Reaching Out to Customers With Disabilities: lesson 5 Providing Access When Removing Barriers Is Not Readily AchievableIn front of a grocery store with four steps up to the entrance, a customer in a wheelchair is handing money to a clerk who is holding a bag of groceries.
Lesson 10: Information SourcesLesson 9: ADA EnforcementLesson 8: Cost IssuesLesson 7: Transporting CustomersLesson 6: Maintaining AccessibilityLesson 5: Removing BarriersLesson 1: Policies & ProceduresLesson 3: Accessible DesignLesson 2: Customer CommunicationsIntroduction: Welcome to the CourseLesson 5: Alternate Access

Offering goods and services in other ways

When a barrier prevents access to a business’s goods or services and removing it is not “readily achievable” (as discussed in lesson 4), the ADA expects businesses to offer their goods and services to people with disabilities in other ways that are “readily achievable.”
A restaurant provides home delivery to a family who is not able to eat in the restaurant due to barriers.

A restaurant provides home delivery to a family who
is not able to eat in the restaurant due to barriers.

Examples

A restaurant, small store, dry cleaner, or similar business located on a narrow sidewalk with a flight of steps up or down to its entrance may be unable to install a ramp or a lift because of cost or site constraints. They can make their goods and services available to a customer with a disability by providing curb-side service or home delivery.

An accountant, an attorney, or an insurance agent whose office is inaccessible can arrange to meet with a client at some other convenient location, such as a public library or the client’s home.

A retailer can assist a customer by retrieving merchandise from an inaccessible part of the store.

In a clothes shop with some merchandise located on a mezzanine that is up a flight of stairs, a sales clerk is bringing an item down from the mezzanine for a customer who uses a wheelchair. In front of a grocery store with four steps up to the entrance, a customer using a wheelchair is handing money to a clerk who is holding a bag of groceries.


In a clothes shop with some merchandise located on a mezzanine that is up a flight of stairs, a sales clerk is bringing an item down from the mezzanine for a customer who uses a wheelchair.


In front of a grocery store with four steps up to the entrance, a customer using a wheelchair is handing money to a clerk who is holding a bag of groceries.


You may not charge people with disabilities higher prices to cover the cost of providing service in an alternative way. For example, a restaurant may not charge a person who uses a wheelchair extra for home delivery when it is provided as the alternative to barrier removal.

Businesses that provide curb-side service should install a buzzer or bell so the customer can signal for service.



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last update September 16, 2005