Examining the Civic, Social and Economic Participation of Persons with Disabilities

Research Project Overview

Type: Study, Analysis, & Publication
Status: Ongoing.
Theme: Public Access and Technology

Summary and Outcome Goals

This research project from the Southeast ADA Center will involve an "ADA Community Compliance Study" and will examine the effectiveness and impact of the Department of Justice (DOJ) Project Civic Access in both bringing communities into compliance with DOJ settlement agreements and determining whether such compliance leads to fewer barriers and greater participation of people with disabilities in community life. Cities with and without Settlement Agreements will be surveyed by teams of people with a variety of disabilities to determine whether cities that have Settlement Agreements are more accessible than cities that have not been examined by the Department of Justice.

Publications

Research Report on Civic Access: A Tale of Two Cities — Savannah and Athens, Georgia

This report outlines the first year of the research project: Examining the Civic, Social and Economic Participation of Persons with Disabilities. The research project began in Georgia and involved the affiliate leadership of the Southeast ADA Center (formerly known as the Sooutheast DBTAC) and a team of people with disabilities, who looked at three major areas:

1. Physical and programmatic accessibility of public facilities;
2. Policy change;
3. Actual participation of people with disability.

Nancy Duncan, Southeast ADA Affiliate Leader for Georgia, and two teams of individuals with and without disabilities surveyed five facilities in Savannah (which has signed an agreement under the DOJ Project Civic Access) and Athens (with no agreement). In these two communities, the research teams visited and evaluated the accessibility of information, the physical accessibility and the services provided at the City Hall, a library, a civic center, and a park. They also evaluated the ability of the police to provide information about emergency evacuation services as well as the accessibility of public transportation services. Information from these two surveys is being analyzed.