Accessible Information Exchange: Meeting on a Level Playing Field

U.S. Department of Justice
Civil Rights Division
Disability Rights Section

Accessible Information Exchange: Meeting on a Level Playing Field

Introduction

Meetings between businesses and people with disabilities – whether related to researching customer preferences, developing a business education curriculum, or discovering effective ways to comply with the ADA – can result in innovative ideas and powerful collaborations that bring greater access to customers with disabilities and attract new customers to businesses. Gathering Input from Customers with Disabilities (http://www.ada.gov/custinfo.pdf)

For these meetings to be successful, everyone involved must have an equal opportunity to participate. Three components are key to presenting meetings that are accessible to people with disabilities: where the meeting is held, how the meeting room furniture is arranged, and how the meeting information is communicated. Event organizers will find that when these elements are accessible, they serve not only the participants with disabilities but also a wide range of others, including older adults, baby boomers, and people with temporary disabilities.

Expanding Your Market

When people with disabilities and business owners talk in a friendly forum, collaboration, not litigation, is the likely result.

Accessible Meeting Location

People attending a meeting are concerned about where to find parking, the building entrance, the meeting room, and restrooms. People with disabilities are no exception. Accessible meeting locations are of primary importance to people with mobility disabilities; accessible locations also ensure easier movement for people who are blind or have low vision. Minimum requirements for an accessible temporary event include the following accessible elements: parking; route to the building entrance from accessible parking spaces, drop-off areas and other accessible elements (e.g., route from a bus stop) within the site; building entrance; route to the meeting room; meeting room; and restrooms. Evaluating the Accessibility of a Meeting Site

Accessible Room Set-Up

Once an accessible site is selected, it is essential that the meeting room furniture be arranged to allow everyone to fully participate. An accessible floor plan is one in which people who use mobility devices (e.g., wheelchairs, scooters, walkers, crutches, canes) can maneuver throughout and use the amenities independently; people who are blind or have low vision can navigate easily and safely; people who are deaf or have hearing loss can use assistive listening systems and see speakers, interpreters, and captioning; and all participants feel comfortable and ready to be engaged in discussion. Arranging an Accessible Meeting Space

Accessible Presentation of Meeting Content

An accessible meeting presentation ensures that all participants have equal access to the meeting's content. Auxiliary aids and services bridge communication between people who are deaf or have hearing loss and people who are hearing so that each can understand the other. Assistance may include qualified sign language and oral interpreters, assistive listening systems, and realtime captioning (also called CART -- communication access realtime translation or computer-aided realtime translation) services. Accessible exchange of information for people who are blind or have low vision may require that printed materials are provided in alternate formats (e.g., Braille, large print, on CD) or that notetakers are provided. The auxiliary aids and services needed at any one event will depend both on the participants and the meeting's format, content, and handouts. Presenting Meeting Content Accessibly | Providing Additional Auxiliary Aids and Services

Accessible meetings create a level playing field for participants with disabilities. Accessibility allows people with disabilities and businesses to share their expertise and creativity and to improve the experience for everyone.

Arranging an Accessible Meeting Space

This list of reminders can serve as a guide to creating accessible meeting room floor plans.

Accessible meeting space allows everyone to participate.

• Seating Locations: Set up the meeting room to provide access to all participant seating locations, the speakers' area, and refreshments. An accessible seating plan requires aisles that are at least 36 inches wide and have sufficient turning space (e.g., a 60-inch diameter circle) in key locations throughout the room. 
  
  These dimensions allow people using mobility devices (e.g., wheelchairs, scooters, walkers, canes, and crutches) to independently enter and exit the room and move throughout the space, sit with other participants, participate as speakers, and get refreshments. Remember, when measuring the accessible route through the space, measure the aisle width as if the chairs are pulled out and occupied.

• Registration Table: If a table for registration and handouts is provided, make sure that people with mobility disabilities can approach it and turn around easily to move away again. Place handouts at the front edge of the table to make them easier to reach for participants both seated and standing.

Refreshment Table: If refreshments are served, allow sufficient floor space for people with mobility disabilities to approach the tables. Arrange all food, plates, glasses (supplement stemware with standard drinking glasses for people who have limited hand mobility), straws (for people who have difficulty drinking directly from glasses), utensils, and napkins within the reach range of people who are of short stature or use a wheelchair. Avoid billowing or long tablecloths that pool on the floor -- wheelchair wheels and tips of canes, crutches, and walkers can easily catch on flowing linens and pull them off surfaces. Provide assistance to people who may need help filling their plates and bringing food and drinks back to their tables. 

