Complying with Disability Laws

Introduction

This page has been written by Jonathan. It will further explain how I
can assist you in better complying with disability laws, especially the
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA).

Currently, I am supporting state and local governments achieve better
compliance with Title II of the ADA (Title II). In time, I will help businesses and nonprofits better comply with Title III of the ADA (Title III)

Available Compliance Services

Trainings

I’m not going to say much about trainings here, because the disability law trainings page
provides a discussion of how I present my trainings and offers a sample
training you can download. But before leaving training I want to let you
know I put training as the first primary section on this page because
the best way for your organization to come into better compliance with
disability laws is for your employees and colleagues to be effectively
trained on compliance with disability laws.

Developing Policies and Procedures

Under Title II, state and local governments are required to provide
certain notices, especially a notice of rights, to the public. Under
Title III, both businesses and nonprofits could achieve better
compliance by providing the public notice of their rights.

Here are the general steps I can take to help you develop SOPS and/or
policies designed to help you better comply with disability laws:

  • I will listen to you to see what SOPS and/or policies you may be
    interested in developing.
  • If I think there are SOPS and/or policies that could help you
    achieve better compliance, I will suggest them to you.
  • Once you let me know which SOPS and/or policies you would like
    developed, I can either develop them for you or provide you guidance as
    you develop them.

When I Develop Compliance Documents for You

If you would like me to develop the SOPS and/or policies for you,
here are the general steps I will plan to follow:

  • If I need to meet with certain people to better understand how your
    organization works, I will let you know with whom I would like to
    speak.
  • The decision of who I speak to is obviously yours.
  • Once I have met with everyone I can, I will begin drafting the
    document(s).
  • At an agreed upon deadline, I will deliver a draft of the
    document(s) to you.
  • At an agreed upon time, we will meet to collaboratively discuss the
    draft.
  • After that meeting, I will rework the draft based on your
    feedback.
  • What I hope will be the final draft will be delivered to you by the
    agreed upon deadline.
  • If you wish, we can have a meeting to discuss the, hopefully, final
    version of the document(s).

When You Develop Your Own Compliance Documents

If you choose to develop your own SOPS and/or policies, I can assist
in some of the following ways:

  • I can suggest which documents should be developed.
  • I can help you develop a logical order for implementing your
    policies and/or SOPS.
  • When you are done, I would be happy to review what you have.
  • My review of your work can come after any version of your document
    you would like reviewed by me.
  • If you would like, I can meet with you and interested stakeholders
    (both internal and external).
  • If I work with you to present your SOPS and/or Policies to
    stakeholders, I could help in the following ways:

    • assist you in describing the need for the change being proposed
    • help explain how the proposed change will bring about better
      compliance
    • Possibly explain how the changes will make your organization more
      accessible to and inclusive of those of us with disabilities
  • If we hold meetings for external stakeholders, I can help you make
    them as accessible as possible.

Investigating and Resolving Complaints

No one likes complaints, but under Title II, what the law calls
public entities are required to develop procedures for the “prompt and
equitable” investigation and resolution of complaints. Both businesses and nonprofits would
benefit by developing procedures designed to assist them in promptly,
equitably investigating and resolving complaints. No one wants an issue
that could be easily resolved to become a lawsuit because the public
wasn’t provided a way to have their concerns addressed by you.

Here are things I can provide to assist you in the prompt, equitable
investigation and resolution of complaints filed by the public:

  • I can assist you in developing standard operating procedures to
    establish how your organization will investigate and resolve
    complaints.
  • I can provide training to staff who will be responsible for
    investigating and resolving complaints in accordance with your standard
    operating procedures.
  • I can review the work being done by your staff at any time during
    the investigation and/or resolution processes.
  • I can meet with the person who filed the complaint and help explain
    the process.
  • I can help you explain to the person who filed the complaint why it
    is being resolved the way it is being resolved.

Since I am not an employee of your organization, I cannot be
responsible for how the complaint is ultimately resolved. Any
communications about the complaint must be signed from a person in your
organization who will take responsibility for the complaint and its
related processes. If by some remote chance the legality of the
complaint processes and/or the way the complaint was resolved becomes
part of a legal action, I can testify in support of the processes you
took and the decisions you made.

Digital Accessibility

With the Department of Justice’s recent rule on web accessibility under Title II, it is critical that all state
and local governments develop plans for how they will comply with the
DOJ rule. With the number of lawsuits filed against businesses for
inaccessible digital content in recent years, all businesses and
nonprofits would do well to ensure their digital content is accessible
to and useable by those of us who use assistive technologies.

Here are ways I can assist you in ensuring your digital content is
accessible to and usable by those of us who use assistive
technologies:

  • I can help you develop SOPS and/or policy around how your
    organization’s digital content can be accessible.
  • I can train your staff on the SOPS and/or policies developed to
    ensure your organization’s digital content is accessible.
  • I can provide trainings to your staff on different aspects of
    creating accessible digital content.
  • I can assist you in understanding which automated website testing
    tools will work best for your organization.
  • Desiree and I can test your digital content for usability to those of us who use assistive technologies.

How we Can Work Together

If you are interested in working with me on any of the above
compliance projects, I would love to hear from you. What services I
provide is obviously your choice. The more services you work with me on,
the more connected your ADA compliance projects will be in the end.

If you’re not able to hire a full-time position to develop your ADA
compliance program, let’s work together to ensure your ADA compliance
efforts result in your programs and services being more accessible to
and inclusive of those of us with disabilities.

Hoping to Hear From You