[Noisebridge-discuss] I asked Charles to leave this evening

Sat Dec 7 10:01:14 UTC 2013

I’m going to shut this conversation down now. The discretion being used
here is out of line, moreover the descriptions of me are out of line.

I was called a faggot and physically threatened by another individual in
the public space. Yet, no one clearly understands how that impacts an
individuals preset abilities to function in a space.  Moreover, no one else
brings up the fact that this individuals yelling, and functional creation
of an office for himself on the side wall is allowable.

Moreover, it seems as if all the individuals complaining about me are also
the bureaucrats who seem to want to prohibit my ability to use a fish tank.

Further, due to these triggers, I’ll invoke Title III of the ADA, as my
abilities to “function” in a fashion these individuals seek is clearly
unduly burdensome to individuals with a similar disability as to mine:

Here is guidance:

I. Who is Covered by Title III of the ADA

The title III regulation covers --

Public accommodations (i.e., private entities that own, operate, lease, or
lease to places of public accommodation),

Commercial facilities, and

Private entities that offer certain examinations and courses related to
educational and occupational certification.

Places of public accommodation include over five million private
establishments, such as restaurants, hotels, theaters, convention centers,
retail stores, shopping centers, dry cleaners, laundromats, pharmacies,
doctors' offices, hospitals, museums, libraries, parks, zoos, amusement
parks, private schools, day care centers, health spas, and bowling alleys.

Commercial facilities are nonresidential facilities, including office
buildings, factories, and warehouses, whose operations affect commerce.

Entities controlled by religious organizations, including places of
worship, are not covered.

Private clubs are not covered, except to the extent that the facilities of
the private club are made available to customers or patrons of a place of
public accommodation.

State and local governments are not covered by the title III regulation,
but rather by the Department of Justice's title II regulation.

II. Overview of Requirements

Public accommodations must --

Provide goods and services in an integrated setting, unless separate or
different measures are necessary to ensure equal opportunity.

Eliminate unnecessary eligibility standards or rules that deny individuals
with disabilities an equal opportunity to enjoy the goods and services of a
place of public accommodation.

Make reasonable modifications in policies, practices, and procedures that
deny equal access to individuals with disabilities, unless a fundamental
alteration would result in the nature of the goods and services provided.

Furnish auxiliary aids when necessary to ensure effective communication,
unless an undue burden or fundamental alteration would result.

Remove architectural and structural communication barriers in existing
facilities where readily achievable.

Provide readily achievable alternative measures when removal of barriers is
not readily achievable.

Provide equivalent transportation services and purchase accessible vehicles
in certain circumstances.

Maintain accessible features of facilities and equipment.

Design and construct new facilities and, when undertaking alterations,
alter existing facilities in accordance with the Americans with
Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines issued by the Architectural and
Transportation Barriers Compliance Board and incorporated in the final
Department of Justice title III regulation.

A public accommodation is not required to provide personal devices such as
wheelchairs; individually prescribed devices (e.g., prescription eyeglasses
or hearing aids); or services of a personal nature including assistance in
eating, toileting, or dressing.

A public accommodation may not discriminate against an individual or entity
because of the known disability of a person with whom the individual or
entity is known to associate.

Commercial facilities are only subject to the requirement that new
construction and alterations conform to the ADA Accessibility Guidelines.
The other requirements applicable to public accommodations listed above do
not apply to commercial facilities.

Private entities offering certain examinations or courses (i.e., those
related to applications, licensing, certification, or credentialing for
secondary or postsecondary education, professional, or trade purposes) must
offer them in an accessible place and manner or offer alternative
accessible arrangements.

III. "Individuals with Disabilities"

The Americans with Disabilities Act provides comprehensive civil rights
protections for "individuals with disabilities".

An individual with a disability is a person who --

Has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more
major life activities, or

Has a record of such an impairment, or

Is regarded as having such an impairment.

Examples of physical or mental impairments include, but are not limited to,
such contagious and noncontagious diseases and conditions as orthopedic,
visual, speech, and hearing impairments; cerebral palsy, epilepsy, muscular
dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, mental
retardation, emotional illness, specific learning disabilities, HIV disease
(whether symptomatic or asymptomatic), tuberculosis, drug addiction, and
alcoholism. Homosexuality and bisexuality are not physical or mental
impairments under the ADA.

"Major life activities" include functions such as caring for oneself,
performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing,
learning, and working.

Individuals who currently engage in the illegal use of drugs are not
protected by the ADA when an action is taken on the basis of their current
illegal use of drugs.

