Project Duration: 1996 – present

This Center is one of ten regional Disability and Business Technical Assistance Centers funded by the National Institute of Disability and Rehabilitation Research of the U.S. Department of Education. The Center provides information, training, and technical assistance on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), as well as on accessible education-based information technology. Specialists manage a toll-free hotline responding to specific questions on the ADA by private businesses, individuals, architects, schools and local or county governments who call for advice and information on what is required, who is covered, and how to work through disability-related issues in employment, architectural access, public services, and other areas.

The Center maintains an extensive library of ADA and disability-related publications, including regulations, technical assistance manuals, architectural guidelines, easy-to-read fact sheets and summaries, advice on how to make different types of businesses accessible to the public, and consultation on employment issues, such as reasonable accommodation.

In addition to these information, technical assistance, and training activities, the DBTAC recently initiated a series of research activities to study the application and perceived effectiveness of reasonable accommodations in the workplace. This research is being conducted in partnership with researchers from the University of Maryland