From ADA.GOV website.....
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires places of public accommodation, including hotels, motels, and other places of transient lodging, to ensure that everyone regardless of disability has an equal opportunity to enjoy their services and facilities.
Your establishment is covered by the ADA as a place of public accommodation if it is a private entity and is a place of lodging (including inns, hotels, and motels), regardless of whether it is a for-profit or non-profit establishment. The ADA does not cover owner-occupied establishments renting five or fewer rooms.
Your ADA ObligationsPlaces of lodging, like other places of public accommodation, must provide their services to the public in a way that gives people who are blind or who have low vision a full and equal opportunity to enjoy the services that are provided to others. You must, for instance:
- Follow accessibility standards when constructing or altering facilities;
- Remove architectural or structural communication barriers in existing facilities where it is readily achievable to do so;
- Make reasonable modifications in policies and procedures (e.g., allow person to be accompanied by service animal or guide dog, even if a hotel has a ‘no pets’ policy);
- Eliminate discriminatory eligibility criteria (e.g., allow a guest to use alternative state ID to substitute for driver’s license at check-in); and
- Provide auxiliary aids and services leading to effective communication if it is not an undue burden and does not fundamentally alter the nature of the goods or services provided (e.g., provide alternate format materials such as Braille, large print, and audio tape when guest cannot read standard print materials due to a disability).
This publication is designed to help you and your staff to understand these obligations.
The ADA gives businesses a certain degree of flexibility in meeting these obligations. If some steps are too costly or burdensome for you to undertake, you must use alternative methods that are not so costly or burdensome in order to afford people with disabilities as much access as possible to your goods and services.
To make sure your hotel and the services you offer do not discriminate against people who are blind or who have low vision, it is helpful to think about how guests use your hotel:
How do guests arrive at your hotel and what do they do once they get there?
How do guests check-in and check-out?
How do they move about your facilities?
How are the rooms set up?
What in-room guest services are provided?
What other amenities are available?
Arriving At the HotelWayfinding. Staff who assist guests at the front door should offer assistance to guests who are blind or who have low vision in finding the Registration Desk or other hotel facilities.
Moving Throughout Your FacilitySigns. In newly constructed and altered facilities, signs that identify permanent rooms and spaces – including, but not necessarily limited to those identifying rest rooms, exits, or room numbers – must meet the following requirements, 28 C.F.R. pt. 36, App. A, “ADA Standards for Accessible Design,” (Standards) § 4.1.3(16)(a):\
- Raised and Braille letters or numbers (Standards § 4.30.4);
- Mounting location (§ 4.30.6);
- Color contrast (§ 4.30.5); and
- Non-glare surface (§ 4.30.5).
Signs that provide direction to, or information about, functional spaces (§ 4.1.3(16)(b)) must comply with requirements for:
- Character proportion (§ 4.30.2);
- Character height (§ 4.30.3); and
- Finish and contrast between the characters and background (§ 4.30.5).
Elevators. In newly constructed or altered facilities, elevators must comply with specific design standards regarding the following:
- Hall call button orientation, mounting location, and visual signals (§ 4.10.3);
- Hall lantern audible and visual signals, size, and mounting location (§ 4.10.4);
- Raised and Braille characters on elevator hoistway entrances (door jambs), including mounting location and size (§ 4.10.5);
- Door protective and reopening devices (§ 4.10.6);
- Door and signal timing for hall calls (§ 4.10.7);
- Door delay for car calls (§ 4.10.8);
- Illumination levels (§ 4.10.11);
- Car control size, mounting height and location, and tactile, Braille, and visual indicators (§ 4.10.12);
- Car position indicators (§ 4.10.13); and
- Emergency communications (§ 4.10.14).
Existing facilities must remove barriers to the extent that doing so is readily achievable.
Department of Justice’s ADA Information LineThe ADA Information Line is available during weekdays to provide technical assistance on the ADA Standards for Accessible Design and other ADA provisions applying to businesses, non-profit service agencies and state and local government programs. It also provides a 24-hour automated service for ordering ADA materials. This free service provides answers to general and technical questions about ADA requirements and is a source for free ADA materials including the ADA Standards for Accessible Design. You may reach the
ADA Information Line at:
800-514-0301 (voice)
800-514-0383 (TTY)ADA information is also available on the Department’s ADA Home Page:
www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/adahom1.htm
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