Justice Department Signs Agreement With Niagara Falls to Ensure Civic Access for...

Justice Department Signs Agreement With Niagara Falls to Ensure Civic Access
for People With Disabilities

WASHINGTON, July 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Justice Department today
announced an agreement with the city of Niagara Falls, N.Y., to improve access
to all aspects of civic life for persons with disabilities. The agreement was
reached under the Department's Project Civic Access initiative to bring state
and local governments into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act
(ADA). This agreement is the 164th under Project Civic Access.

"Officials in Niagara Falls recognize that civic access is a civil right, and
I applaud them for working to ensure that all citizens, including individuals
with disabilities, can enjoy one of America's most treasured and visited
landmarks," said Loretta King, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil
Rights Division. "This agreement helps mark the 19th anniversary of the
Americans with Disabilities Act, and we are pleased to take this major step
forward in our mission to improve accessibility nationwide."

Under the agreement announced today, the city of Niagara Falls will take
several steps to improve access for persons with disabilities, including:
-- Making physical modifications to facilities so that parking, routes
into
the buildings, entrances, public telephones, restrooms, service
counters
and drinking fountains are accessible to individuals with
disabilities;
-- Officially recognizing New York state's telephone relay service,
and training staff in using the city TTY relay service;
-- Continuing to ensure that the 9-1-1 emergency service TTY calls are
answered as quickly as other calls received, that such calls are
monitored for timing and accuracy if other calls are monitored, and
that
employees are trained and practiced in using a TTY to make and receive
calls;
-- Ensuring that the city's official Web site is accessible to persons
with disabilities;
-- Develop a method for ensuring that voters with disabilities have an
equal opportunity to vote by providing accessible voter registration
locations and polling places, and by training poll workers on the
rights
of persons with disabilities and the practical aspects of assuring
those
rights;
-- Ensuring equal access to Niagara County's emergency management
programs and services for persons with disabilities, including
preparation, notification, response and clean up; and

-- Implementing a plan on accessibility of sidewalks and curb cuts
throughout the city.

Project Civic Access was initiated to ensure that persons with disabilities
have an equal opportunity to participate in civic life. As part of the
project, Justice Department investigators, attorneys and architects conduct
on-site surveys of state and local government programs and facilities for the
purpose of identifying modifications needed for compliance with ADA
requirements. The agreements contain a plan setting out the specific steps a
community will take to improve access for persons with disabilities.

People interested in finding out more about the ADA, today's agreement with
the city of Niagara Falls or the Department's Project Civic Access initiative
may find this information on the ADA Web site at http://www.ada.gov or may
call the toll-free ADA Information Line at (800) 514-0301 or (800) 514-0383
(TTY).

SOURCE U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of Justice, +1-202-514-2007, +1-202-514-1888 (TDD)