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By Mike Mingus

More than 43 million Americans with one or more physical or mental disabilities historically have been isolated and segregated by society. Despite some improvements, these forms of discrimination continue to be a serious problem.

Today, after more than 30 years of unrelenting advocacy, numerous federal laws have been enacted that protect and empower the lives of persons with disabilities. These continuing efforts culminated with President George Bush signing into law Public Law 101-336, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, with enforcement starting in January 1992.

The ADA is a civil rights legislation intended to eliminate discrimination against individuals with disabilities and to remove barriers that inhibit full participation in a full range of life's activities. The areas mentioned as critical include: employment, housing, public accommodations, education, transportation, communication, recreation, health services, voting and access to public services.

The purpose of the act is to provide a clear and comprehensive national mandate for the elimination of discrimination against individuals with disabilities and to bring them into the economic and social mainstream of American life. The ADA was also enacted to provide enforceable standards addressing discrimination and to ensure that the federal government plays a central role in enforcing these standards on behalf of individuals with disabilities.

More than a building code
The ADA is not a building code; it is a civil rights act! It applies to any facility, whether owned by the state, a college, city, nonprofit group, or private company, and bans discrimination on the basis of physical or mental handicap. Since the ADA's intent is to ensure that individuals with disabilities can participate in society as equal members, a natural beginning as you move towards compliance is to remove attitudinal barriers in the language you use in your facility. Terms such as "the disabled," "crippled" or "handicapped" are no longer acceptable. Neutral expressions such as "people with disabilities" or "individuals with disabilities" are now used and are not considered offensive.

The U.S. Department of Justice published the Code of Federal Regulations for Nondiscrimination on the basis of Disability by Public Accommodations and in Commercial Facilities, giving general requirements on designing buildings to accommodate the majority of individuals with disabilities.

Do not think, however, of the guidelines as a building code. An architect could totally design a facility in compliance with these guidelines, and his client could still be sued. How are such lawsuits possible? The regulations deal only with the most commonly needed accommodations and auxiliary aids; the client or patron might have special needs that the architect designing your facility did not adopt.

For example, theater and meeting facility management have been successfully dealing with wheelchair access and hearing assistance systems. However, these actions only address part of the target population. Some people travel in wheelchairs, but others use canes or walkers.

Some of your clients or patrons may be hard of hearing, completely deaf or have deficiencies only in a particular frequency. Some people are completely blind while others have limited vision or color sensation. Therefore, customizing your facility to meet the needs of individuals with disabilities by removing every single barrier so that each and every patron can fully enjoy the event is beyond the financial means of even the richest facilities.

Steps to take
Most facilities have started and are continuing the process of removing steps, widening doors, redesigning toilet stalls, replacing door knobs and carpeting, lowering box office windows and more. The list may seem endless and for some beyond hope of compliance. No facility can do it all at once, so how do we stay out of trouble with the courts? Anybody who "can demonstrate good faith progress towards accessibility" will have no trouble with the ADA. The steps outlined below are practical ways to demonstrate your ongoing "good faith" efforts to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA):

• PERFORM A SELF-EVALUATION
Owners, managers, accountants and lawyers are best able to conduct an assessment of your facility. Be prepared to explain your assessment if challenged in court.

• ESTABLISH AN ADVISORY COUNCIL
Use individuals representing a variety of groups and organizations to help your facility plan and move toward future improvements. Include in your advisory council members representing the mobility impaired, hearing impaired, visually impaired and perceptually impaired communities. Utilize these members to serve as your spokespersons in the community.

• DRAW UP A PLAN
Utilizing the suggestions from your advisory council, create a plan to make reasonable changes in a timely fashion, and then do it! The ADA requires that accommodations be made that are "readily achievable" and that are not "an undo burden." An ongoing checklist of accomplishments and future improvements will showcase your commitment to this process.

• CREATE A PHILOSOPHY
Facility managers should establish a philosophy that is practiced and embraced by every employee in your organization. That philosophy is basic: every patron or client should be welcomed into your facility, including people with special needs. You will do everything in your power to help every individual enjoy the event. By doing so, you have a satisfied customer. After all, that is what the ADA is all about.

But is "good faith" good enough? Individuals or the attorney general may still bring suit to force compliance if they feel that discrimination has taken place. Since the goal of the ADA is "full and equal enjoyment" it is hard to imagine how anybody but an individual who has felt discrimination could bring suit. In each case the courts will decide whether "readily achievable" steps that would not impose "undue burden" were taken by the facility. Experts believe that it will probably take a number of years and a few test cases before courts define what is reasonable and what is possible as opposed to what is desirable.

One thing you can be sure of: The Americans with Disabilities Act has been a revolution of sorts and it is here to stay. The shape of our facilities and the way we execute our events will never be the same.

Mike Mingus is operations supervisor of the Modesto Centre Plaza in Modesto, California. He may be reached at mmingus@modestogov.com.