Update to blog post: March 15, 2026:

When I published this blog post on March 3, 2022, I had listened to the January 26, 2022 webinar archive presented by the NorthEast ADA Center two days prior to my article being published. I noticed today that the webinar title text did not include an event archive link. When I visited the NorthEaste ADA Center’s webinar archives page, I noticed that the 2021 ADA review event archive I listened to in March 2022 is gone. They presently have ADA reviews of 2020 and 2022 still available, but not 2021. Consequently, I have now deleted two sentences in my introductory paragraph referencing the event archive link. As creator of this blog article, I choose to retain the event title and my summary of the webinar for historical purposes.

Introduction

As a person with disability, I sometimes find it beneficial to look back in time to see what has occurred recently in the disability community regarding the Americans with Disabilities Act. For example, in February of this year

I summarized a webinar about ADA legal cases in 2021

presented by the

Great Lakes ADA Center.

This week, I focus on a look back by another ADA center. On January 26, 2022, the

NorthEast ADA Center

conducted a webinar entitled “Looking Back: The Northeast ADA Review of 2021”. In this blog post, I will summarize what I learned.

I heard the webinar archive on March 1, 2022.

Reasons for Northeast ADA Center Contact in 2021

The top categories for people contacting the Northeast ADA Center during 2021 were people with disabilities, businesses and family members. Frequent topics were facility access, reasonable accommodations and general ADA information. In some cases, the center provided referrals to other agencies which can assist them. Example: referral to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or independent living centers. Focus then shifted to the second presenter who discussed COVID-19 as a disability.

COVID Concerns

Long COVID can be a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act. This can happen if an employee or applicant has a long-term limitation as a result of COVID. If COVID is temporary (clears up within a few weeks), COVID would not be considered a disability. Legal cases involving ADA Title I (employment) were then discussed.

Legal Case Summaries

A technician at a medical center was declined workplace accommodations. As a result of that case, EEOC made clear the necessity of enabling people to perform essential job functions. Additionally, the medical center was required to undergo ADA Title I training. In another legal case, a court determined accommodations must be provided even if the job functions are not essential. As a result of that case, the employer agreed to monitor how it handles future ADA accommodation requests. The first presenter then highlighted U.S. Department of Justice activities.

U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Activities

In November 2021, the attorney general of New Jersey found that train stations were not fully accessible. The New Jersey Transportation Authority agreed to improve accessibility. In the same month of 2021, Uber was determined by the U.S. DOJ to not be accessible because passengers with visual disabilities were not given enough time to board a vehicle. As a result, ADA training is now required of Uber drivers. The presenter then discussed web site accessibility.

Digital Accessibility

Write-Aid’s web site was determined to not be accessible for screen reader users. For example, it was difficult to schedule a vaccine appointment because vaccine forms were not accessible. As a result of DOJ involvement, Write-Aid is required to improve accessibility by using up-to-date Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. In December 2021, a transportation provider’s web site was determined to not be accessible to people with disabilities. This included limited accessibility through the keyboard. This settlement had similar requirement as above. In addition, the transportation provider was required to commit $100,000 to improve access for people with disabilities. Bottom line: although ADA-related issues are many and varied, they can have a direct impact on people’s lives.

Question for Readers

Of the various subjects discussed above, which caught your attention and why? I will return with another article.