About the ADA

A lot is made of an important law passed in the early nineties called the ADA, the Americans with Disabilities Act.  This was a much-needed piece of civil rights legislation that helped put an end to a great deal of abuses and discrimination.  It can and should be viewed as a victory for all citizens of and visitors to the country. However, I have recently decided that we must re-frame the discussion.

The ADA is a law, one that must be followed.  But I maintain that a person should really WANT to make their public business accessible to all people.  By speaking of accessibility in strictly legal terms, questions of cost, practicality, and feasibility are immediately brought into the discussion.  And that’s when the bare minimum becomes the goal and business owners and building inspectors are forced to see accessibility as a nuisance, a hurdle to overcome by the narrowest means.  If I was interested in seeing that Oxford businesses achieved the barest minimum compliance to the ADA, it would be easiest for me to constantly invoke the law.   I want more.

I want people to realize that disabled people are younger and more active now, that they travel, they work, they eat out, they socialize, they see live music.  They have money and they want to spend it on the same goods and services that able-bodied people do.

If business owners take a moment to ask, as well as use a bit of imagination they will be able to learn what’s needed.  And it turns out it’s not always a lot.  If when you’re done, a disabled person can come and go unassisted and has access to the same quality of amenities as everybody else, you don’t even have to worry about the ADA… you’ve exceeded it.