Long, flowing tablecloths create hazards for wheelchair users.

• Protruding Objects: Some people who are blind or have low vision use canes to detect objects along a route. One element of a barrier-free meeting space for participants who are blind or have low vision requires cane-detectable protruding objects and sufficient head clearance. Wall-mounted objects, with bottom edges between 27 inches and 80 inches above the floor, cannot protrude into the route more than four inches. The route through the meeting space must be free of overhanging objects that are less than 80 inches above the floor.

• Seating for Communication: Arrange the lighting and meeting room furniture to facilitate communication among participants, interpreters, and realtime captioners. Try to arrange furniture away from windows or cover the windows so that participants, speakers, and interpreters are not silhouetted by the natural backlighting, which makes speechreading difficult.

Podium: If a podium is used, some speakers who use mobility devices may not be able to use one that is standard height. If possible, provide an adjustable-height podium for all presenters at the meeting. If one is not available, either eliminate the use of a podium for everyone (e.g., have everyone sit at a head table with a tabletop microphone) or provide the speaker who has a disability with a hand-held or lavaliere microphone to allow her to speak from a position next to the podium. Provide the speaker with a disability with a small table on which to put lecture notes and a glass of water.

• Stage or Dais: If a stage or raised platform is not accessible to all speakers, do not use it. It is insulting to ask a speaker with a mobility-related disability to be the only person to present from below stage level.

• Service Animals: Ensure that all participants and the meeting site staff understand that the ADA requires that service animals are allowed to enter the building and remain with their owners during the meeting. ADA Business Brief: Service Animals

Presenting Meeting Content Accessibly

This list of reminders can serve as a guide to presenting meeting content in an accessible way.

• Invitation Information: Include in the invitation clear information about the meeting's accessibility, which tells a prospective participant with a disability that the host understands the issues and that the guest will feel welcomed, comfortable, and able to participate fully in the meeting. Information should include the accessibility of the meeting's location, how to request services for the meeting (e.g., Braille, sign language interpreters, readers), and accessible means to respond to the invitation (e.g., telephone,TTY, text messaging, email).

Written Agenda: Provide a written agenda along with the invitation. Agendas help not only to direct the content of the meeting but also to assist participants in anticipating topics and following the meeting flow. Include beginning and ending times of the meeting to assist people in scheduling accessible transportation and quantifying the time required for participation.

Agendas help everyone follow the flow of the meeting.

• Key Meeting Points: Writing key points from the presentations and discussion on a blackboad or easel-mounted chart pad helps everyone follow the meeting's proceedings.

• Auxiliary Aids and Services: If auxiliary aids and services are requested by guests, meeting organizers will need to address before the meeting takes place how to provide such services as interpreters, realtime captioning, and notetakers. For information about how to respond to requests for auxiliary aids and services, see Providing Auxiliary Aids and Services

• Providing Background Information to People with Sensory Disabilities: At the beginning of the meeting, ask all participants to introduce themselves. This not only serves as an ice-breaker, but also lets people who are blind or have low vision know who is at the meeting. Ask participants to talk one at a time and identify themselves during the discussion so that participants who are blind or have low vision and participants who are deaf or have hearing loss (through the realtime captioner or the interpreter) know who is speaking.

• Audiovisual Presentations: If a presentation includes audiovisuals (e.g., computer presentation, video, or printed charts and graphics), it will be necessary to have the visuals described for people who are blind or have low vision. Audio description does not have to be presented separately. The speaker can describe visuals as part of her lecture. It will be helpful to presenters who are not trained audiodescribers to talk with participants who are blind or have low vision beforehand about the type and level of detail that is useful. If the presentation is provided to participants in print, the handouts must also be accessible.
  
  It is also necessary to have the narration captioned or interpreted for guests who are deaf or have hearing loss. Where there is no captioning on the audiovisual itself, interpreters or realtime captioners can help supply the text.

Providing Auxiliary Aids and Services

A meeting that is accessible to people with sensory disabilities enables them to understand the meeting's presentations and to participate in the discussions.

• To provide effective communication for participants who are deaf or have hearing loss or who are blind or have low vision, meeting organizers may need to provide auxiliary aids and services, which may include for example:
  • (for people who are deaf or have hearing loss) qualified interpreters, notetakers, realtime captioning, written materials, assistive listening systems, and open and closed captioning. 
  • (for people who are blind or have low vision) qualified readers, notetakers, texts on CD, audio recordings, Brailled materials, and large print materials.

A participant who is blind receives Brailled materials.

