Guidance on the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design

Section 35.151 -- Title II Regulation platforms to convert unsold wheelchair removable temporary individual seats appro- spaces to conventional seating undermines priately balances their economic concerns the flexibility facilities need to accommodate with the rights of individuals with disabilities. secondary ticket markets exchanges as See section 221.2 of the 2010 Standards. required by Sec. 35.138(g) of the final rule. For stadium-style movie theaters, in As the Department explained in the NPRM, Sec. 35.151(g)(4) of the NPRM the however, this provision was not designed Department proposed requiring placement of to prohibit temporary seating that increases wheelchair seating spaces and companion seating for events (e.g., placing temporary seats on a riser or cross-aisle in the stadium seating on the floor of a basketball court section of the theater and placement of such for a concert). Consequently, the final rule, seating so that it satisfies at least one of at Sec. 35.151(g)(3), has been amended the following criteria: (1) It is located within to clarify that if an entire seating section the rear 60 percent of the seats provided is on a temporary platform for a particular in the auditorium; or (2) it is located within event, then wheelchair spaces and com- the area of the auditorium where the verti- panion seats may be in that seating section. cal viewing angles are between the 40th to However, adding a temporary platform to 100th percentile of vertical viewing angles create wheelchair spaces and companion for all seats in that theater as ranked from seats that are otherwise dissimilar from the first row (1st percentile) to the back nearby fixed seating and then simply add- row (100th percentile). The vertical view- ing a small number of additional seats to ing angle is the angle between a horizontal the platform would not qualify as an “entire line perpendicular to the seated viewer’s seating section’’ on the platform. In addi- eye to the screen and a line from the seated tion, Sec. 35.151(g)(3) clarifies that facilities viewer’s eye to the top of the screen. may fill in wheelchair spaces with removable seats when the wheelchair spaces are not The Department proposed this bright-line needed by persons who use wheelchairs. rule for two reasons: (1) The movie theater industry petitioned for such a rule; and (2) the The Department has been responsive to Department has acquired expertise on the assembly areas’ concerns about reduced design of stadium style theaters from litigation revenues due to unused accessible seating. against several major movie theater chains. Accordingly, the Department has reduced See U.S. v. AMC Entertainment, 232 F. scoping requirements significantly--by Supp. 2d 1092 (C.D. Ca. 2002), rev’d in almost half in large assembly areas--and part, 549 F. 3d 760 (9th Cir. 2008); U.S. v. determined that allowing assembly areas to Cinemark USA, Inc., 348 F. 3d 569 (6th Cir. infill unsold wheelchair spaces with readily 2003), cert. denied, 542 U.S. 937 (2004). 26 - Guidance on 2010 Standards: Title II Department of Justice