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The ADA requires State and local governments and public accommodations to provide programs, activities, and services in a manner that is accessible to persons with disabilities, including non-fixed equipment and furniture that is used in the delivery of programs, activities, and services. The ADA also requires that covered entities communicate effectively with persons with disabilities and provide appropriate auxiliary aids and services. While some types of fixed equipment and furniture are explicitly covered by the 2010 Standards for Accessible Design, there are no specific provisions in the ADA regulations that include standards governing the accessibility of equipment and furniture that are not fixed. See, e.g., 28 CFR 36.406(b) (the 1991 and 2010 Standards apply to fixed or built-in elements of buildings and structures). Because the 2010 ADA Standards include accessibility requirements for some types of fixed equipment (e.g., ATMs, washing machines, dryers, tables, benches and vending machines), the Department plans to look to these standards for guidance, where applicable, when it proposes accessibility standards for equipment and furniture that is not fixed. On July 26, 2010, the Department published an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) to consider possible changes to requirements under titles II and III of the ADA to ensure that equipment and furniture used in programs and services provided by public entities and public accommodations are accessible to individuals with disabilities. See RIN 1190-AA64. In the 2010 ANPRM the Department sought public input on possible revisions to its ADA regulations to ensure the accessibility of equipment and furniture in such programs and services, and also sought background information for the regulatory assessment that would be needed for the Department to revise its regulations. The 2010 ANPRM addressed the following broad categories of equipment and furniture: medical equipment and furniture, exercise equipment and furniture, accessible golf cars, beds in accessible guest rooms and sleeping rooms, beds in nursing homes and other care facilities, and electronic and information technology; and inquired about the necessity for accessibility of other types of equipment and furniture. The comment period on the 2010 ANPRM closed on January 24, 2011. This was the initial step in the Department's rulemaking process on accessible equipment and furniture. The Department intends to proceed in several stages to revise the title II and title III regulations to address the accessibility requirements for equipment and furniture addressed in the initial 2010 ANPRM. As noted in separate agenda review reports, the Department intends to proceed with a separate NPRM on medical equipment and furniture and an NPRM on hotel beds in guestrooms with mobility features in places of lodging. These categories of equipment and furniture were included in the 2010 ANPRM. The timetable listed below for the next step in the rulemaking process includes all of the remaining categories of equipment and furniture from the 2010 ANPRM, RIN 1190-AA64.