Small Business and ADA Readily Achievable Requirements - A Factsheet from the ADA National Network

Technical difficulty and readily achievable

Along with cost and business operation, the technical feasibility of barrier removal must be taken into consideration. It may be impossible to alter or expand a bathroom due to load bearing walls. A business with several front entrance steps that is close to a city street may not be able to provide an exterior ramp. When barrier removal is limited due to technical feasibility, the business should still consider if it is possible to make some type of change that will improve access, even if it falls short of meeting the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design.

Example:

The 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design require accessible doorways to be at least 32 inches wide. A small business has an exterior door opening that is only 26 inches wide. They can widen the doorway to 30 inches, but widening the doorway to 32 inches will require extensive alteration of the building. In this case, widening the doorway to at least 30 inches will be viewed as working to meet their readily achievable obligations.