In general, customers who are blind, deafblind or visually impaired cannot be denied full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, benefits or accommodation provided by your establishment. In other words, public accommodations such as hotels must ensure that guests who are blind, deafblind or visually impaired have an equal opportunity to participate and benefit from all the goods and services offered by your hotel. This may mean changing your policies or procedures, eliminating discriminatory eligibility criteria, providing assistance and services, and, where readily practicable, taking steps to remove structural barriers to communication in existing facilities. Tools and services include, but are not limited to, readers, recorded text, Braille materials, equipment acquisition or modification, and other similar actions. So, a visually impaired guest may ask you for help as a guide or help reading their bill, even though they may not be using a dog handler or stick. Similarly, a visually impaired person may ask for an extra lamp in their room, ask to sit in the brightest area of your restaurant, or sit away from a large window that creates an unpleasant glare. In addition, the decision to use a third-party website to book rooms can also put hotel owners in hot water if that website is not ADA compliant. It can take a lot of work to browse your website and label any image or video on the backend, but it`s necessary to avoid future lawsuits. Although the Department of Justice withdrew its Notice of Regulatory Proposal (NOPR) in 2010 and to date has not published definitive rules regarding web access standards for state and local authorities or private companies, hoteliers are increasingly victims of serial lawsuits. Gradually, the website`s compliance with ADA is a big goal for ADA plaintiffs` lawyers. Especially in states like California, where state laws allow plaintiffs to reimburse court costs and attorneys` fees; California laws also grant money for « damages. » This payment is in addition to the costs incurred to correct ADA violations. In California, people with disabilities can « challenge » ALL barriers in a hotel – even if they have never encountered barriers in person. This creates a perfect storm for « serial plaintiffs » and their lawyers to survive ADA`s lawsuit settlements.

The ADA requires that accessible rooms be « distributed across different room classes » and that hotels offer people with disabilities « a choice of room types, beds and other amenities comparable to the choices available to other guests. » To determine whether people with disabilities are being offered adequate choices, the regulation recommends that hotels consider, among other things, « room size, bed size, cost, views, bathroom facilities such as hot tubs and spas, smokers and non-smokers, and the number of rooms provided ». They exist! But not all hotels will have them. Hilton and IHG are doing a particularly effective job of communicating the availability of ADA suites on their websites. Some Marriott and Starwood hotels have them, but you may need to call to inquire about rates and availability. Hyatt is the worst when it comes to the availability of ADA suites, and it`s usually not possible to book such suites on Hyatt`s website (if they exist at all). Because ADA rooms have not been properly distributed across all room types and sizes, most Hyatt hotels do not have accessible suites. Hotel owners are primarily responsible for understanding ADA compliance and how it affects their hotel facilities from a physical infrastructure perspective, and then enforcing those regulations to their hotel. Whether it`s providing special assistance parking, pool elevators, an accessible check-in counter, wheelchair accessible public entrances, trails, ramps and/or elevators and restrooms, it is your duty and responsibility as a hotelier to conduct a comprehensive site audit and ensure that your facilities comply with local and state laws, as well as federal mandates such as the Americans with Disability Act. An often overlooked aspect of compliance is meeting requirements for the visually and hearing impaired, which include Braille signage requirements, trail accessibility, and audio-visual equipment.

The ADA publishes an ADA checklist for new hosting facilities, which we encourage all our customers to review and fully understand. (Click here: www.ada.gov/hsurvey.htm or copy and paste this URL into your browser to access it.) I`ve targeted a significant portion of my nights and stays at Marriott hotels because I`ve found that their hotels are (on average) more accessible and that hotel management in general addresses the issues. However, you need to be prepared to encounter ADA design violations in many hotels, no matter which brand you choose. The Americans with Disabilities Act is one of the most important civil rights laws in the United States that prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability and guarantees equal opportunity for people with disabilities. Current ADA laws require hotels and public housing to provide persons with disabilities with « full and equal enjoyment of goods, services, privileges, benefits or accommodations. » This clause applies not only to your physical hotel, but also to your cyber-intelligence, including your hotel`s website, and, where applicable, representations on the websites of online travel agencies and franchises. Below is a list of examples of requests that are unlikely to be considered by hotels as they are not mandatory: All hotels built since the 1991 standards came into effect (9.1.2) must provide a shower seat in all wheelchair accessible rooms with a wheelchair accessible shower. These seats must be attached to one of the side walls of the shower room and folded down from it. Water controls and a handheld shower nozzle must be installed on the adjacent rear wall and within range of the intended seat. Grab bars should be located on the side wall in front of the shower seat and also along the back wall. Grab bars are not allowed on the side wall to which the shower seat is attached (4.21.3). While this brochure will help you review all of your customer services and facilities to identify barriers faced by customers who are blind, deafblind, or visually impaired, and will also suggest solutions to many obstacles along the way, your customers will often suggest the most important solutions. In October 1991, the American Foundation for the Blind opened an ada hotline funded by the United States Department of Justice to answer questions about the implementation of Titles II and III of the ADA.