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The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in an effort to provide equal access to public services, activities, and programs. Among those protections, the ADA establishes accessibility requirements for facilities owned by public entities. Meeting these requirements is in the best interest of the community so that all people have equal access.
Under Title II of the ADA, all state/local governments must follow the ADA regardless of their size. The ADA was enacted on July 26, 1990. The ADA has been revised several times since 1990; the latest revision is the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design. Title II requires public entities to take several steps to become compliant with the ADA. All public entities, regardless of size, must provide an ADA public notice and conduct a self-evaluation of its programs, services, facilities, policies, and procedures. Public entities with 50 or more employees (either full or part time), in addition to the ADA public notice and self-evaluation, must establish a grievance procedure, designate a responsible employee (as an ADA Coordinator) to coordinate ADA compliance, and develop an ADA transition plan to remove barriers to programs and services.
Public Rights-of-Way Accessibility Guidelines (PROWAG) are guidelines developed specifically for access to pedestrian facilities that exist within the public right-of-way. The guidelines ensure that sidewalks, pedestrian street crossings, pedestrian signals, and other facilities for pedestrian circulation and use constructed or altered in the public right-of-way by state and local governments are readily accessible to and usable by pedestrians with disabilities. The U.S. Access Board finalized these guidelines in August 2023. The final rule is effective as of September 7, 2023. PROWAG is currently recommended best practices for areas not fully addressed by the ADA/ADAAG Standards (FHWA January 23, 2006, Public Rights-of-Way Access Advisory). These guidelines will be mandatory once they are adopted for enforcement by the United States Department of Justice and the United States Department of Transportation, which is expected to occur in 2024.
Illinois Environmental Barriers Act (EBA) (410 ILCS 25/1 et seq.): The EBA, enacted in 1985 and amended in 1996 and 2017, is the statute that governs physical access for people with disabilities in new construction, additions and alterations to public facilities and multi-story housing. One important aspect of the Environmental Barriers Act is giving the Capital Development Board authority for buildings and the Illinois Accessibility Code. The Capital Development Board shall adopt and publish accessibility standards. Accessibility standards for public facilities shall dictate minimum design, construction, and alteration requirements to facilitate access to and use of the public facility by environmentally limited persons.