Access Board: an
independent Federal agency devoted to accessibility for people with
disabilities. The Access Board developed the accessibility guidelines
for the ADA and provides technical assistance and training on these
guidelines. The agency also is referred to as the Architectural and
Transportation Barriers Compliance Board.
Accessible: refers
to a site, facility, work environment, service, or program that is
easy to approach, enter, operate, participate in, and/or use safely
and with dignity by a person with a disability.
Affirmative Action: a
set of positive steps that employers use to promote equal employment
opportunity and to eliminate discrimination. It includes expanded
outreach, recruitment, mentoring, training, management development
and other programs designed to help employers hire, retain and advance
qualified workers from diverse backgrounds, including persons with
disabilities. Affirmative action means inclusion, not exclusion. Affirmative
action does not mean quotas and is not mandated by the Americans with
Disabilities Act.
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): a
comprehensive, federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination
against people with disabilities in employment, state and local government
programs and activities, public accommodations, transportation, and
telecommunications.
Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility
Guidelines (ADAAG): scoping and technical
requirements to be applied during the design, construction, and alteration
of buildings and facilities covered by titles II and III of the ADA
to the extent required by regulations issued by Federal agencies,
including the Department of Justice and the Department of Transportation.
Auxiliary Aids and Services: under
Titles II and III of the ADA, includes a wide range of services and
devices that promote effective communication or allows access to goods
and services. Examples of auxiliary aids and services for individuals
who are deaf or hard of hearing include qualified interpreters, notetakers,
computer-aided transcription services, written materials, telephone
handset amplifiers, assistive listening systems, telephones compatible
with hearing aids, closed caption decoders, open and closed captioning,
telecommunications devices for deaf persons (TDDs), videotext displays,
and exchange of written notes. Examples for individuals with vision
impairments include qualified readers, taped texts, audio recordings,
Brailled materials, large print materials, and assistance in locating
items. Examples for individuals with speech impairments include TDDs,
computer terminals, speech synthesizers, and communication boards.
Civil Rights Act of 1991: federal
law that capped compensatory and punitive damages under Title I of
the ADA for intentional job discrimination. The law also amended the
ADA's definition of an employee, adding "with respect to employment
in a foreign country, such term includes an individual who is a citizen
of the United States."
Covered Entity: under the ADA, "covered
entity" is an entity that must comply with the law. Under Title
I, covered entities include employers, employment agencies, labor
organizations, or joint labor-management committees. Under Title II,
covered entities include state and local government instrumentalities,
the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, and other commuter authorities,
and public transportation systems. Under Title III, covered entities
include public accommodations such as restaurants, hotels, grocery
stores, retail stores, etc., as well as privately owned transportation
systems.
Direct Threat: a
significant risk to the health or safety of others that cannot be
eliminated by reasonable accommodation.
Disability: with
respect to an individual: a physical or mental impairment that substantially
limits one or more of the major life activities of such individual;
a record of such an impairment; or being regarded as having such an
impairment.
Employer: a person
engaged in an industry affecting commerce who has 15 or more employees
for each working day in each of 20 or more calendar weeks in the current
or preceding calendar year, and any agent of such person, except that,
for two years following the effective date of this subchapter, an
employer means a person engaged in an industry affecting commerce
who has 25 or more employees for each working day in each of 20 or
more calendar weeks in the current or preceding year, and any agent
of such person. Exceptions: The term "employer'' does not include
the United States, a corporation wholly owned by the government of
the United States, or an Indian tribe; or a bona fide private membership
club (other than a labor organization) that is exempt from taxation
under section 501(c) of Title 26 [the Internal Revenue Code of 1986].
Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission (EEOC): the federal agency charged with enforcing Title
I of the ADA.
Essential Job Functions:
the fundamental job duties of the employment position that the individual
with a disability holds or desires. The term essential functions does
not include marginal functions of the position.
Equal Employment Opportunity:
an opportunity to attain the same level of performance or to enjoy
equal benefits and privileges of employment as are available to an
average similarly-situated employee without a disability.
