What can ACCESS really do for me? We get this question a lot.
The answer is simple: we at ACCESS empower you, the advocate, because you have been discriminated against.
U.S. Federal civil rights law was established more than 50 years ago, officially prohibiting discrimination in the United States. In a Federal civil rights case, it is the responsibility of a federal judge to rule on Federal discrimination cases. The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) was established in 1990 to expand Federal civil rights laws to include protection of people with disabilities from discrimination.
Bottom line: if you are denied access to a public building or place due to accessibility barriers and poor design, you are being discriminated against.
Your challenge, as a person with a disability who has been denied access, is how do you get in front of a federal judge.
First of all, you must have “standing”. This is a legal term, which means your disability must be a disability that is legally recognized by ADA law. With your “standing”, the federal court process is free to you — this includes free attorney fees and free litigation costs.
The professional architectural work products of ACCESS, starting with our ADA Accessibility Inspection Audit of the building(s) and site(s) is included as a litigation cost; therefore, there is no cost to you as an advocate with “standing” in federal court. [Read more about our in-depth audit process here.]
So, you team with ACCESS. Now what? You have “standing” in federal court, so you submit your complaint to ACCESS and authorize us to complete a review and file a complaint on your behalf. Then, with our 21 years of architectural experience and knowledge of getting buildings and sites ADA compliant, we dig right in and do all of the work! Some have said it is as simple as apple pie. And what is more American than apple pie?
Come join us with your “standing” and together we can get another building and site ADA compliant. We’re waiting to hear from you!