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Q&A
CCHR's perspective on common accessibility issues for small businesses
0:49:59
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112 sec
JoAnn Kamuf Ward, Deputy Commissioner for Policy and External Affairs at the NYC Commission on Human Rights, shares insights on common accessibility issues faced by small businesses under the city's human rights law.
- CCHR focuses on the city's human rights law rather than the ADA specifically
- Common issues include accommodations for service animals, physical barriers like steps, and clear routes of travel within stores
- Ward notes that complaints often come from clients rather than businesses themselves
Oswald Feliz
0:49:59
And same question for What are some of the rules that we generally hear about when speaking with businesses about these ADA issues?
0:50:05
And which ones have we heard are very difficult to comply and for what reasons as well?
0:50:09
Is it due to costs, complications, or So
JoAnn Kamuf Ward
0:50:12
for us, we don't deal very often in the ADA.
0:50:17
So we're looking at the city human rights law, which I think as we were saying has baked into it a requirement for reasonable accommodations that looks at whether an accommodation can be given and puts the onus on small businesses to identify if something is an undue hardship.
0:50:35
The reasons that might happen is architecturally infeasible, right?
0:50:40
Can't do it.
0:50:42
So that is a challenge that is kind of outside of our scope to be able to address.
0:50:48
There are a number of city rules that, building code rules that incorporate parts of the ADA.
0:50:58
One thing that we see all the time with small businesses, and really this is coming from clients.
0:51:04
So small businesses are not calling us that often, surprisingly.
0:51:08
It's clients who are being denied access because they have a service animal or historically in New York City buildings, one step.
0:51:19
So looking at something that some folks might be able to walk into a store because there's one step, that's a massive barrier to someone who has a mobility device.
0:51:27
So those, I think, are some of the frequent things that we hear about.
0:51:31
And then the other piece, which I mentioned already, was the ability to navigate actually stores inside.
0:51:39
So one of the accommodations or pre complaint interventions that we might offer is a clear route of travel within a store.
0:51:49
So that's what we see.