ADA Compliance Guide: Leveraging Mass Notification to Enhance Safety & Inclusivity
By Kara Stamets, Content Marketing Specialist at Alertus Technologies
What is the Americans with Disabilities Act?
Organizations are required to adhere to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a civil rights law signed in 1990 that prohibits discrimination against individuals with physical or mental impairments. The law secures equal opportunity for those with disabilities in public accommodations, employment, telecommunications, transportation, and state and local government services.
Institutions can ensure ADA compliance by adding a multilayered mass notification system (MNS) to their facility and should continuously evaluate the effectiveness of their system. We will discuss why it is vital to be ADA compliant, describe what types of organizations must adhere to the law, and explain how Alertus can help.
Why be ADA Compliant?
Improve safety
Meeting the basic ADA requirements is necessary to avoid penalties, but companies should consider going above and beyond the mandates to improve workplace safety, productivity, and morale. It is beneficial for everyone when an establishment or workplace adds a layer of protection for its employees and customers.
Promote Inclusivity
Accessibility is essential to satisfy ADA standards, but it is also important to create an inclusive space for your community, customers, and work environment. For example, when selecting an MNS, consider a solution that provides both audio and visual capabilities.
Avoid ADA violations
Failing to comply with the ADA comes with steep financial penalties: $75,000 for the first offense and $150,000 for the second offense. To be entitled to file a complaint, an individual must work for an employer with 15 or more employees, have a disability as defined by the ADA, and demonstrate their need for the disability accommodation.
How mass notification systems can help organizations achieve ADA compliance
Mass notification systems support the four main titles of ADA
Employers: Title I of the ADA defends the rights of both employees and job applicants. Businesses must adhere to state and local governments, which may enforce higher standards of accessibility than required by the ADA. Employers cannot deny someone employment because of their disability, and they cannot terminate, demote, or fail to provide reasonable accommodations to disabled employees. Employees working in large, loud environments or in areas lacking cell service benefit from highly visual MNS solutions such as LED marquees, or digital signage overrides that can be seen from far away. Enforced by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
State and Local Government: Title II protects eligible individuals with disabilities from discrimination based on disability in services, programs, and activities provided by State and local government commodities. This requires adequate communication for those with hearing, vision, or speech disabilities and provides them with equal access to public services such as transit systems, municipal buildings, public restrooms, and more. Metro and Amtrak can be dangerous for individuals who are hard of hearing or have physical disabilities, so strobes or lights placed in common areas or on metro doors, for example, will prevent someone from falling off or in-between the platform and the train. Enforced by the US Department of Justice.
Public Accommodations and Commercial Facilities: Title III prohibits discrimination based on disability in the activities of places of public accommodations (privately-owned or leased facilities) and requires public accommodations and commercial facilities to comply with ADA standards. ADA compliance can include installing visible and audible fire alarms, hearing-impaired alert devices, and closed captioning on TV screens in hallways, front-desk areas, and lobbies. Enforced by the US Department of Justice.
Types of establishments that require ADA accommodations:
Hotels
Doctor’s offices
Grocery stores
Shopping malls
Restaurants
Airports
College campuses
Factories
Laboratories
Court houses
Movie theaters
Museums
Telecommunications: Title IV mandates closed captioning of federally funded public service announcements and require telecommunication relay services (TRS) to help people with hearing or speech disabilities, such as Text-to-Voice, Voice Carry Over, Speech-to-Speech, and Video Relay Service. An MNS should provide products with these capabilities to assist those who are hard of hearing, deaf, or blind. In the event of an emergency, receiving push notifications from a mobile device is extremely convenient for those who are deaf or hard of hearing, while VoIP phones such as Avaya or Cisco can be configured as a digital PA system to play clear voice messages with safety instructions for those who are blind. Enforced by the Federal Communication Commission.
Alertus Technologies’ ADA Compliance
Alertus is compliant with ADA standards and is known for its innovative audible–visual emergency notification solutions. We strive to provide products and services that cater to all populations and help ensure secure environments.
Alertus’ ADA Compliant Products
The Alertus Alert Beacon® is a practical and attention-grabbing device that can replace or be added to a conventional public address (PA) system. It is a reliable, wall-mounted product that offers audible and visual emergency communications. After sending an alert, the Alert Beacon sets off bright strobe lights, clear emergency tone sounders, and custom text on the LED screen.
The Alertus Recipient App allows end-users to receive push notifications from the Alertus System. It has a simple user interface, geo-tagged incident reporting, customizable branding, and foreign language support.
The Alertus Fire Alarm Control Panel Interface provides a complete method for monitoring your fire alarm panel system. Fire panel events will activate the Alertus system and provide comprehensive notification coverage, extending to the Alert Beacon and existing strobes and sounders. Integration is simple; the Alertus Fire Panel Interface is compatible with many existing fire alarm panels and PA systems.
VoIP Phone Notification turns your phone system into a digital PA system by sending audible-visual emergency alerts to all (or select) VoIP desk phones in your facility. When a notification is sent, it plays a pre-recorded message or audio tone and displays static or scrolling text on the phone screen. ADA accessibility is enhanced with text-to-speech (TTS) capability.
Alertus Desktop is a mass notification alerting software that immediately grabs attention with customizable desktop alerts with full-screen, partial-screen, or ticker mode takeovers. The desktop alerts can be sent with TTS or can initiate sound files when an emergency alert is received. Images can also be easily embedded.
The Alertus Digital Signage override software transforms existing digital signage into intelligent emergency alerting appliances. Ideal for high-occupancy areas, emergency alerts scroll across screens in large, highly visible font. The application supports playback of alert tones and voice messages on systems with audio output capabilities, meeting the audible and visual needs of the community.
Gallaudet University
Gallaudet University is the world’s most prominent university in which all programs and services are specifically designed to accommodate deaf and hard of hearing students. Gallaudet utilizes the Alertus System throughout its campus, leveraging products such as the Alert Beacon®, Desktop Notification, and Digital Signage Override, to provide a safe and secure environment for all.
It is crucial to meet ADA compliance, and selecting a unified facility notification system is key to providing a safe and inclusive establishment. Alertus offers many solutions to unify and simplify the process of outfitting your facility to meet the needs of those with disabilities.