Americans with Disabilities Act Assessment of Physical Accessibility for Court Facilities
Americans with Disabilities Act Assessment of Physical Accessibility for Court Facilities
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protects the rights of people who have a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits their ability to perform one or more major life activities, such as breathing, walking, reading, thinking, seeing, hearing, or working. Equal treatment is a fundamental purpose of the ADA. People with disabilities must not be treated in a different or inferior manner.
The ADAs regulations and the ADA Standards for Accessible Design, originally published in 1991, set the minimum standard for what makes a facility accessible. Only elements that are built-in (fixed in place) are addressed in the standards. While the updated 2010 standards, which became effective on March 15, 2012, retain many of the original provisions in the 1991 standards, there are some significant differences. The standards are used when determining if a public entity’s programs or services are accessible under the ADA. However, they apply differently depending on whether the entity is providing access to programs or services in existing facilities or is altering an existing facility or building a new facility.
When a public entity chooses to alter any of its facilities, the elements and spaces being altered must comply with the 2010 standards. An alteration is defined as remodeling, renovating, rehabilitating, reconstructing, changing or rearranging structural parts or elements; changing or rearranging plan configuration of walls and full-height or other fixed partitions; or making other changes that affect (or could affect) the usability of the facility.
The ADA requires that all new facilities built by public entities must be accessible to and usable by people with disabilities. The 2010 standards set out the minimum accessibility requirements for newly constructed facilities.
This checklist has been developed for the courts' use and is based on the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design. The checklist can be used if an alteration to your courthouse is being planned or during new construction.
If you have any questions about the checklist, please contact Tara Smith (573) 522-2616 or Tara.Smith@courts.mo.gov.