Proposed Revisions to the ADA's Physical Accessibility Guidelines Released

Title III of the ADA requires that “public accommodations” and “commercial enterprises” must be accessible to disabled persons. The current ADAAG sets forth physical specifications to ensure that new construction and alterations to public accommodations and commercial enterprises provide access to the disabled public. For properties constructed prior to the enactment of the ADA that are not being altered, architectural barriers to accessibility must be removed to the extent it is “readily achievable,” ie, easily accomplishable and able to be carried out without much difficulty or expense. When it is not “readily achievable,” Title III of the ADA does not require the barriers to be removed even though the disabled public may not be able to access public spaces. However, when barriers to accessibility are removed, the alterations must conform to the ADAAG's specifications. It is not anticipated that the new guidelines will alter the ADA's regulations or its requirements regarding the removal of architectural barriers, although the revised ADAAG could impose new requirements on exactly what constitutes the suitable removal of a barrier.