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 Introduction

This guide presents an informal overview of some basic ADA requirements for small businesses that provide goods or services to the public. It omits many of the “legal” terms that are found in the ADA and its regulations. But because it would be misleading to separate any explanation of ADA requirements from the law, references to key sections of the regulations or other information are included.

The Americans with Disabilities Act

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a Federal civil rights law that prohibits the exclusion of people with disabilities from everyday activities, such as buying an item at the store, watching a movie in a theater, enjoying a meal at a local restaurant, exercising at the local health club or having the car serviced at a local garage. To meet the goals of the ADA, the law established requirements for private businesses of all sizes. These requirements first went into effect on January 26, 1992, and continue for both for-profit and non-profit organizations.

For small businesses, compliance with the ADA is not difficult. To help businesses with their compliance efforts, Congress established a technical assistance program to answer questions about the ADA.

Answers to your questions about the ADA are a phone call away. The Department of Justice operates a toll-free ADA Information Line (800- 514-0301 voice and 800-514-0383 TDD). In addition, tax credits and deductions were established that can be used annually to offset many costs of providing access to people with disabilities

In recognition that many small businesses can not afford to make significant physical changes to their stores or places of business to provide accessibility to wheelchair users and other people with disabilities, the ADA has requirements for existing facilities built before 1993 that are less strict than for ones built after early 1993 or modified after early 1992. 1