The Chronicle of Higher Education reports June 17 that as Congress considers a bill that would update the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Justice Department has proposed new regulations that would limit the accommodations universities and other public places must provide under the ADA.The 200,000+ page new regulations, announced by the Bush Administration this week and published in the Federal Register today, detail requirements for things such as accessible seating for wheelchair users and qualifications for service animals.
But according to The Chronicle of Higher Ed, the proposed update of the ADA actually decreases the proportion of seats an "assembly area" must make accessible to wheelchair users.
"Now that figure is about 1 percent, with the exact proportion depending on the size of the venue. A stadium of 5,000 seats, for example, must provide space for 51 wheelchairs. Stadiums larger than that must provide one more space for every 100 additional seats. Under the proposed new regulations, a stadium of 5,001 seats would have to provide space for 36 wheelchairs. One more space would be required for every 200 additional seats a stadium has. For a stadium with a 50,000-person capacity, that would mean 261-as opposed to 501-handicapped-accessible spots," The Chronicle explains.
"That seems like a step backwards to me," said L. Scott Lissner, who coordinates disability-law compliance for the Ohio State University system. "I don't know of any past examples that actually reduced the standard of access."
At Ohio State's football stadium, Lissner said, wheelchair-accessible seating is in high demand. "We're easily filling 2 percent" of all seats, he said, adding that college stadiums draw more fans with disabilities than professional sports do.
The proposed new ADA regulations on seating would consolidate several building codes about accessibility, Lissner said. Currently, depending on a building's age and the source of funds for construction, colleges may be complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Architectural Barriers Act, the Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards, and the American National Standards Institute's guidelines.
If the proposed changes pass, Lissner said, "all of the buildings will be under the same set of standards on campus."
Residence halls, whether operated by the university or a private firm, would have to meet existing accessibility guidelines for "transient lodging," according to the proposed regulations. Apartment-style housing, however, is covered by the current requirements for residential dwelling units. Prior rules did not specify how to designate campus housing for ADA compliance, the Justice Department said.
