According to the Americans with Disabilities Act which was passed in 1990:

• An area for “special needs” should be provided on all tour registration forms and shuttle information
• If certain guests require para-transportation (a service for guests that are not able to use regular transportation), they should be given a number to call for assistance. Guests with special needs have the legal right to expect a level of service which is comparable to the one provided to guests without disabilities.

It is obvious that the above Act establishes “a clear and comprehensive prohibition of discrimination on the basis of disability”. Buildings or public accommodations that don’t comply with this Act are likely to receive penalties starting at ,000.

Meeting planners need to be fully aware of this Act and they should take their time to make the necessary changes in order to make facilities and program accessible to all. The following things can be used to assist you when getting prepared to comply with this Act:

• It would be very useful to ask attendees in the registration form about “special needs”. A question such as “Do you have any special needs?” will certainly help you plan better to make the necessary preparations for individuals with disabilities. It is advisable when asking people about “special needs” to avoid using the word “disabled”.
• A meeting planner should always know whether hotel facilities and services are accessible and should be able to distinguish between mobility, accessibility, visual/hearing accessibility. He needs to make sure that the disability issue is addressed in hotel specification sheets and requests for proposals.
• You should consider if meeting room floors have nonslip surface and you should make sure there is plenty of space available for wheelchairs within easy viewing of safe and accessible exits. You also need to consider if special transportation facilities are needed for people with wheelchairs.
• Make sure to consider what assistance should be given to visually-impaired and hearing-impaired attendees. People with hearing disabilities could be provided with assistive listening devices and perhaps special in-room amenities such as a vibrating alarm clock or a TDD telephone system. You could also consider the possibility of a sign interpreter.
• Your Convention Services Manager or a member of the hotel staff can provide a list of local contacts who can provide auxiliary aids and other services required by ADA. This will save you valuable time in providing the necessary services to a possible walk-in (not preregister) attendee who requires assistance.
• You should make sure that the hotel and the meeting contracts include a clause which indicates that the facility or company meets ADA requirements such as “The Hotel/Facility ensures that the meeting facility meets with the accessibility requirements as outlined by the Americans with Disabilities Act (90/7/26).”
• You should include a barrier-free room category on your hotel reservation form. You should also insist that there are guaranteed hotel reservations for people who require such rooms.

ADA requires reasonable solutions to address the needs of the people with special needs. These solutions can be either certain architectural modifications or auxiliary aids that don’t cause a major problem for the meeting sponsor or public accommodation. If, for example, there is someone to read a handout to a blind attendee there is no need for a Braille handout. If a planner needs to use a room that cannot accommodate wheelchairs then a closed circuit television presentation of the meeting in another room may be an answer to the problem.

People with disabilities, according to ADA, are not just wheelchair users. They can be anyone from people with visual or hearing impairments to people with epilepsy, HIV, and diabetes.