Before making that announcement materials or posting about your event, you will need to make sure that you have included any required statements or language on the promotional material. In this section, you will review required and optional statements to consider.

Included in this section: Nondiscrimination Statement, Access & Accommodation Statement, and Point of Contact and Responding to Accommodations Requests.

Nondiscrimination Statement

Ask Yourself

• Have we considered if an nondiscrimination statement would be important to have or share as part of our marketing? 

Recommended Practices

“The University of Iowa prohibits discrimination in employment, educational programs, and activities on the basis of race, creed, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, pregnancy, disability, genetic information, status as a U.S. veteran, service in the U.S. military, sexual orientation, gender identity, associational preferences, or any other classification that deprives the person of consideration as an individual. The university also affirms its commitment to providing equal opportunities and equal access to university facilities. For additional information on nondiscrimination policies, contact the Director, Office of Institutional Equity (Links to an external site.), the University of Iowa, 202 Jessup Hall, Iowa City, IA 52242-1316, 319-335-0705, oie-ui@uiowa.edu.”

Nondiscrimination Statement | Operations Manual (uiowa.edu) (Links to an external site.)

Access & Accommodation Statements

Ask Yourself

• Have we indicated who to contact if you need an accommodation?
• How are you marketing what accommodations have been considered and what accommodations might need to be requested?

Recommended Practices

University of Iowa Operations Manual

In compliance with the University’s obligations under applicable federal and state law, all institutional and departmental publications that describe or invite public participation in programs at the University are to contain the following statement:

“Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all University of Iowa-sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in this program, please contact (insert: the sponsoring department or contact person) in advance at (insert: telephone number).”

Accessibility Statement | Operations Manual (uiowa.edu) (Links to an external site.)

The sponsoring department name or contact person and telephone number must be incorporated into the statement, as it is the responsibility of the sponsoring department which is most familiar with the event to make the necessary reasonable accommodations.

Point of Contact and Responding to Accommodation Requests

The University of Iowa department or organization sponsoring the event should identify/designate a contact person who is knowledgeable about the event details and will coordinate accommodation requests. The name, phone, and email address for the contact person should be included in the Accessibility Statement for each event.

Ask Yourself

• Who is responsible for accommodation requests and implementation of requests at event?

Recommended Practices

• We encouraging having an individual rather than an office be responsible for addressing requests. This individual should have working knowledge of the entire event or program details as well as experience addressing accommodations.
• When arranging an accommodation, it is good idea to have a direct conversations with the person making the request. The conversation can clarify what a person needs, what is already being provided or could be provided, and any other essential details. It is possible that the request could change after this conversation!
• Some considerations during your conversation could be:
  • Can we do the thing the person is asking for?
  • Ask clarifying questions
  • Once you have more information, offer other options or ways to help
  • Remember to focus on the barrier to participation and engagement, do not ask the person to disclose their medical health, disability, or other personal information. If the person chooses to disclose, keep the information confidential.
• Since accommodations are required under federal law, hopefully you or others in your organization have set aside the time, budgetary, and other resources to meet requested needs in a reasonable amount of time. If you have not or the request is more complex than anticipated, be honest and upfront with the individual making the request without over burdening the participant. Consider a collaborative approach to identify what could work with what you have.

Click Here for Portland Governments comments on “Responding to an Accommodation Request”

As the University of Iowa is a state employer, we must comply with Title I of the ADA. Although there is no time length associated with responding to a request, it is important that you do so as quickly and efficiently as possible. Workplace accommodations are different that accommodations for events and programs, but have a lot of overlap.

Click Here for the Job Accommodation Network’s “Employees’ Practical Guide to Requesting and Negotiating Reasonable Accommodation Under the Americans with Disabilities Act”

Recommended Practices

• Recommended practices include following accessibility standards as they relate to digital materials. Digital Accessibility @Iowa provides resources for Accessibility Policy and Standards for digital accessibility.
• The University of Iowa acknowledges the land that we reside on, it is recommended to include the UI Indigenous Land Acknowledgement at the beginning of events and programming.