive Technology and Environmental Access 490 10th Street Atlanta, Georgia 30318 ADA Pipeline is published by the Southeast Disability and Business Technical Assistance Center (Southeast DBTAC) Center for Assistive Technology and Environmental Access 490 10th Street Atlanta, Georgia 30318 (800) 949-4232 (V/TTY) (404) 385-0636 (V/TTY) (404) 385-0641 (Fax) sedbtacproject@coa.gatech.edu www.sedbtac.org