Title
Discussion Regarding the City's compliance with the ADA including website compliance, Adopting an ADA Complaint Procedure, Designation of an ADA Coordinator and Options Regarding an ADA Self-Assessment
Brief Description: Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, as amended requires that all state and local government services be accessible to individuals with disabilities. The City must meet certain requirements including designation of an ADA Coordinator, adopting and posting a policy to address ADA issues and performing a self-assessment.
Body
Legislative History
None.
Purpose & Explanation
The ADA requires that local governments adopt procedures and policies addressing specific requirements of the ADA, ensuring that persons with disabilities have equal access to local government's programs, services, or activities, and make reasonable modifications to ensure such access including both communication and physical accessibility.
Staff investigation has uncovered no legislation or documentation explicitly meeting any of the requirements of Title II, which was enacted in 1992 and amended in 2010. At a minimum, it is required that the City (1) appoint an ADA Coordinator; (2) adopt a procedure for addressing ADA complaints (grievance procedure); (3) provide public notice of the ADA, the policy of the City, and grievance procedure (including posting on the City website); (4) conduct a self-assessment of the physical facilities to ensure compliance; (5) develop a plan to address concerns raised in the self-assessment.
Regardless of whether the City previously completed a self-assessment, updating that assessment is recommended to ensure ongoing compliance. Although new construction relating to City facilities has been designed to be compliant with ADA standards, a self-assessment is required by the ADA. The City has received an estimate of $85,000-$100,000 for an outside vendor to conduct the assessment.
The appointment of an ADA Coordinator would be a...
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