Title II of ADA

Overview
Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits disability discrimination by state and local governments. For a Tennessee city, this means city services, programs, and activities—when viewed in their entirety—must be readily accessible to and usable by qualified individuals with disabilities.

Title II applies to city departments, boards, agencies, facilities, communications, and services, whether or not federal financial assistance is involved. Examples include utility billing, public meetings, police and fire services, 911 and dispatch, parks and recreation, permitting, inspections, public records, elections, websites, mobile applications, and online payment systems.

Who is covered
Public entities include state and local governments and their departments, agencies, special-purpose districts, and instrumentalities.

Unlike Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, which applies to programs or activities receiving federal financial assistance, ADA Title II applies to all services, programs, and activities of state and local governments regardless of federal funding. Public transportation is also subject to specific U.S. Department of Transportation ADA regulations.

Qualified individuals
A qualified individual with a disability is a person who, with or without reasonable modifications to rules, policies, or practices; removal of architectural, communication, or transportation barriers; or provision of auxiliary aids and services, meets the essential eligibility requirements for participation in or receipt of the city’s services, programs, or activities.

A city may maintain legitimate eligibility and safety requirements necessary for the safe operation of a program. However, the city must consider reasonable modifications, effective communication, and program-access alternatives before excluding an individual because of disability.

Common city obligations
A city generally must:

• Provide services, programs, and activities in the most integrated setting appropriate to the needs of qualified individuals with disabilities.
• Make reasonable modifications to policies, practices, and procedures when necessary to avoid disability discrimination, unless the modification would fundamentally alter the nature of the service, program, or activity.
• Provide auxiliary aids and services when necessary to ensure effective communication.
• Give primary consideration to the auxiliary aid or service requested by an individual with a disability and provide an equally effective alternative if the city selects another option.
• Permit service animals in city buildings, facilities, programs, and events, subject only to limited regulatory exceptions.
• Avoid eligibility criteria, administrative methods, or policies that unnecessarily screen out or tend to screen out individuals with disabilities.
• Avoid charging an individual with a disability a surcharge to cover the cost of auxiliary aids, services, barrier removal, or reasonable modifications.
• Provide direct, equal access to emergency telephone services, including 911.

A city may need to modify identification procedures when a standard requirement unnecessarily excludes a qualified individual with a disability. For example, requiring a driver’s license as the only acceptable form of identification may be inappropriate when another reliable form of identification would serve the city’s legitimate purpose.

Service animals
A city generally must allow a service animal to accompany an individual with a disability in city buildings, facilities, programs, and events. When the need for the animal is not obvious, city staff may ask only:

• Is the animal required because of a disability?
• What work or task has the animal been trained to perform?
• Staff may not require documentation, certification, proof of training, a special vest, or disclosure of the person’s diagnosis.

A city may exclude a service animal only if the animal is out of control and the handler does not take effective action to control it, or if the animal is not housebroken. Fear of dogs, allergies, generalized safety concerns, or a preference for a no-animal policy are not sufficient reasons to exclude a service animal.

Safety concerns
A city may restrict or exclude an individual only when the individual poses a direct threat—a significant risk to the health or safety of others that cannot be eliminated or reduced to an acceptable level through reasonable modifications, auxiliary aids, or services.

The city must make an individualized assessment based on reasonable judgment, current medical knowledge, or the best available objective evidence. The assessment should consider the nature, duration, and severity of the risk; the probability that harm will occur; and whether modifications or auxiliary aids would reduce the risk. Generalized fears, stereotypes, speculation, or assumptions about disability are insufficient.

Auxiliary aids and services
A city must provide appropriate auxiliary aids and services when needed to give individuals with disabilities an equal opportunity to participate in and benefit from city services, programs, and activities. Examples include:

• Qualified sign-language interpreters.
• Real-time captioning.
• Accessible electronic documents and screen-reader-compatible PDFs.
• Large-print, Braille, audio, or other accessible formats.
• Assistive-listening systems.
• Captioned video.
• Accessible websites and mobile applications.
• Written materials, visual aids, or communication boards where effective.
• The city may not charge the individual for auxiliary aids or services.

A city may decline a particular requested aid only if it would cause a fundamental alteration of the program or an undue financial and administrative burden. The determination must be made by the head of the public entity or a designee, after considering all resources available for use in the program, and must be supported by a written statement of reasons. Even then, the city must take another action that would not result in the burden or alteration but would still provide access to the maximum extent possible.

Emergency communications
Emergency telephone services, including 911, must provide direct, equal access to individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing, deafblind, or who have speech disabilities. Cities should ensure that 911, dispatch, and emergency-response systems work effectively with TTYs, text telephones, telecommunications relay services, text-based emergency communications, and other communication methods used by individuals with disabilities.

Building accessibility
Title II requires a city to make its services, programs, and activities accessible when viewed in their entirety. This is known as program access. A city does not necessarily have to make every older building or every room structurally accessible if it can provide meaningful access through another effective method.

Methods of providing program access may include:

• Relocating a service, meeting, or program to an accessible location.
• Providing the service at an alternate accessible site.
• Using home visits, online access, curbside service, or another effective alternative delivery method.
• Reassigning staff or services.
• Making structural changes where necessary.

New construction and alterations must comply with the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design. The 2010 Standards’ safe harbor may protect certain existing elements that complied with the 1991 ADA Standards or the Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards before March 15, 2012. However, the safe harbor does not eliminate the city’s continuing duty to provide program access.

Web and mobile accessibility
The U.S. Department of Justice’s 2024 Title II rule requires state and local government web content and mobile applications to generally conform to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, Level AA.

The original compliance dates in the 2024 final rule were extended. Current compliance dates are:

Cities and other state or local government entities serving a population of 50,000 or more: April 26, 2027.

Cities and other state or local government entities serving a population under 50,000, and special district governments: April 28, 2028.

The city should inventory and prioritize:

• City websites and department webpages.
• Payment and utility-billing portals.
• Permit, licensing, inspection, and code-enforcement systems.
• Job application and recreation-registration systems.
• Public-meeting agendas, packets, minutes, and videos.
• Forms, PDFs, maps, notices, and emergency information.
• Mobile applications.
• Third-party digital content posted under a city contractual or licensing arrangement.

The city should require vendors to support WCAG 2.1 Level AA conformance and should establish a process for receiving and promptly responding to accessibility complaints and requests for accessible alternatives.

Statutory anchors

• ADA Title II, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12131–12165.
• U.S. Department of Justice Title II regulations, 28 C.F.R. Part 35.
• 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design.
• DOJ final rule on state and local government web and mobile accessibility, 89 Fed. Reg. 31320 (Apr. 24, 2024).
• Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C. § 794.