The Great Lakes ADA Center and other ADA National Network members will offer several free online trainings in November on a variety of topics related to the Americans with Disabilities Act, the ADA. Some of the topics include the AD standards for accessible design, playgrounds, mental health, and accessible kiosks. All of the sessions are free but require advance registration.

If you have follow-up questions about any of the topics covered, make use of the free ADA help line: (800) 949-4232. In Indiana, your call will be directed to the Great Lakes ADA Center.

November ADA Webinars and other Online Events

November 4, 1:00 - 1:30 p.m. ET ADA Live Radio - Veterans, Employment and Disability: A Historical Perspective

ADA Live! (WADA) is a free monthly show broadcast nationally on the Internet hosted by the Southeast ADA Center.

From the Southeast ADA Center:  November 2020 is also the 82nd anniversary of Veterans Day. According to the data from the most recent national census and from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are 18.2 million veterans in the United States and, of those, 4.7 million, or 25 percent, had a service-connected disability. Join us for this informative episode that focuses a lens on employment and Veterans with our guests Dr. Larry Logue and Dr. Peter Blanck of the Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University. Our guests will also share insights from their research “Win Pensions and Live in Idleness” Disability and Employment Among Union Army Veterans Before the Accommodation Principle, which investigates recently available data on the life course and the circumstances of Union army recruits’ compared to their civilian peers.

Free and no registration is required, just "tune in" on the day and time of broadcast. To Listen:  http://adalive.org

November 5, 2:30 - 4:00 p.m. ET Free Webinar: Understanding the ADA Standards, Built-In Elements

This is a free webinar offered through a collaboration of the U.S. Access Board, the Great Lakes ADA Center, and the ADA National Network.

From the Great Lakes ADA Center: This session will review scoping and technical provisions for built-in elements in the ADA and ABA Accessibility Standards (Chapter 9). When errors are made in the design or construction of built-in elements, they can pose barriers to people with disabilities in accessing goods and services. This session will address the requirements for dining & work surfaces, benches, check-out aisles and sales & service counters. Presenters will address common sources of confusion and frequently asked questions about these provisions.

Free but registration is required. To Register: https://www.accessibilityonline.org/ao/session/?id=110835

November 17, 2:00 - 3:30 p.m. ET ADA Webinar - The ADA, Playgrounds and a School District in Iowa

The ADA Audio Conference is coordinated by the Great Lakes ADA Center on behalf of the ADA National Network.

From the Great Lakes ADA Center: What happens when you get an ADA complaint and DOJ comes knocking? You LEARN from it and RAISE the bar on ADA compliance! Earlier this year, the Iowa City Community School District (ICCSD) entered an ADA settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice. The complaint stemmed from the installation of a new playground and its protective surfacing, engineered wood fiber. Learn the facts of the complaint and how the school district staff utilized the time during the investigatory process to improve access to its playgrounds, establishing one of the most comprehensive playground surface testing programs in the country. During this session, participants will learn how one organization turned the negative aspects of an ADA complaint into the opportunity to build a model best practice for maintaining accessible playground surfaces achieving a 100% pass rate over the last three seasons.

Free but registration is required. To register: https://www.accessibilityonline.org/ADA-Audio/session/?id=110876

November 18, 2:00 - 3:30 p.m. ET Free Webinar: Spotlight on Mental Health, Understanding Psychiatric Advance Directives

This is a free webinar offered through the Great Lakes ADA Center on behalf of the ADA National Network.

From Great Lakes ADA Center: Thirty years after the ADA and over twenty years following Olmstead, people with serious mental illness are not living integrated into our communities. Instead, they cycle through criminal justice, hospitalization, and homelessness recidivism. Psychiatric advance directives are legal documents that allow individuals with serious mental illness to state their preferences for treatment in the event of commitment to a hospital. Psychiatric advance directives (PADs) enable a person to prepare in advance of a crisis and provide a voice during that time if one occurs. Expanded psychiatric advance directives provide an opportunity for people with serious mental illness to state their treatment preferences more broadly and to identify the supports and services they need to live integrated into the community. Under federal law, any facility receiving Medicare or Medicaid reimbursements is required to use advance directives. Individuals with behavioral health illness are covered under this mandate.

Attorney Laurie Hallmark will discuss how psychiatric advance directives can be used to create the systemic change to address the cycle of criminal justice, hospitalization, and homelessness recidivism. Topic areas will include a brief background and main components of directives, and a look at some differences in state laws as they pertain to these directives.

Free but registration is required. To Register: https://www.accessibilityonline.org/ada-legal/session/?id=110882

November 18, 1 - 2:00 p.m. ET Twitter Chat on Veterans and the ADA

Each month, the ADA National Network hosts a Twitter chat on some topic related to the Americans with Disabilities Act (the "ADA"). Join @ADANational and co-hosts from around the ADA National Network for a one-hour Twitter chat about Veterans and the ADA!

Wednesday, November 18, 2020
1:00 PM ET

Tweet your questions and answers about Voting Access and the ADA along with the hashtag #ADANetworkChat  

You can view the Twitter Chat by following https://twitter.com/hashtag/ADANetworkChat but to participate in real-time, a twitter account is required.

November 19, 2:00 - 3:30 p.m. ET Free Webinar: Accessible Kiosks

This is a free webinar offered through the Great Lakes ADA Center on behalf of the ADA National Network.

From the Great Lakes ADA Center: This webinar will cover topics related to the accessibility of interactive kiosks for the widest range of people. Kiosks come in many different forms, including: public kiosks with unlimited use and no personal information; kiosks which require personal information but allow for unlimited use (e.g. ATMs); and kiosks which require personal information and allow limited use (voting machines).

Several unique challenges can make kiosks more difficult to make accessible compared to personal devices. We will discuss various U.S. and international regulations, standards, and guidelines that pertain to kiosk accessibility. A combination of hardware and software strategies must be applied to make kiosks accessible, but there is some latitude and flexibility depending on the type of kiosk and no one technique is best for all applications. We will discuss approaches, advantages and disadvantages for different applications and conclude with an overview of the provisions from across the various guidelines and regulations that includes a more thorough ongoing comparison.

Free but registration is required. To Register:  https://www.accessibilityonline.org/ada-tech/session/?id=110880