IV. Eligibility for Goods and Services

In providing goods and services, a public accommodation may not use
eligibility requirements that exclude or segregate individuals with
disabilities, unless the requirements are necessary for the operation of
the public accommodation.

For example, excluding individuals with cerebral palsy from a movie theater
or restricting individuals with Down's Syndrome to only certain areas of a
restaurant would violate the regulation.

Requirements that tend to screen out individuals with disabilities, such as
requiring a blind person to produce a driver's license as the sole means of
identification for cashing a check, are also prohibited.

Safety requirements may be imposed only if they are necessary for the safe
operation of a place of public accommodation. They must be based on actual
risks and not on mere speculation, stereotypes, or generalizations about
individuals with disabilities.

For example, an amusement park may impose height requirements for certain
rides when required for safety.

Extra charges may not be imposed on individuals with disabilities to cover
the costs of measures necessary to ensure nondiscriminatory treatment, such
as removing barriers or providing qualified interpreters.

V. Modifications in Policies, Practices, and Procedures

A public accommodation must make reasonable modifications in its policies,
practices, and procedures in order to accommodate individuals with
disabilities.

A modification is not required if it would "fundamentally alter" the goods,
services, or operations of the public accommodation.

For example, a department store may need to modify a policy of only
permitting one person at a time in a dressing room if an individual with
mental retardation needs the assistance of a companion in dressing.

Modifications in existing practices generally must be made to permit the
use of guide dogs and other service animals.

Specialists are not required to provide services outside of their
legitimate areas of specialization.

For example, a doctor who specializes exclusively in burn treatment may
refer an individual with a disability, who is not seeking burn treatment,
to another provider. A burn specialist, however, could not refuse to
provide burn treatment to, for example, an individual with HIV disease.

VI. Auxiliary Aids

A public accommodation must provide auxiliary aids and services when they
are necessary to ensure effective communication with individuals with
hearing, vision, or speech impairments.

"Auxiliary aids" include such services or devices as qualified
interpreters, assistive listening headsets, television captioning and
decoders, telecommunications devices for deaf persons (TDD's), videotext
displays, readers, taped texts, brailled materials, and large print
materials.

The auxiliary aid requirement is flexible. For example, a brailled menu is
not required, if waiters are instructed to read the menu to blind customers.

Auxiliary aids that would result in an undue burden, (i.e., "significant
difficulty or expense") or in a fundamental alteration in the nature of the
goods or services are not required by the regulation. However, a public
accommodation must still furnish another auxiliary aid, if available, that
does not result in a fundamental alteration or an undue burden.

VII. Existing Facilities: Removal of Barriers

Physical barriers to entering and using existing facilities must be removed
when "readily achievable."

Readily achievable means "easily accomplishable and able to be carried out
without much difficulty or expense."

What is readily achievable will be determined on a case-by-case basis in
light of the resources available.

The regulation does not require the rearrangement of temporary or movable
structures, such as furniture, equipment, and display racks to the extent
that it would result in a significant loss of selling or serving space.

Legitimate safety requirements may be considered in determining what is
readily achievable so long as they are based on actual risks and are
necessary for safe operation.

Examples of barrier removal measures include --

Installing ramps,

Making curb cuts at sidewalks and entrances,

Rearranging tables, chairs, vending machines, display racks, and other
furniture,

Widening doorways,

Installing grab bars in toilet stalls, and

Adding raised letters or braille to elevator control buttons.

First priority should be given to measures that will enable individuals
with disabilities to "get in the front door," followed by measures to
provide access to areas providing goods and services.

Barrier removal measures must comply, when readily achievable, with the
alterations requirements of the ADA Accessibility Guidelines. If compliance
with the Guidelines is not readily achievable, other safe, readily
achievable measures must be taken, such as installation of a slightly
narrower door than would be required by the Guidelines.

VIII. Existing Facilities: Alternatives to Barrier Removal

The ADA requires the removal of physical barriers, such as stairs, if it is
"readily achievable." However, if removal is not readily achievable,
alternative steps must be taken to make goods and services accessible.

Examples of alternative measures include --

Providing goods and services at the door, sidewalk, or curb,

Providing home delivery,

Retrieving merchandise from inaccessible shelves or racks,

Relocating activities to accessible locations.

Extra charges may not be imposed on individuals with disabilities to cover
the costs of measures used as alternatives to barrier removal. For example,
a restaurant may not charge a wheelchair user extra for home delivery when
it is provided as the alternative to barrier removal.

