The Bush administration has proposed a significant revision and expansion of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), the landmark 1990 civil rights legislation that prohibits discrimination based on disability. The changes would set stricter accessibility requirements for public areas in hotels, stadiums, golf courses, theaters and more—including meeting and convention venues.
The new federal rules were laid out this week in the Federal Register and are intended to clarify the broader and more general clauses within the 1990 law. If passed, The New York Times reports, the revisions would affect more than 7 million businesses, not to mention all state and local government agencies.
If passed, the new rules would require meeting planners to be more selective about their destinations. That's because the proposed changes include:
* A broader "place of lodging" definition that includes not only traditional hotels, but also time shares, condominium hotels and corporate hotels
* Expanded policies concerning the availability of auxiliary aids
* New requirements for auditoriums, mandating that they include a lift or ramp that gives wheelchair access to the stage, as well as a specific number of wheelchair-accessible seats in the audience with acceptable viewing angles
* New rules for hotel reservation systems, which will have to guarantee the availability of ADA-compliant guest rooms
For more information on the ADA, including this week's proposed changes, visit
www.ada.gov.