ADA Technical Assistance
U.S. Department of Justice
Civil Rights Division
Disability Rights Section
ADA Technical Assistance CD-ROM
Volume 4.0, May 2008
What’s Here
This CD-ROM contains a collection of the Department of Justice’s current Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) regulations, Standards for Accessible Design, and technical assistance materials. It also includes the Department’s ADA status reports published since 1994. The Department’s regulations apply to programs and services of state and local governments and to businesses and non-profit service providers.
Documents on the CD-ROM are provided in a variety of formats, including HTML, WordPerfect, and text (ASCII), to enable all users, including people with disabilities, to gain easy access, translate materials to Braille, or use screen readers. Many documents are also provided in Acrobat PDF format, so that they appear as they do in print and permit the document to be reprinted on personal computers. The Acrobat version of the ADA Standards for Accessible Design includes the full text and graphics of the document published in the Code of Federal Regulations, and also contains links to figures, graphics, and cross-referenced sections, making it easier for users to quickly read and understand related requirements.
Where To Start
The easiest way to access documents is to open the file called start.htm. From there, click on your area of interest to go to other pages that list documents. Navigate through the files in the same way you would through a web site on the World Wide Web. The titles of the documents are provided along with links to the HTML files and PDF files where provided. In order to view the documents, you will need to use the web browser on your computer. If you do not have an Internet browser, you can open and read the WordPerfect or text files using a word processor (see instructions below). Alternatively, you could obtain and install a browser on your computer. The most commonly used browsers are available from Microsoft (Explorer) and Netscape (Navigator and Communicator).
You will also need to have PDF viewing software such as Adobe Acrobat Reader on your computer to view the PDF files. The Adobe Acrobat Reader has been included on this CD-ROM for users who may not already have this type of software installed on their computers. You may also download the Acrobat Reader software from the Adobe website. More information about the Acrobat Reader software is available from the Adobe website at http://www.adobe.com. By including the software the Department of Justice is not endorsing the use of the Acrobat Reader. It is merely including an industry-standard reader as a convenience.
WordPerfect and Text Files
The easiest way to access documents in WordPerfect or text (ASCII) format is to:
– open the folder labeled wp_text*
– then open the file called filelist.rtf or filelist.txt and print or read the file.
You will find a list of documents organized into categories that correspond with the folders or directories containing the WordPerfect and text files. The categories and folder names are: ADA Legal Documents (Legal), General ADA Publications and Information (General), Business and Non-Profit Service Agencies (Business), State and Local Governments (Governmt), and Department of Justice ADA Status Reports (Reports). For each document, the filelist provides the full name, the eight-character file name for both the text and WordPerfect versions, and a brief description of the document. (Folder names and file names are limited to eight characters to allow people with older computers to access the files.)
– next, close out the filelist and open the folder of your choice.
Within each folder you will find separate WordPerfect and text subfolders or subdirectories, each containing files identified by their eight-character file name. You will also find lists of the documents contained in the folder.
Internet Access and Updates
Most of the links in the files on the CD-ROM will take you to another location in the document or will open another file on the CD-ROM. However, some HTML files also have links to documents that are on the Department of Justice’s ADA website on the World Wide Web. Links are also provided to other Federal agencies and other agencies that provide ADA information. If you have Internet access and you select one of these links, your computer should go to the file on the Internet. If you do not have Internet access, you may get an error message when you select one of these links.
To make it easier for users who have Internet access to obtain new or revised ADA regulations, new technical assistance publications, or up-to-date information about enforcement activities, special links are also provided on the CD-ROM. After selecting the Update page from start.htm you will be able to select a link to the homepage, the new items page, or the index page of the Department’s ADA website, where you can view the latest additions. All the HTML and PDF files on this CD-ROM are available on the Department’s ADA website (www.ada.gov or www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/adahom1.htm). WordPerfect and text files of new documents can be obtained by calling the ADA Information Line toll-free at 800-514-0301 (voice) and 800-514-0383 (TTY).
- Some computers may display an ampersand instead of an underscore, for example, wp&text.
You can have your own copy:
By calling the ADA Information Line at 1-800-514-0301 (voice) or 1-800-514-0383 (TTY), 24 hours every day.
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