Health & Safety Backgrounder
Accessibility Guidelines

What's the latest?
The U.S. Department of Justice is expected to issue updated rules in July 2004 telling businesses what they need to do to make themselves "accessible" under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The NRA has met numerous times with top regulatory officials to make sure the regulatory changes -- which will apply to all new buildings and buildings going through major alterations -- do not hurt restaurants.

Background
The ADA, a federal law that took effect in 1991, requires restaurants and other places open to the public to be accessible to and usable by people with disabilities. The U.S. Justice Department publishes the Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG) to let businesses know how to comply with the ADA. The rules cover everything from parking facilities to kitchen design. In November 1999 the Access Board, a federal advisory organization that helps the Justice Department write the guidelines, recommended more than 800 ADAAG changes.

The NRA has been concerned about some of the proposed ADAAG changes. While many would simply clarify existing rules, others could hike the cost of new kitchens, drive-thrus and parking facilities. The NRA filed comments and testified about its concerns in early 2000, and in November 2002 met with the U.S. Small Business Administration to make sure that the government does not release the new ADAAG rules without taking restaurateurs' concerns into account.

More resources
• March 2000 testimony (PDF) by the NRA on the proposed changes
• The Access Board Web site and ADAAG changes proposed in Nov. 1999