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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 people 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 people 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 for 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. 

The Department plans to publish an ANPRM seeking public input on possible revisions to its ADA regulations to ensure the accessibility of equipment and furniture in public entities’ and public accommodations’ programs and services.

Statement of Need:

The Department’s Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) regulations contain the ADA Standards for Accessible Design (the ADA Standards) which provide accessibility standards for some types of fixed or built-in equipment and furniture.  However, there are no specific provisions in the ADA Standards or the ADA regulations governing the accessibility of equipment and furniture that are not fixed or built in.  Changes in technology have resulted in the development and improved availability of accessible equipment and furniture that benefit individuals with disabilities, and accessible equipment and furniture is often critical to an entity's ability to provide an individual with a disability equal access to its services.   This rule is necessary to ensure that inaccessible equipment and furniture do not prevent people with disabilities from accessing State and local governments and public accommodations’ programs and services. 

Summary of the Legal Basis:

The summary of the legal basis for this regulation is set forth in the above abstract.

Alternatives:

There are no appropriate alternatives to issuing this ANPRM. The Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (Access Board) may issue minimum standards on equipment and furniture, but these standards only become binding when the Department adopts the Access Board’s standards through a rulemaking. Alternatively, the Department may create its own technical standards and implement them through a rulemaking.

Anticipated Costs and Benefits:

The Department anticipates costs to covered entities, including State and local governments and places of public accommodation. Entities may need to acquire new equipment or furniture or retrofit existing equipment and furniture to meet technical standards that the Department includes in its regulations.

Risks:

Failure to implement technical standards to ensure that people with disabilities have access to equipment and furniture in public entities’ and public accommodations’ programs and services will make some of these programs and services inaccessible to people with disabilities.