Title II of the ADA

PROGRAMATIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL ACCESSIBLE PLANNING AND DESIGN

Require ADA Coordinators in every state government agency. Assign individuals to work directly with the ADA Coordinator in every department of public entities.

Provide more information in accessible formats and use multiple methods of dissemination.

Educate mayors, city council members and commissioners through forums such as the National Leagues of Cities conference (or hold a Symposium for Mayors) on the importance of the ADA and the benefits to their cities.

Develop more specific resources for schools (K-12) regarding interplay between ADA and IDEA.

K-12 needs to focus on the multitude of areas covered by the ADA: employment, areas of accommodation, physical access, facilities, programs, web access, playgrounds,
classroom acoustics, awareness programs for students, and universal design for learning.

Increase interagency communication and collaboration to achieve greater awareness for working together and exchange of ideas.

Require Title II entities to build ADA compliance standards into contractual agreements for products/services as part of the bidding process.

IMPLEMENTATION AND MAINTENANCE

Establish a mechanism such as certification to increase accountability regarding state/local ADA Coordinators.

Require that each state has a qualified state ADA Coordinators. This position would be a clearly defined and coordinated position within a stand alone division/agency that would bring all ADA contacts together.

Propose that all municipalities establish a special needs registry that will assist emergency management in the event of a disaster.

Repeated from above -Increase interagency communication and collaboration to achieve greater awareness for working together and exchange of ideas.

MECHANISM FOR RESOLUTION OF PROBLEMS

Need "substantially equivalent" ability to receive/investigate resolve access complaints/issues on state/local level--similar to the ability (given to) HUD to investigate Fair Housing complaints. This would (hopefully) mean quicker enforcement and (increased) accessibility.

Passage and immediate implementation of the ADA/ABA regulations by U.S. Dept. of Justice.

Provide additional funds to the Dept. of Justice for enforcement of the ADA.
Expand the Dept. of Justice's Civic Access Project including increased follow up technical assistance to municipalities.

Increase the consistency in interpretation and enforcement of the ADA among federal agencies and regional Civil Rights offices. This could be accomplished by providing more training to the agencies that are involved in implementing the ADA.

Lobby state governments to adopt ADA guidelines into their own regulations and assume enforcement responsibilities.