Congress passed the American’s With Disabilities Act (ADA) and the president signed and made the ADA law.
It really is that simple.
Congress, in its wisdom, empowered the disabled by making the ADA a federal civil rights law. But, what exactly does this mean?
By definition, civil rights are: “The rights belonging to an individual by virtue of citizenship, especially the fundamental freedoms and privileges guaranteed by the 13th and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution and by subsequent acts of Congress, including civil liberties, due process, equal protection of the laws, and freedom from discrimination.” (The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language)
All federal civil rights laws are litigated before a federal judge. Ultimately, a judges decision sets the precedent and effectively becomes the law of the land for all ADA-related issues moving forward. Litigation of ADA concerns in federal court are offered at no cost to the disabled. Persons with disabilities are afforded free filing fees, free attorney fees and free attorney costs by virtue of their status as “disabled”. This is empowering!
The founders of the ADA knew it would not work unless the ADA was a federal civil rights law. The ACCESS Program of getting sites and buildings ADA compliant works because of the way the ADA is structured as a civil rights law. We team with the disabled because they have free access to the federal courts and use our professional architectural skills, knowledge and vast experience with consulting, plan-checking and detailed ADA inspection audits. Our services are provided as part of the federal civil rights process and the work product of ACCESS is an attorney costs, which is all free to people with disabilities. This is empowering!
It really is a good deal for people with disabilities because ACCESS does all the work! Let ACCESS empower you and together we will get buildings ADA compliant, one building at a time. Contact us today with any questions you may have.