• Some of these aids (e.g., large print, written materials) can be produced by the meeting organizers while some will require a professional service provider. Find out which services are available in the local area, where to obtain them, and how long it takes to arrange for them. For help in locating service providers, call a local Center for Independent Living (CIL) or regional Disability and Business Technical Assistance Center (DBTAC). Additional Resources for Technical Assistance and Locating Accessibility Services
• When choosing a date for the meeting, make the length of time needed to contract for auxiliary aids and services a key factor in the date selection process. In some locations, for example, it can take several weeks to find and hire an interpreter or to have a document printed in Braille. If the aids and services are provided only after a request from a participant, also plan any invitation response deadlines to accommodate these time constraints. As soon as a participant makes a request for services, contact the appropriate provider of auxiliary aids or services to get the request filled. Be sure to ask what specific services or aids they prefer. 
  
  Note: If providing a particular auxiliary aid or service at the meeting will result in an undue burden (i.e., will cause significant difficulty or expense) for the organizers, the organizers are not required to provide that exact service. However, they must try to find an alternative auxiliary aid or service that will not result in an undue burden but will ensure that participants with disabilities can participate fully in the session. Talk with the participant to find the best solution.
• Once the service provider is contracted, find out before the meeting what information is needed to do the job effectively. For example:
  • Interpreters and real-time captioners will be better able to interpret and transcribe meeting proceedings if they can review ahead of time the agenda, speaker and participant list (for proper name spellings), written handouts, and background information about the meeting topic.
  • A supplier of assistive listening systems will have to know if the person requesting services uses a hearing aid, has a cochlear implant, or does not wear a personal device but benefits from amplification.
• On the day of the meeting, introduce the service providers to the participants who requested the services. Talk with them all to ensure that seating, lighting, and equipment are in place for effective delivery of the services. For example, people who are deaf or have hearing loss need to see the interpreter throughout the meeting. If the room lights are lowered for audiovisual presentations, separate lighting on the interpreter may be needed. Ensure that assistive listening systems are in working order with sufficient battery power for the entire meeting.
• Many participants who are deaf or have hearing loss prefer to see both the interpreter and the speaker during a presentation. If the speaker is positioned at a podium in front of the room, it may be best to have the interpreter stand beside the podium. For other meeting formats and room arrangements, talk with the participants who are deaf or have hearing loss and the interpreters to find the best way to maintain the line of sight between them. 

Evaluating the Accessibility of a Meeting Site

The following descriptions and accompanying images are designed to help determine if a meeting location has the most basic accessible features needed by participants with disabilities. If not, sometimes a temporary modification can be made that will create access for the day of the meeting. It is essential to remember, however, that such temporary access does not relieve facility owners of their continuing obligations under the ADA to remove barriers and provide increased access to people with disabilities after the meeting has ended. Linked to the descriptions of accessible features are several common access barriers and suggestions for removing them temporarily. By reading the descriptions, carefully reviewing the images provided, and considering temporary barrier removal suggestions, organizers can determine whether a meeting place accommodates all participants either as is or with some short-term changes. If a meeting site cannot be made at least temporarily accessible, another site should be selected. To access the legal minimum standards associated with each feature, see the ADA Standards for Accessible Design (http://www.ada.gov/stdspdf.htm) The Standards are also available on the U.S. Department of Justice website www.ada.gov or by calling 800-514-0301 (voice) or 800-514-0383 

Feature 1 - Parking and Passenger Drop-Off Areas

When parking is provided for meeting participants, accessible parking must be provided for participants with disabilities. Those who arrive by car or van need an accessible parking space as close as possible to an accessible entrance. The accessible parking space has an adjacent and parallel access aisle that provides needed room for a person to open the car door fully and then to stand with the aid of a walker or crutches, to transfer to a wheelchair, or to lower a wheelchair lift. In order to be usable, the access aisle must be level, clear of gravel or mud, and the surface must be in good condition without wide cracks or broken pavement.

If there is a drop-off area for meeting participants, an accessible passenger drop-off area is also necessary. An accessible drop-off area has a level access aisle that is adjacent and parallel to the vehicle space to serve the same purposes as described above for a parking access aisle.

The access aisles of both the parking space and passenger drop-off area connect directly to an accessible route that leads to an accessible building entrance. When an accessible route crosses a curb, a curb ramp must be provided. ADA Standards for Accessible Design | Temporary Barrier Removal Suggestions for Accessible Features

Feature 2 - Routes to the Building Entrance

Accessible routes connect accessible onsite features (e.g., bus stop, parking) to the building entrance.