IX. New Construction

All newly constructed places of public accommodation and commercial
facilities must be accessible to individuals with disabilities to the
extent that it is not structurally impracticable.

The new construction requirements apply to any facility occupied after
January 26, 1993, for which the last application for a building permit or
permit extension is certified as complete after January 26, 1992.

Full compliance will be considered "structurally impracticable" only in
those rare circumstances when the unique characteristics of terrain prevent
the incorporation of accessibility features (e.g., marshland that requires
construction on stilts).

The architectural standards for accessibility in new construction are
contained in the ADA Accessibility Guidelines issued by the Architectural
and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board, an independent Federal
agency. These standards are incorporated in the final Department of Justice
title III regulation.

Elevators are not required in facilities under three stories or with fewer
than 3,000 square feet per floor, unless the building is a shopping center,
shopping mall, professional office of a health care provider, or station
used for public transportation.

X. Alterations

Alterations after January 26, 1992, to existing places of public
accommodation and commercial facilities must be accessible to the maximum
extent feasible.

The architectural standards for accessibility in alterations are contained
in the ADA Accessibility Guidelines issued by the Architectural and
Transportation Barriers Compliance Board. These standards are incorporated
in the final Department of Justice title III regulation.

An alteration is a change that affects usability of a facility. For
example, if during remodeling, renovation, or restoration, a doorway is
being relocated, the new doorway must be wide enough to meet the
requirements of the ADA Accessibility Guidelines.

When alterations are made to a "primary function area", such as the lobby
or work areas of a bank, an accessible path of travel to the altered area,
and the bathrooms, telephones, and drinking fountains serving that area,
must be made accessible to the extent that the added accessibility costs
are not disproportionate to the overall cost of the original alteration.

Alterations to windows, hardware, controls, electrical outlets, and signage
in primary function areas do not trigger the path of travel requirement.

The added accessibility costs are disproportionate if they exceed 20
percent of the original alteration.

Elevators are not required in facilities under three stories or with fewer
than 3,000 square feet per floor, unless the building is a shopping center,
shopping mall, professional office of a health care provider, or station
used for public transportation.

XI. Overview of Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines
for New Construction and Alterations

New construction and alterations must be accessible in compliance with the
ADA Accessibility Guidelines.

The Guidelines contain general design ("technical") standards for building
and site elements, such as parking, accessible routes, ramps, stairs,
elevators, doors, entrances, drinking fountains, bathrooms, controls and
operating mechanisms, storage areas, alarms, signage, telephones, fixed
seating and tables, assembly areas, automated teller machines, and dressing
rooms. They also have specific technical standards for restaurants, medical
care facilities, mercantile facilities, libraries, and transient lodging
(such as hotels and shelters).

The Guidelines also contain "scoping" requirements for various elements
(i.e., it specifies how many, and under what circumstances, accessibility
features must be incorporated).

Following are examples of scoping requirements in new construction --

At least 50 percent of all public entrances must be accessible. In
addition, there must be accessible entrances to enclosed parking,
pedestrian tunnels, and elevated walkways.

An accessible route must connect accessible public transportation stops,
parking spaces, passenger loading zones, and public streets or sidewalks to
all accessible features and spaces within a building.

Every public and common use bathroom must be accessible. Only one stall
must be accessible, unless there are six or more stalls, in which case two
stalls must be accessible (one of which must be of an alternate,
narrow-style design).

Each floor in a building without a supervised sprinkler system must contain
an "area of rescue assistance" (i.e., an area with direct access to an exit
stairway where people unable to use stairs may await assistance during an
emergency evacuation).

One TDD must be provided inside any building that has four or more public
pay telephones, counting both interior and exterior phones. In addition,
one TDD must be provided whenever there is an interior public pay phone in
a stadium or arena; convention center; hotel with a convention center;
covered shopping mall; or hospital emergency, recovery, or waiting room.

One accessible public phone must be provided for each floor, unless the
floor has two or more banks of phones, in which case there must be one
accessible phone for each bank.

Fixed seating assembly areas that accommodate 50 or more people or have
audio-amplification systems must have a permanently installed assistive
listening system.

Dispersal of wheelchair seating in theaters is required where there are
more than 300 seats. In addition, at least one percent of all fixed seats
must be aisle seats without armrests (or with movable armrests). Fixed
seating for companions must be located adjacent to each wheelchair location.

Where automated teller machines are provided, at least one must be
accessible.

Five percent of fitting and dressing rooms (but never less than one) must
be accessible.

Following are examples of specific scoping requirements for new
construction of special types of facilities, such as restaurants, medical
care facilities, mercantile establishments, libraries, and hotels --

In restaurants, generally all dining areas and five percent of fixed tables
(but not less than one) must be accessible.

