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Any public business has to be wheelchair accessible in the US, otherwise the business faces being sued under the ADA. Is there no equivalent law in the EU?

by mikece 6y ago

varjag 6y ago
Any new construction or substantial renovation has to be wheelchair accessible in the EU. There are exceptions for historic sites I believe.
lawtalkinghuman 6y ago
A lot of disability discrimination is handled at a national rather than EU level, because EU law is pretty narrowly constrained by the treaties and the purpose of the EU. In the UK, there's a "duty to make reasonable adjustments" if "a provision, criterion or practice [...] puts a disabled person at a substantial disadvantage" (s20 Equality Act 2010). But there's quite a wide margin when it comes to what is or isn't a "reasonable" adjustment. Lots of historic buildings are never going to be fully accessible without a massive rebuild project. The cost of retrofitting, say, the London Underground to be fully wheelchair accessible would easily reach into the tens of billions. (New capital projects tend to have accessibility baked in—so the DLR, built in the 80s, is extremely accessible, as is the renovated bits of the Jubilee Line, and Crossrail will be.) The "reasonable adjustments" don't necessarily need to be providing physical access adjustments like ramps/lifts. For instance, when I was in university, one of the students on my course was in a wheelchair, and they relocated all lectures, tutorials and seminars he was in to ensure they were all in the rooms that were wheelchair accessible. There is some EU legislation that tries to unify accessibility rules across the different countries though. https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1202 https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1202
- sonicggg 6y ago
  "reasonable adjustments" I hate these subjective laws, it's wide open for manipulation of whoever has the bigger stick. As harsh as it may sound, they should state that every building, no matter how old, needs to be accessible.
  - lawtalkinghuman 6y ago
    There's ways for the government to specify in more detail what does and does not amount to a reasonable adjustment through secondary legislation covering specific industries, building regulations, and so on. Almost all the most important laws have some subjectivity and interpretation built into them. If they didn't, we'd get conceptual clarity at the cost of some pretty horrible injustices.
lucb1e 6y ago
What's a public business? You don't mean publicly traded companies right?
- readarticle 6y ago
  They meant “public accommodation”. Essentially any place in America that’s not a church or members’ club, regardless of whether the ownership is private, public, or government.
  - lucb1e 6y ago
    Okay, thanks!
detaro 6y ago
Isn't that in the US also tied to a minimum employee count?
voltagex_ 6y ago
I'm not American, but follow a few people on Twitter and you'll see the ADA leaves a lot to be desired.

Any public business has to be wheelchair accessible in the US, otherwise the business faces being sued under the ADA. Is there no equivalent law in the EU?

by mikece 6y ago

Any public business has to be wheelchair accessible in the US, otherwise the business faces being sued under the ADA. Is there no equivalent law in the EU?

varjag 6y ago

Any new construction or substantial renovation has to be wheelchair accessible in the EU. There are exceptions for historic sites I believe.

lawtalkinghuman 6y ago

A lot of disability discrimination is handled at a national rather than EU level, because EU law is pretty narrowly constrained by the treaties and the purpose of the EU. In the UK, there's a "duty to make reasonable adjustments" if "a provision, criterion or practice [...] puts a disabled person at a substantial disadvantage" (s20 Equality Act 2010). But there's quite a wide margin when it comes to what is or isn't a "reasonable" adjustment. Lots of historic buildings are never going to be fully accessible without a massive rebuild project. The cost of retrofitting, say, the London Underground to be fully wheelchair accessible would easily reach into the tens of billions. (New capital projects tend to have accessibility baked in—so the DLR, built in the 80s, is extremely accessible, as is the renovated bits of the Jubilee Line, and Crossrail will be.) The "reasonable adjustments" don't necessarily need to be providing physical access adjustments like ramps/lifts. For instance, when I was in university, one of the students on my course was in a wheelchair, and they relocated all lectures, tutorials and seminars he was in to ensure they were all in the rooms that were wheelchair accessible. There is some EU legislation that tries to unify accessibility rules across the different countries though. https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1202 https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1202

sonicggg 6y ago
"reasonable adjustments" I hate these subjective laws, it's wide open for manipulation of whoever has the bigger stick. As harsh as it may sound, they should state that every building, no matter how old, needs to be accessible.
- lawtalkinghuman 6y ago
  There's ways for the government to specify in more detail what does and does not amount to a reasonable adjustment through secondary legislation covering specific industries, building regulations, and so on. Almost all the most important laws have some subjectivity and interpretation built into them. If they didn't, we'd get conceptual clarity at the cost of some pretty horrible injustices.

lucb1e 6y ago

What's a public business? You don't mean publicly traded companies right?

readarticle 6y ago
They meant “public accommodation”. Essentially any place in America that’s not a church or members’ club, regardless of whether the ownership is private, public, or government.
- lucb1e 6y ago
  Okay, thanks!

detaro 6y ago

Isn't that in the US also tied to a minimum employee count?

voltagex_ 6y ago

I'm not American, but follow a few people on Twitter and you'll see the ADA leaves a lot to be desired.