Final Paper

Running head: ADA 1

ADA 7

Compliance with ADA

Deanna Buchanan

Southern New Hampshire University

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a landmark civil right legislation. The purpose of ADA is to ensure that persons living with disabilities are given equal rights to use telecommunication, access to public services, employment, and access to public accommodation. Title II of the ADA illegalizes discrimination against persons with disabilities by public institutions. These requirements are included in public sponsored educational institutes. Moreover, the privately funded organizations are subject to non-discrimination obligations under Title III of ADA while workers are protected under Title I. Unfortunately, the ADA has no provision to check the marginal costs against the desired benefits. It mandates universities and colleges compliance, spending a lot of tuition-payers dollars towards unattainable goal of equal outcomes.

General response by institutions

Access to education is one main avenue that helps persons with disabilities secure access to the mainstream of the public. One way which universities and colleges attempt to ensure that people with disabilities have corresponding access is by giving adjustments for the people with disabilities. Colleges are obligated to give accommodation, which extends to enrolled students, members of public, and employees. Accommodations are ways of giving eligible learners living with disabilities akin opportunity to profit from education experiences as the ‘normal’ colleagues. The university websites should be accessible so that employees, students, visitors, guests, and prospective learners with disabilities have equal access to information provided to individuals without disabilities.

Response by specific institutions

It is the practice and policy of colleges and universities to comply with requirements of ADA. As a policy, staff, individuals, and faculty members are responsible for identifying themselves as persons with disability when seeking accommodation. The number of students having disabilities that affect visions, hearing, and speech is increasing. However, not every learner or employee with disability will be accommodated. Individuals are responsible for documenting their nature of disabilities from licensed professionals and show how these disabilities limit their ability to perform certain tasks normally (PACER Center, Inc, 2015). Some of the practices of educational accommodations are use of sign language interpreters, note-takers, use of listening devices, course waivers, and removal of architectural barriers.

Youngstown State University complies with ADA by developing a web accessibility policy (University of Washington, 2019). The policy ensures workers are trained on how to deal with disabilities and ensure accessibility to computer labs by provision of assistive technology. Jackson State University (JSU) is dedicated to seeing that students and workers are afforded inclusive environment with equal access to all educational programs ( Jackson State University, 2019). JSU has achieved this by determining reasonable accommodations, providing support for employees and students with disabilities, and reviewing documentation of disabilities.

Impact of the requirement to institutions

The ADA program should produce the desired outcome for the stakeholder during and after their involvement. The desired outcome of ADA consists of values, living conditions, and social status. Examples include enhanced financial security, getting a job, and improved health. The Act has brought meaning positive impact on people living with disabilities (NCD, 2007). The ADA impacts colleagues and universities including employment, activities, and programs. The Act requires higher education to give reasonable accommodations for learners. Universities and colleges which receive federal financial donation should not be biased in treatment, recruitment, or admission of learners. Incapacitated students may require academic adjustments, which include support aids, which will help them contribute to and benefit from learning activities and programs.

Impact of ADA to stakeholder

As workers in higher learning institutions, disabled persons are likely to get accommodations and less likely to be fired because of their disabilities. Despite these benefits, the ADA does not take care of accessible housing, job placement, rehabilitation services, or affirmative action for persons living with disabilities. People with disabilities believe that ADA has not been fully implemented and enforced; some of the barriers are attitudinal. Moreover, there is criticism against ADA and disability privileges. Although once employed and enrolled in education and job, accommodations are undemanding to obtain, persons with disabilities are less likely to be employed than before ADA.

Like students and workers, disabled Americans have access to services from postsecondary institutions, local and state governments, and businesses. The greater availability of low-priced assistive equipment has assisted students with hearing and vision impairments defeat communication and information barriers to all forms of social participation. People with mobility challenges have felt improvement in physical access to institutional and transportation agencies.

Another impact of compliance with ADA is that learners without disabilities are disadvantages by the accommodations. It is unfair to give an objective test with delineated grading mechanism if some learners get uncalibrated bonuses. Moreover, the intended beneficiaries of the ADA are hurting. Disabled learners are getting special accommodations in universities that they will not get in workplace. Third, more Americans (students and employees) now consider themselves as disabled that they demand the disability benefits, and this has resulted in floodgates of federal benefits to questionable people (Ferris State University, 2016). Arguably, the number of people receiving disability payments from the government have increased to over 14 million. The working-age population has increased by 29%, and Social security faces insolvency because of this surge.

References Jackson State University. (2019). Disability Services & ADA Compliance. Retrieved Nov 24, 2019, from http://www.jsums.edu/disability/ Ferris State University. (2016). Impact of ADA on Higher Education. Retrieved Nov 24, 2019, from Ferris State University: https://www.ferris.edu/HTMLS/colleges/university/disability/federal-guidelines/impact-of-ADA.htm NCD. (2007). The Impact of the Americans with Disabilities Act: Assessing the Progress Toward Achieving the Goals of the ADA. Retrieved Nov 24, 2019, from National Council on Disability: https://ncd.gov/rawmedia_repository/f493e262_8a9e_49c8_ad84_404a1b91d7c3.pdf PACER Center, Inc. (2015). The ADA, Section 504 & Postsecondary Education. Retrieved Nov 24, 2019, from PACER Center, Inc: https://www.pacer.org/transition/resource-library/publications/NPC-42.pdf University of Washington. (2019). Resolution Agreements and Lawsuits. Retrieved Nov 24, 2019, from University of Washington: https://www.washington.edu/accessibility/requirements/accessibility-cases-and-settlement-agreements/