Existing Facility:
refers to buildings that were constructed before the ADA went into
effect. A public accommodation's building constructed before the effective
date of Title III does not have to be fully accessible unless the
removal of barriers, including structural ones, is readily achievable.
Impairment: term
used in the ADA definition of disability. Includes any physiological
disorder, or condition, cosmetic disfigurement, or anatomical loss
affecting one or more of the following body systems: neurological,
musculoskeletal, special sense organs, respiratory (including speech
organs), cardiovascular, reproductive, digestive, genito-urinary,
hemic and lymphatic, skin, and endocrine; or any mental or psychological
disorder, such as mental retardation, organic brain syndrome, emotional
or mental illness, and specific learning disabilities.
Job Analysis: a formal
process in which information about a specific job or occupation is
collected and analyzed.
Job Description: a
detailed summary, usually written, of the major components of a job.
A typical job description consists of six major components: essential
job functions, knowledge and critical skills, physical demands, environmental
factors, the roles of the ADA and other federal laws such as the Occupational
Safety Health Act (OSH Act), and any explanatory information that
may be necessary to clarify job duties or responsibilities.
Job Related and Consistent
with Business Necessity: standard used to determine whether a
qualification standard or employment policy concerns an essential
aspect of the job and is required to meet the needs of the business.
Light Duty: has a
number of different meanings in the employment setting. Generally,
"light duty" refers to temporary or permanent work that
is physically or mentally less demanding than normal job duties. Some
employers use the term "light duty" to mean simply excusing
an employee from performing those job functions that s/he is unable
to perform because of an impairment. "Light duty" also may
consist of particular positions with duties that are less physically
or mentally demanding created specifically for the purpose of providing
alternative work for employees who are unable to perform some or all
of their normal duties. Further, an employer may refer to any position
that is sedentary or is less physically or mentally demanding as "light
duty." The term is often associated with workers compensation
programs.
Major Life Activity:
term used in the ADA definition of disability. It refers to activities
that an average person can perform with little or no difficulty, such
as walking, seeing, speaking, hearing, breathing, learning, performing
manual tasks, caring for oneself, and working. These are examples
only. Other activities such as sitting, standing, lifting, or reading
are also major life activities.
Marginal Job Functions:
functions that are not considered essential to a job. Employers must
consider removing marginal job functions as an accommodation under
the ADA, but do not have to remove essential functions as an accommodation.
Medical Examination:
a procedure or test that seeks information about an individual's physical
or mental impairments or health. The following factors should be considered
to determine whether a test (or procedure) is a medical examination:
(1) whether the test is administered by a health care professional;
(2) whether the test is interpreted by a health care professional;
(3) whether the test is designed to reveal an impairment or physical
or mental health; (4) whether the test is invasive; (5) whether the
test measures an employee's performance of a task or measures his/her
physiological responses to performing the task ; (6) whether the test
normally is given in a medical setting; and, (7) whether medical equipment
is used. In many cases, a combination of factors will be relevant
in determining whether a test or procedure is a medical examination.
In other cases, one factor may be enough to determine that a test
or procedure is medical.
Mitigating Measures:
medical treatment or devices that lessen the effects of an impairment,
such as medication, a prosthesis, or a hearing aid. When determining
whether a person has a disability under the ADA, the effect of mitigating
measures is to be considered.
Public Accommodations:
entities that must comply with Title III. The term includes facilities
whose operations affect commerce and fall within at least one of the
following 12 categories: places of lodging (e.g., inns, hotels, motels)
(except for owner-occupied establishments renting fewer than six rooms);
establishments serving food or drink (e.g., restaurants and bars);
places of exhibition or entertainment (e.g., motion picture houses,
theaters, concert halls, stadiums); places of public gathering (e.g.,
auditoriums, convention centers, lecture halls); sales or rental establishments
(e.g., bakeries, grocery stores, hardware stores, shopping centers);
service establishments (e.g., laundromats, dry-cleaners, banks, barber
shops, beauty shops, travel services, shoe repair services, funeral
parlors, gas stations, offices of accountants or lawyers, pharmacies,
insurance offices, professional offices of health care providers,
hospitals); public transportation terminals, depots, or stations (not
including facilities relating to air transportation); places of public
display or collection (e.g., museums, libraries, galleries); places
of recreation (e.g., parks, zoos, amusement parks); places of education
(e.g., nursery schools, elementary, secondary, undergraduate, or postgraduate
private schools); social service center establishments (e.g., day
care centers, senior citizen centers, homeless shelters, food banks,
adoption agencies); and places of exercise or recreation (e.g., gymnasiums,
health spas, bowling alleys, golf courses).
