Access for Persons with Disabilities

Access services for Persons with Disabilities:  Program or Public Access service ensure all people, including persons with disabilities, are able to fully participate in and have access to County employment activities, programs, services, and facilities in compliance with Title I and title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as amended, relevant state laws, regulations and related county policies.

1.   How to Request a Reasonable Modifications:  Access to Facilities, Programs and Services: Fulton County is committed to ensuring that its physical facilities, programs, services, and activities are inclusive of, and accessible to all members of the public including qualified individuals with Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

2.   How to Request Effective communications: (Access to Information)  Under Title II of the ADA, all state and local governments are required to take steps to ensure that their communications with people with disabilities are as effective as communications with others. This requirement is referred to as “effective communication” and is required except where a state or local government can show that providing effective communication would fundamentally alter the nature of the service or program in question, or would result in an undue financial and administrative burden. Typical methods for effectively communicating with persons with communication-related disabilities may include:

• Alternate Formats:  Refers to the provision of printed materials in alternative formats such as Braille, large font print, audio cassettes and/or computer disk/memory devices. All County “print materials” can be provided in an alternate format upon request for persons who are total blind, visual impaired, or who are unable to read or communicate effectively utilizing the printed word.

• Sign Language Interpretation:  Refers to services that are provided through the use of nationally certified sign language interpreters for persons who are hearing or speech impaired. Certified sign language interpreters may possess expertise and knowledge in the specialized operations including but not limited to medical, legal, judicial, financial, government operations or other areas where a conceptual and operational knowledge of a specific business area greatly enhances the accuracy of the information being communicated.

• Closed Captioning/Subtitling:  Refers to processes of displaying text on a television, video screen, or other visual displays and are typically used as a transcription of the audio portion of a program as it occurs (either verbatim or in edited form), sometimes including descriptions of non-speech elements, for the hearing-impaired. Fulton County currently provides closed-captioning for the hearing impaired during internal and public broadcasts of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners meetings, as well as open-captioning for many of its (video) presentations.