There must be at least one exterior accessible route that connects accessible parking spaces and other accessible elements within the site, such as accessible drop-off areas or a route from a bus stop to an accessible building entrance. The accessible route is essential for people who have difficulty walking or who use wheelchairs or other mobility devices to get to the accessible entrance of the meeting site.

An accessible route is at least 36 inches wide for the entire length of the route. (It may narrow briefly to 32 inches wide at utility poles, post-mounted signs, street furniture, and doorways.) Abrupt level changes, steps, or steeply sloped sidewalks cannot be part of an accessible route. Where ramps are used, they cannot be steeper than 1:12 (8.33% incline). Ramps with a vertical rise of more than 6 inches must have handrails on both sides. Ramps must also have edge protection to stop crutch and walker tips and wheelchair wheels from slipping off the sides, and level landings at the top and bottom of each segment and where a ramp changes direction.

Wherever possible, the accessible route should coincide with the main route to the building. However, if an accessible route is different from the route used by other participants, signs are required at key decision points to direct participants with disabilities to the accessible route to the building.

It is important to note that people who are blind or have low vision may use all routes -- not only the accessible ones -- that lead to a building. Therefore, objects that do not provide sufficient head clearance or that are mounted too high and protrude into a route can become hazards because they cannot be detected by people who are blind or have low vision and use canes. All routes must be free of overhanging objects that are less than 80 inches above the ground. There must also be no objects that protrude more than 4 inches into the route when the bottom edges of the objects are between 27 inches and 80 inches above the ground. Examples of potential protruding objects include handrail extensions on stairs and ramps, post- or wall-mounted signs, outdoor drinking fountains, and low-hanging tree limbs. ADA Standards for Accessible Design (http://www.ada.gov/stdspdf.htm) Accessible routes connect accessible onsite features (e.g., bus stop, parking) to the building entrance. 

Common objects along pedestrian routes to the meeting can be hazards to people who are blind or have low vision.

Feature 3 - Building Entrance

Signs for an alternate accessible entrance are posted at inaccessible entrances and key decision points along the accessible route.

An accessible meeting location must have at least one accessible entrance that is connected to an accessible route. An accessible entrance must provide at least one accessible door with maneuvering space, accessible door hardware, and enough clear width to allow people who use crutches, canes, walkers, scooters, or wheelchairs to use it.

The accessible entrance should be the main entrance whenever possible. If the accessible entrance is not the main entrance to the meeting site, then signs must be located at all inaccessible entrances to direct participants to the accessible one. The accessible entrance must remain unlocked when the meeting is taking place. ADA Standards for Accessible Design | Temporary Barrier Removal Suggestions for Accessible Features

Feature 4 - Routes to the Meeting Space

Accessible interior routes to the meeting space

The interior accessible route connects the accessible entrance with the meeting space. Typically made up of hallways, corridors, and interior rooms and spaces, the accessible route is essential for people who have difficulty walking or who use wheelchairs or other mobility devices.

The accessible route to the meeting space must have the same characteristics as the accessible route to the building entrance. ADA Standards for Accessible Design | Temporary Barrier Removal Suggestions for Accessible Features

It is important to note that people who are blind or have low vision may use all routes -- not only the accessible ones -- that lead to the meeting space. Therefore, objects that do not provide sufficient head clearance or that are mounted too high and protrude into a route can become hazards because they cannot be detected by people who use white canes. (See Routes to the Building Entrance for a detailed description.) Items that can become hazards include wall-mounted fire extinguishers, display cases, and sconces, as well as open staircases, overhead signs and banners, and the curved sides of arched doorways.

Feature 5 - Meeting Space

The meeting space must have an accessible floor plan. Temporary Barrier Removal Suggestions for Accessible Features | Arranging an Accessible Meeting Space

Feature 6 - Restrooms

An accessible restroom with accessible amenities (e.g, drinking fountains) outside the space.

If restrooms are available to meeting participants, then accessible restrooms must also be available to participants with disabilities. Accessible restrooms should be in the same basic location as other restrooms. An accessible stall has a door wide enough to enter; floor space for a wheelchair user to roll up to the toilet; grab bars on the back and side wall nearest the toilet to support the person as he transfers from and back to his wheelchair; a toilet seat at wheelchair seat height to facilitate transfer; a flush valve and toilet paper dispenser within reach; and door hardware that does not require tight pinching, twisting, or grasping to use.