Public Entity: entities
that must comply with Title II. The term is defined as: any state
or local government; any department, agency, special purpose district,
or other instrumentality of a state or local government; or certain
commuter authorities as well as AMTRAK. It does not include the federal
government.
Qualified Individual
with a Disability: an individual with a disability who satisfies
the requisite skill, experience, education and other job-related requirements
of the employment position such individual holds or desires, and who,
with or without reasonable accommodation, can perform the essential
functions of such position.
Readily Achievable: easily
accomplishable and able to be carried out without much difficulty
or expense. In determining whether an action is readily achievable,
factors to be considered include nature and cost of the action, overall
financial resources and the effect on expenses and resources, legitimate
safety requirements, impact on the operation of a site, and, if applicable,
overall financial resources, size, and type of operation of any parent
corporation or entity. Under Title III, public accommodations must
remove barriers in existing facilities if it is readily achievable
to do so.
Reasonable Accommodation:
under Title I, a modification or adjustment to a job, the work
environment, or the way things usually are done that enables a qualified
individual with a disability to enjoy an equal employment opportunity.
Reasonable accommodation is a key nondiscrimination requirement of
the ADA.
Substantially Limits:
a comparative term used in the ADA definition of disability. It
implies a degree of severity and duration. The primary focus here
is on the extent to which an impairment restricts one or more of an
individual's major life activities. A secondary factor that may affect
the analysis is the duration of the impairment.
Title V of the Rehabilitation
Act of 1973: title of the law that prohibits discrimination on
the basis of a disability by the federal government, federal contractors,
by recipients of federal financial assistance, and in federally conducted
programs and activities.
Transition Plan:
refers to a requirement that state and local governments employing
50 or more people plans detailing structural changes necessary to
achieve program accessibility.
Undue Burden: with respect to complying with Title II or Title
III of the ADA, significant difficulty or expense incurred by a covered
entity, when considered in light of certain factors. These factors
include: the nature and cost of the action; the overall financial
resources of the site or sites involved; the number of persons employed
at the site; the effect on expenses and resources; legitimate safety
requirements necessary for safe operation, including crime prevention
measures; or any other impact of the action on the operation of the
site; the geographic separateness, and the administrative or fiscal
relationship of the site or sites in question to any parent corporation
or entity; if applicable, the overall financial resources of any parent
corporation or entity; the overall size of the parent corporation
or entity with respect to the number of its employees; the number,
type, and location of its facilities; and if applicable, the type
of operation or operations of any parent corporation or entity, including
the composition, structure, and functions of the workforce of the
parent corporation or entity.
Undue Hardship: with
respect to the provision of an accommodation under Title I of the
ADA, significant difficulty or expense incurred by a covered entity,
when considered in light of certain factors. These factors include
the nature and cost of the accommodation in relationship to the size,
resources, nature, and structure of the employer s operation. Where
the facility making the accommodation is part of a larger entity,
the structure and overall resources of the larger organization would
be considered, as well as the financial and administrative relationship
of the facility to the larger organization. Employers do not have
to provide accommodations that cause an undue hardship.
Uniform Federal Accessibility
Standards (UFAS): one of two standards that state and local governments
can use to comply with Title II's accessibility requirement for new
construction and alterations. The other standard is the ADA Accessibility
Guidelines.
U.S. Department of Justice:
federal agency that is responsible for enforcing Titles II and
III of the ADA.
U.S. Department of Transportation:
federal agency that enforces nondiscrimination in public and private
transportation. Nondiscrimination includes access to public bus, train
and paratransit, as well as privately operated bus and shuttle transportation.
The ADA does not cover air transportation, which is subject to the
Air Carrier Access Act.
