ADA25: #5 of 25 -- Title III (01:52)

NAD Attorney Debra Patkin discusses Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). View the entire #ADA25 series at www.nad.org/ADA25.

Video begins with an off white vintage background. Three black and white photos appear. First photo shows a group of people marching, one holds a NAD poster. Second photo shows another group of people marching, one holds a poster "We Shall Overcome." Third photo shows President Bush signing the Americans with Disabilities Act. Text appears "ADA25 -- Americans with Disabilities Act". Video flashes to white then to Debra Patkin inside NAD Headquarters. On bottom left corner, "#ADA25" appears as a light watermark. On bottom right corner, the NAD logo appears, also as a light watermark. 

DEBRA: Title III of the ADA applies to places of public accommodations, or privately run business open to the public. Examples of public accommodations include hospitals, doctor offices, laundromats, theaters, movie theaters, private schools and universities, and many more. Title III covers both for profits and non-profit organizations. Unlike Title I for employment, which covers only entities with 15 or more employees, Title III does not have a minimum number of employees requirement. The law applies to all public accommodations, including those with only one employee. Title III benefits deaf and hard of hearing individuals by requiring public accommodations to ensure effective communication. The businesses must provide auxiliary aids and services if necessary to ensure effective communication, such as qualified interpreters, CART, accepting relay calls, flashing alarm systems and so forth. Essentially, they are required to ensure that deaf and hard of hearing people have access to information being presented audibly. Public accommodations cannot require deaf and hard of hearing people to pay to cover for these services/equipment. Federal agency responsible for ensuring compliance with Title III is the U.S. Department of Justice. They have several duties when it comes to monitoring compliance with Title III. First, they create and implement Title III regulations that expands on the ADA. The DOJ has a compliant procedure where they accept complaints from people all over the country and investigate complaints. The DOJ also intervene in lawsuits or bring lawsuits in federal court. Under Title III, a private citizen can sue directly in federal court for policy change or file with DOJ.

Video fades to a gradient background with dark blue to light blue, a grey National Association of the Deaf (NAD) logo is centered. White text below the logo appears, "A production of the National Association of the Deaf (copyright) 2015 All Rights Reserved" with four teal social media icons, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.