An accessible lavatory has floor space in front so that a wheelchair user can approach it, knee clearance so the person can pull under it, and a lowered top surface height so the person can reach the faucets and soap dispenser and use the bowl easily. The lavatory's hot water and drain pipes have to be insulated or configured to prevent leg burns or injuries, and the lavatory may not have sharp or abrasive surfaces underneath. Faucets can not require tight pinching, twisting, or grasping to operate (i.e., they are operable with a closed fist). An accessible lavatory is not necessarily one with an extended, shallow bowl - many different lavatories can work if installed properly. Soap dispensers, paper towel dispensers, hand dryers, and trash cans should be near the sink (but not blocking fixtures or dispensers) and within the reach range of someone who is seated or of short stature. Ensure that furniture (e.g., a chair, a large trash can) does not block maneuvering clearances at doors or fixtures and that hand dryers and dispensers are not mounted where they become protruding objects. ADA Standards for Accessible Design | Temporary Barrier Removal Suggestions for Accessible Features

Temporary Barrier Removal Suggestions for Accessible Features

Feature 1 - Temporary Barrier Removal, Parking and Passenger Drop-Off Areas

Feature 2 - Temporary Barrier Removal for Routes to the Building Entrance

Feature 3 - Temporary Barrier Removal for the Building Entrance

Feature 4 - Temporary Barrier Removal for Routes to the Meeting Space

Feature 5 - Temporary Barrier Removal for Meeting Space

Feature 6 - Temporary Barrier Removal for Restrooms

Additional Resources for Technical Assistance and Locating Accessibility Services

Region 1 (CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT)
DBTAC: New England ADA Center 
Adaptive Environments Center, Inc. 
180-200 Portland Street, First Floor
Boston, MA 02114
(617) 695-1225 (V/TTY) 
(617) 482-8099 (Fax) 
http://adaptiveenvironments.org/neada/site/home

Region 2 (NJ, NY, PR, VI)
DBTAC: Northeast ADA Center
Cornell University 
Northeast ADA & IT Center
331 Ives 
Ithaca, NY 14853-3901
607-255-8348
607-255-6686 (TTY)
607-255-2763 (Fax)
http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/edi/dbtacnortheast/index.cfm

Region 3 (DE, DC, MD, PA, VA, WV)
DBTAC: Mid-Atlantic ADA Center 
TransCen, Inc. 
451 Hungerford Drive, Suite 607 
Rockville, MD 20850 
301-217-0124 (V/TTY) 
301-217-0754 (Fax) 
http://www.adainfo.org

Region 4 (AL, FL, GA, KY, MS, NC, SC, TN)
DBTAC: Southeast ADA Center
490 Tenth Street
Atlanta, GA 30318
404-385-0636 (V/TTY/Spanish)
404-385-0641 (fax)
http://www.sedbtac.org

Region 5 (IL, IN, MI, MN, OH, WI)
DBTAC: Great Lakes ADA Center
University of Illinois at Chicago
Department on Disability & Human Development (MC 728)
1640 West Roosevelt Road, Room 405 
Chicago, IL 60608 
(312) 413-1407 (V/TTY) 
(312) 413-1856 (Fax) 
http://www.adagreatlakes.org

Region 6 (AR, LA, NM, OK, TX)
DBTAC: Southwest ADA Center
2323 South Shepherd Boulevard, Suite 1000 
Houston, TX 77019 
(713) 520-0232 (V/TTY) 
(713) 520-5785 (Fax) 
http://www.dlrp.org

The ILRU also provides contact information 
for Federally-funded Centers 
for Independent Living around the country.

Region 7 (IA, KS, MO, NE)
DBTAC: Great Plains ADACenter 
University of Missouri/Columbia 
100 Corporate Lake Drive 
Columbia, MO 65203 
(573) 882-3600 (V/TTY) 
(573) 884-4925 (Fax) 
http://www.adaproject.org

Region 8 (CO, MT, ND, SD, UT, WY)
DBTAC: Rocky Mountain ADA Center 
Meeting the Challenge, Inc. 
3630 Sinton Road, Suite 103 
Colorado Springs, CO 80907 
(719) 444-0268 (V/TTY) 
(719) 444-0269 (Fax) 
http://www.adainformation.org

Region 9 (AZ, CA, HI, NV, Pacific Basin)
DBTAC: Pacific ADA Center 
555 12th Street, Suite 1030
Oakland, CA 94607-4046
510-285-5600 V/TTY
510-285-5614
http://www.adapacific.org

Region 10 (AK, ID, OR, WA)
DBTAC: Northwest ADA Center
Western Washington University
6912 220th Street, SW #105
Mountlake Terrace, WA 98043
425-248-2480 (voice)
425-771-7438 (fax)
www.dbtacnorthwest.org