CHECKLIST: Meeting accessibility 

• Have meeting notices been published in several formats so that those with communications disabilities-the deaf and hard of hearing, the blind an visually impaired-know about the meeting? 
• Has all published material been made available in a timely way in alternative media: large print, taped and Braille?
• Have arrangements been made for transporting those with disabilities using available fixed route and Para transit vehicles?
• Have extra parking spaces for persons with disabilities been set aside at available lots or garages?
• Is the accessible route to the meeting clearly designated and marked?
• Are the primary entrances to the meeting place accessible, not requiring persons with disabilities to use rear doors or circuitous routes? If inaccessible entrances to the meeting place exist, is there signage directing persons with disabilities to an accessible entrance?
• Have sign language translators and oral interpreters been engaged to make the proceeding accessible to persons with hearing disabilities?
• Are sound amplification systems such as FM amplifiers and receivers and induction loops available to improve the quality of verbal communication?
• If there is fixed seating in the meeting place, is there sufficient space throughout and particularly near the front of the room, for persons using wheelchairs?
• Is the air circulation system in the meeting place adequate to reduce the effects that foreign substances may have on persons with environmental illnesses?
• If microphones are being used, are they at appropriate heights for both persons using wheelchairs and ambulatory individuals?
• Are drinking fountains, restroom facilities and public telephones accessible to persons using wheelchairs?
• Are public telephones accessible to persons who use wheelchairs and those with hearing impairments: are an adequate number of phones amplified and is at least one phone equipped with a TDD?

Dealing with Outside Training Facilities 

Employers who contract for training with a training company, or contract for training facilities in hotels or conference centers are responsible for assuring accessibility and other needed accommodations. Contracts with a training company or facility should include a provision requiring the other party to provide needed accommodations. However, if the contractor does not provide the necessary accommodations, the employer remains responsible for providing the accommodation, unless it would cause an undue hardship. 

What should an employer do if the company that is going to provide training plans on conducting the sessions at an inaccessible location? The employer remains responsible for providing an accommodation that would enable an employee who uses a wheelchair to obtain the training and could accomplish it in several ways. The employer could: 

• require the training company to relocate the program to an accessible site;
• require the company to make the site accessible;
• make the site accessible or provide resources that enable the training company to do so;
• contract with another training company that uses accessible sites; or
• provide any other accommodation (such as temporary ramps) that would not impose an undue hardship. 

When it is impossible to make an accommodation because the need is only discovered when an employee arrives at the training site, the employer may have to provide accessible training at a later date. 

Suppose an employer contracted with a hotel to hold a conference for its employees? Again, the employer must ensure physical and communications accessibility for employees with disabilities, including accessibility of guest rooms and all meeting and other rooms used by attendees-even if contract provisions place the responsibility on the employer. The employer may assure accessibility by inspecting the site, or may ask a local disability group with accessibility expertise (such as an Independent Living Center) to do so. If the hotel breaches a contract provision requiring accessibility, the hotel may be liable to the employer under regular (non-ADA) breach of contract law. The hotel also may be liable under Title III of the ADA, which requires accessibility in public accommodations. But the employer remains responsible for assuring accessibility for its employees.  

Reprinted with permission. © CCH