Building public trust between your organization and the disability community requires a commitment to transparency and the development of a culture of inclusion. In order for your staff to understand how to support people with disabilities, you first have to understand disabilities themselves.
Here is your crash course on disability: the types of disabilities that exist and how disability, the law, and business are connected.
Types of Disabilities
According to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, disability includes, but is not limited to the following:
- Intellectual disabilities
- Hearing impairments (including deafness)
- Speech or language impairments
- Visual impairments (including blindness)
- Serious emotional disturbance
- Orthopedic impairments
- Autism
- Traumatic brain injury
- Health impairments
- Specific learning disabilities
It’s important to note that while the above labels may be used in a legal context, some people with disabilities may find them to be offensive. For instance, some feel that the terms “impairment” and “emotional disturbance” are negative and hurtful. All people with disabilities use different terms with which to identify themselves. Thus, the golden rule is to always ask people with disabilities the terms with which they prefer to describe their disabilities. Disability language will be discussed further later in this article series.
What are people with disabilities like?
People of all races, religions, sexual identities, gender identities, and other backgrounds in life can have a disability. People with disabilities have wildly diverse feelings about their disabilities. Some are proud to have a disability, while others may feel ambivalent or negatively about their disability. Some openly identify as having a disability. However, others choose not to disclose their disability. Furthermore, some people with the conditions listed above may not identify as having a disability.
Some disabilities are visible, while some are not. For example, people may easily understand that wheelchair users have disabilities. However, people may not know if others with less immediately noticeable disabilities, like mental health conditions, have disabilities by simply looking at them.
It is also important to note that, while it is helpful to review and have an understanding of disability, it should not be assumed that all people with disabilities fit common stereotypes society has about disabilities. For instance, despite the negative sound of the term “learning disability,” having a learning disability does not mean that a person is unintelligent or incapable of learning.What qualifies as a disability
According to section 12102 of the Americans with Disabilities Act, a disability is defined as, “with respect to an individual" as;
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- (A) a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities of such individual;
- (B) a record of such an impairment; or
- (C) being regarded as having such an impairment (as described in paragraph (3)).
It is also important to understand what is considered to be a major life activity and how that definition impacts accommodations and accessibility. According to the ADA, "Major Life Activities" include:
Persons with disabilities as defined are entitled to the protections provided by the ADA, including access to readily achievable accommodations.[...] caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, seeing, hearing, eating, sleeping, walking, standing, lifting, bending, speaking, breathing, learning, reading, concentrating, thinking, communicating, and working. [...] a major life activity also includes the operation of a major bodily function, including but not limited to, functions of the immune system, normal cell growth, digestive, bowel, bladder, neurological, brain, respiratory, circulatory, endocrine, and reproductive functions.
Businesses and readily achievable accommodations
Title III of the ADA states that private entities whose activities affect commerce (“public accommodations”) are required to give people with disabilities readily achievable accommodations.
Under the law, a “readily achievable” accommodation is:
This means that, unless an accommodation is an undue burden, primary consideration must be given to the person requesting an accommodation.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
(A) the nature and cost of the action needed under this chapter [Title III];
(B) the overall financial resources of the facility or facilities involved in the action; the number of persons employed at such facility; the effect on expenses and resources, or the impact otherwise of such action upon the operation of the facility;
(C) the overall financial resources of the covered entity; the overall size of the business of a covered entity with respect to the number of its employees; the number, type, and location of its facilities; and
(D) the type of operation or operations of the covered entity, including the composition, structure, and functions of the workforce of such entity; the geographic separateness, administrative or fiscal relationship of the facility or facilities in question to the covered entity.
Illegal actions under the ADA
Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act declared that, with few exceptions, it’s illegal to:
- Discriminate against people with disabilities “in the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations of any place of public accommodation” by any person who runs places of public accommodation.
- Direct or indirect discrimination against “individuals or a class of individuals” with disabilities towards using an entity’s “goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations of an entity.” Indirect discrimination can include “contractual, licensing, or other arrangements.”
- Give “individuals or a class of individuals” disabilities unequal, less effective, or different/separate access to an entity’s “goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations” than what people without disabilities receive.
- “Impose or apply eligibility criteria that screen out or tend to screen out an individual with a disability or any class of individuals with disabilities” from using “any goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations.”
- Fail to make reasonable, necessary modifications to “policies, practices, or procedures” to “goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations to individuals with disabilities.”
- Fail to take steps to “ensure that no individual with a disability is excluded, denied services, segregated or otherwise treated differently than other individuals because of the absence of auxiliary aids and services.”
Websites and apps that are related to physical public accommodations are also included in this law. To learn more about web accessibility, visit Accessibility.com's Digital Accessibility content page.
Conclusion
Every good businessperson should understand their customers. How your business communicates with its customers is the first step in improving accessibility and inclusion in your organization. Ensuring your programs and services are accessible to all customers is not only good business sense, it's also the law.
Organizations should adopt strong policies and procedures that ensure effective communication and accessibility across the board, doing so will improve your customer experience, retention, and ultimately your bottom line.
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