More than 50 million Americans with disabilities are potential customers for retail businesses across the country. These 50-million-plus customers, along with their families and friends, patronize clothing boutiques, mall outlets, grocery stores, and more, if the businesses are accessible. This market grows even larger if the 78 million baby boomers in this country – who do not always require but benefit from accessibility – are included. Accessibility makes good business sense: an accessible retail establishment brings in new customers and keeps them coming back again and again.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires businesses that serve the public to remove barriers from older buildings and to design and build new facilities to provide access to customers with disabilities. However, even brand-new buildings designed for complete accessibility can become inaccessible without proper attention. A key component of ADA compliance is maintaining accessible features to remain usable. If key elements – often including the parking, building entrance, route into and through the establishment, access to the store’s goods and services, restrooms, cashier stations, and egress – are not maintained, then access is reduced or eliminated. A poorly placed trash can or a locked door can make a building unusable. This document identifies ways that businesses can maintain their investment in access with little or no extra cost.
Accessible Route Into and Through the Business
While accessible routes through a store are originally well-planned, promotional, seasonal, and other special displays that surround entrances and spill into aisles may substantially reduce their accessibility. Customers with disabilities will not be able to shop in a store if the route through an entry plaza is too narrow because of a display of snow blowers, if the maneuvering clearance alongside the entrance door is blocked by a sale book rack, or if a route contains scattered trip hazards from impulse items displayed on cloth-covered tables or in baskets on the floor.
Maintenance List
- During business hours, unlock all doors at accessible entrances, even if they are not main entrances to the store. Mount clear, well-maintained signage at the main entrance to direct people to the accessible entrance.
- If construction or repair requires customers to detour around taped-off areas or to step up onplywood walkways, ensure that the temporary route is accessible or that there is an alternate temporary accessible route with proper signage.
- Eliminate billowy, long table covers that spill into the accessible route. These create triphazards for customers with low vision and snag patrons’ crutches, canes, walkers, and in wheelchair wheels.
- Accessible checkout areas are connected to an accessible route and have sufficient clear floorspace for a person using a wheelchair.
- Plan all routes so that any hanging or mounted displays, wall-mounted shelving, lighting, or decorations provide required head clearance and cane detection for customers who are blind or have low vision.
- Ensure that accessible exits – including accessible emergency exits – are maintained at all times. Remove boxes, extra furniture, and other objects that may obstruct the route to the exits and the required door and floor clearances at them.
- Ensure that the doors have working accessible hardware and are unlocked during all business hours. If the store has evacuation equipment to assist people who cannot use stairs, make sure that it is available, unobstructed, and in working condition.
- Ensure that boxes, vending machines, displayracks, or other equipment do not block the maneuvering clearances required at the doors of accessible entrances. Arrange seasonal merchandise, baskets of impulse items, and extra clothes racks so that they do not block or protrude into the accessible route through the store.
- Staff the accessible sales counters and check-out aisles during all business hours. These areas must have their aisles clear and their lowered counter spaces free of equipment and merchandise to be usable.
Accessible Parking
In order for an accessible parking space to be usable, all elements of the space must be free of obstructions: the vehicle space, the access aisle, the curb ramp, and the route that connects the parking to the accessible entrance of the building. Lack of maintenance of any one of those elements can make the whole space inaccessible. For example, for a wheelchair user to exit her car, she must place her wheelchair in the access aisle, transfer from the car seat to her wheelchair, and then roll backward in the access aisle to provide clearance to close the car door. If another car parks in the aisle or if a plow loads the aisle with snow, the wheelchair user does not have sufficient room to get out of her car.
Maintenance List
- Remove obstacles, including shopping carts, maintenance equipment, and cars without designated license plates or placards, from parking spaces and access aisles as soon as possible.
- Maintain curb ramps and sidewalks to prevent large cracks and uneven surfaces from forming.
- Keep the accessible route from the parking area to the store’s entrance clear of obstacles.
- Clear snow, ice, mud, and leaves from accessible parking spaces whenever plowing or clearing the rest ofthe parking area. Be sure that cleaning crews do not pile snow or gravel in the accessible parking spaces, access aisles, and curb ramps.
Accessible Restrooms, Fitting Rooms, and Elevators
Maintenance List
Equally important to the customer experience is the ability to move comfortably within the establishment and to try out or try on the merchandise. Maintenance of accessible restrooms and fitting rooms, customer service and product demonstration areas, and lifts and elevators is essential for all customers to fully enjoy the shopping experience and buy merchandise.
- Unlock accessible public restrooms, toilet stalls, and fitting rooms and make sure they are available to customers with disabilities during business hours. They cannot be used as temporary storage areas or staff locker space.
- Eliminate furniture or equipment, such as shelving, large trashcans, and chairs, that take up required maneuvering space in fitting rooms and restrooms.
- Maintain lifts and elevators regularly. Repair them whenever necessary, and return them to service as quickly as possible.
- Remove trash receptacles from under elevator hall call buttons and beside doors to ensure access to controls and sufficient maneuvering clearance.
- Routinely refill the accessible paper towel and soap dispensers when all other dispensers are refilled.
Accessible Customer Information
Alternate formats of printed information for customers have to be kept up to date to be useful. Offering a Braille brochure with old telephone numbers or a large-print equipment rental application with the wrong rental return requirements will only frustrate and confuse customers. One way to maintain accessible features is to consistently educate all staff about them. Tell employees the location and purpose of accessible retail elements and impress upon them the importance of keeping the features usable. Provide employees with procedures for correcting problems. Together staff can ensure that the store’s investment in accessibility brings the greatest possible return.
The information in this article is from the US. DOJ document “Maintaining Accessible Features in Retail Establishments”.