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News Release

Last modified: Thursday, May 6, 2010

IU research and training institute to conduct survey on ADA implementation in Indiana

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 6, 2010

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- How do people with disabilities in Indiana rate their community's implementation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)? The Indiana Institute on Disability and Community at Indiana University is conducting a survey to answer this question.

The ADA has been in effect since 1990. Twenty years have passed for communities to remove physical, programmatic and attitudinal barriers that prevent people with disabilities from becoming active participating citizens. A great deal of progress has been made, but there is still a need for further compliance.

The 2010 Disability Poll on Implementation of the ADA asks Indiana citizens to identify how they view their communities' attention to accessibility. Additionally, the poll provides an opportunity for respondents to provide opinions and ideas about how accessibility can be improved. Upon completion of the survey, the Indiana Institute will work with ADA-Indiana, Indiana's statewide steering committee for the implementation of the ADA, to compile survey data and issue a "report card" on the status of ADA implementation in Indiana's communities.

In addition, the Indiana Institute is conducting the same survey in five other surrounding states (Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin), in cooperation with the Great Lakes ADA Center, one of 10 regional centers providing technical assistance to businesses and governmental agencies around ADA implementation. Each of these states will also receive "report cards" about the extent to which people with disabilities and their advocates feel their communities have complied with the ADA.

The Indiana survey is available online at https://www.thepollingplace.org. Print copies and alternative formats are available on request by contacting Vicki Pappas, project director, at 1-800-825-4733 or by e-mail beheard@indiana.edu.

The Disability Poll is a project of the Indiana Institute on Disability and Community in conjunction with the Governor's Council for People with Disabilities and Indiana Protection and Advocacy Services. The poll's purpose is to provide a place where voices of people with disabilities, family members and advocates can be heard.

About the Indiana Institute: The Indiana Institute on Disability and Community, Indiana's University Center for Excellence on Disabilities, works to increase community capacity in disability through academic instruction, research, dissemination and training, and technical assistance. Visit the Institute on the Web at www.iidc.indiana.edu.

About the Governor's Council for People with Disabilities: The mission of the Indiana Governor's Council is to promote public policy which leads to the independence, productivity and inclusion of people with disabilities in all aspects of society. This mission is accomplished through planning, evaluation, collaboration, education, research and advocacy.

About Indiana Protection and Advocacy Services (IPAS): IPAS was created in 1977 by state law to protect and advocate the rights of people with disabilities and is Indiana's federally designated Protection and Advocacy (P&A) system and client assistance program. It is an independent state agency, which receives no state funding and is independent from all service providers, as required by federal and state law.

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