Despite successes with public accomodations, improvements needed
It's been almost 24 years since the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law.
We hear a lot about employment issues, but there are other issues like public accommodations, which include a wide range of entities and activities.
"Since the implementation of the ADA I think things have improved for people with disabilities," said attorney Linda Mastandrea. "I think we have a long way to go because there's still a lot of misunderstanding, there's a lot of lack of information, lack of knowledge about the requirements."
Mastandrea focuses on public accommodations.
"Public accommodations really are businesses and things like a movie theatre, a restaurant, a club, a sporting event, a sports program in the community, things like that," Mastandrea said.
"I've been getting a lot of calls from people who are having issues with service animals and being denied access to restaurants and other places of public accommodations," she said.
Mastandrea said a large number of physical improvements have been made over the years.
"You know, ramping their entrances, reconfiguring the insides to make accessible bathrooms, offering braille menus or understand that people need to have accessible communication technologies," she said.
But there are still fears. She said some businesses are concerned that improvements will cost too much money, or that they can wait until someone sues them to make the improvement.
Education eases these concerns.
"I think you have to have an awareness of the law of the requirements which it takes," she said. "If you open your doors, you're opening your doors to approximately 60 million people with disabilities, their families and their friends."
"I think businesses who fail to provide access for people with disabilities are really missing out on a vital market segment," she said.
The Great Lakes ADA Center offers free technical assistance and advice. For more information, visit www.adagreatlakes.org or www.lindamastandrea.com.