In medical care facilities, all public and common use areas must be
accessible. In general purpose hospitals and in psychiatric and
detoxification facilities, ten percent of patient bedrooms and toilets must
be accessible. The required percentage is 100 percent for special
facilities treating conditions that affect mobility, and 50 percent for
long-term care facilities and nursing homes.

In mercantile establishments, at least one of each type of counter
containing a cash register and at least one of each design of check-out
aisle must be accessible. In some cases, additional check-out aisles are
required to be accessible (i.e., from 20 to 40 percent) depending on the
number of check-out aisles and the size of the facility.

In libraries, all public areas must be accessible. In addition, five
percent of fixed tables or study carrels (or at least one) must be
accessible. At least one lane at the check-out area and aisles between card
catalogs, magazine displays, and stacks must be accessible.

In hotels, four percent of the first 100 rooms and approximately two
percent of rooms in excess of 100 must be accessible to persons with
hearing impairments (i.e., contain visual alarms, visual notification
devices, volume-control telephones, and an accessible electrical outlet for
a TDD) and to persons with mobility impairments. Moreover, an identical
percentage of additional rooms must be accessible to persons with hearing
impairments.

Technical and scoping requirements for alterations are sometimes less
stringent than those for new construction. For example, when compliance
with the new construction requirements would be technically infeasible, one
accessible unisex bathroom per floor is acceptable.

XII. Examinations and Courses

Certain examinations or courses offered by a private entity (i.e., those
that are related to applications, licensing, certification, or
credentialing for secondary or postsecondary education, professional, or
trade purposes) must either be given in a place and manner accessible to
persons with disabilities, or be made accessible through alternative means.

In order to provide an examination in an accessible place and manner, a
private entity must --

Assure that the examination measures what it is intended to measure, rather
than reflecting the individual's impaired sensory, manual, or speaking
skills.

Modify the examination format when necessary (e.g., permit additional time).

Provide auxiliary aids (e.g., taped exams, interpreters, large print answer
sheets, or qualified readers), unless they would fundamentally alter the
measurement of the skills or knowledge that the examination is intended to
test or would result in an undue burden.

Offer any modified examination at an equally convenient location, as often,
and in as timely a manner as are other examinations.

Administer examinations in a facility that is accessible or provide
alternative comparable arrangements, such as providing the examination at
an individual's home with a proctor.

In order to provide a course in an accessible place and manner, a private
entity may need to --

Modify the course format or requirements (e.g., permit additional time for
completion of the course).

Provide auxiliary aids, unless a fundamental alteration or undue burden
would result.

Administer the course in a facility that is accessible or provide
alternative comparable arrangements, such as provision of the course
through video tape, audio cassettes, or prepared notes.

XIII. Enforcement of the ADA and its Regulations

Private parties may bring lawsuits to obtain court orders to stop
discrimination. No monetary damages will be available in such suits. A
reasonable attorney's fee, however, may be awarded.

Individuals may also file complaints with the Attorney General who is
authorized to bring lawsuits in cases of general public importance or where
a "pattern or practice" of discrimination is alleged.

In suits brought by the Attorney General, monetary damages (not including
punitive damages) and civil penalties may be awarded. Civil penalties may
not exceed $50,000 for a first violation or $100,000 for any subsequent
violation.

XIV. Technical Assistance

The ADA requires that the Federal agencies responsible for issuing ADA
regulations provide "technical assistance".

Technical assistance is the dissemination of information (either directly
by the Department or through grants and contracts) to assist the public,
including individuals protected by the ADA and entities covered by the ADA,
in understanding the new law.

Methods of providing information include, for example, audio-visual
materials, pamphlets, manuals, electronic bulletin boards, checklists, and
training.

The Department issued for public comment on December 5, 1990, a
government-wide plan for the provision of technical assistance.

The Department's efforts focus on raising public awareness of the ADA by
providing--

Fact sheets and pamphlets in accessible formats,

Speakers for workshops, seminars, classes, and conferences,

An ADA telephone information line, and

Access to ADA documents through an electronic bulletin board for users of
personal computers.

The Department has established a comprehensive program of technical
assistance relating to public accommodations and State and local
governments.

Grants will be awarded for projects to inform individuals with disabilities
and covered entities about their rights and responsibilities under the ADA
and to facilitate voluntary compliance.

The Department will issue a technical assistance manual by January 26,
1992, for individuals or entities with rights or duties under the ADA.
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