Guidance on the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design

Section 35.151 -- Title II Regulation placing wheelchair spaces and compan- Department believes that permitting the use ion seats on one side of the facility only, is of movable platforms that seat four or more consistent with the Department’s enforce- wheelchair users and their companions have ment practices and reflects its interpretation the potential to reduce the number of avail- of section 4.33.3 of the 1991 Standards. able wheelchair seating spaces below the level required, thus reducing the opportuni- In the NPRM, the Department proposed ties for persons who need accessible seating Sec. 35.151(g)(2) which prohibits wheel- to have the same choice of ticket prices and chair spaces and companion seating loca- amenities that are available to other patrons tions from being “located on, (or obstructed in the facility. In addition, use of removable by) temporary platforms or other move- platforms may result in instances where able structures.’’ Through its enforcement last minute requests for wheelchair and actions, the Department discovered that companion seating cannot be met because some venues place wheelchair spaces and entire sections of accessible seating will be companion seats on temporary platforms lost when a platform is removed. See 73 that, when removed, reveal conventional FR 34466, 34493 (June 17, 2008). Further, seating underneath, or cover the wheel- use of temporary platforms allows facilities chair spaces and companion seats with to limit persons who need accessible seat- temporary platforms on top of which they ing to certain seating areas, and to relegate place risers of conventional seating. These accessible seating to less desirable loca- platforms cover groups of conventional tions. The use of temporary platforms has seats and are used to provide groups of the effect of neutralizing dispersion and other wheelchair seats and companion seats. seating requirements (e.g., line of sight) for wheelchair spaces and companion seats. Several commenters requested an excep- Cf. Independent Living Resources v. Oregon tion to the prohibition of the use of temporary Arena Corp., 1 F. Supp. 2d 1159, 1171 (D. platforms for public entities that sell most Or. 1998) (holding that while a public accom- of their tickets on a season-ticket or other modation may “infill’’ wheelchair spaces with multi-event basis. Such commenters argued removable seats when the wheelchair spaces that they should be able to use temporary are not needed to accommodate individuals platforms because they know, in advance, with disabilities, under certain circumstances that the patrons sitting in certain areas “[s]uch a practice might well violate the rule for the whole season do not need wheel- that wheelchair spaces must be dispersed chair spaces and companion seats. The throughout the arena in a manner that is Department declines to adopt such an excep- roughly proportionate to the overall distribu- tion. As it explained in detail in the NPRM, the tion of seating’’). In addition, using temporary Department of Justice Guidance on 2010 Standards: Title II - 25