Month: July 2018

As the 28th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act approaches, Pittsburgh city government is poised to make the city more disability-friendly

Photo of Alisa Grishman
Asked how she would rate Pittsburgh as a disability-friendly city, Alisa Grishman said, “I’d give the city six out of 10, pretty good but not perfect.” Grishman is founder of Access Mob Pittsburgh, an accessibility advocacy group, and a member of Mayor Bill Peduto’s advisory group for Complete Streets. (Photo by Ryan Loew/PublicSource)

Recently, I wrote an article for Public Source about local disability rights activists’ decades-long advocacy for solutions to the Pittsburgh’s “one-step” problem — that is, the single step that prevents wheelchair users from entering many businesses in city neighborhoods.

The city, likewise, has looked for ways to encourage businesses, as public entities, to remove entry barriers and meet their responsibility under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). As a federal civil right law, the city cannot enforce the ADA or force businesses to create accessible entries. The ADA is a complaint-driven law. Citizens file complaints with the U.S. Department of Justice. Continue reading “As the 28th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act approaches, Pittsburgh city government is poised to make the city more disability-friendly”