5 Rights of Persons
Outside of simply wanting to the best thing so that everyone of all abilities is able to participate, there are some requirements and accommodations that all event and program organizers need to be prepared to address and support so that everyone will be able to engage.
Included in this section: Personal Assistance and Support Animals.
Personal Assistance
Ask Yourself
- Do you know best practices for working with personal assistants?
Recommended Practices
If requested, designate staff who can offer individual assistance (with navigation, food, etc.). Identify them with plain, text printed name tags, and encourage them to verbally offer help.
Support Animals
Ask Yourself
- Do you know one’s rights related to service animals?
Recommended Practices
Service animals are permitted to accompany their handler into any event space. The ADA limits service animals only to dogs (in some limited cases a miniature horse) that have been individually trained to do work or perform tasks for an individual with a disability. The task performed by the dog must be directly related to the individual’s disability.
The Americans with Disabilities Act requires that the service animal be under control of their handler at all times. The ADA does not require service animals to wear a vest, tag, specific harness, or have any specific certification.
If questions arise regarding the validity of a service animal the ADA only allows two questions of the handler:
- Is the dog (or horse) a service animal required of a disability?
- What work or task is the animal trained to perform?
If the person responds with yes and indicates a task, the animal is a service animal and should be permitted to accompany their handler in the event. If questions arise beyond this point please contact UI ADA Coordinator.
