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About This Guide
This guide presents the official 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design with plain-language explanations. All citations reference ADA.gov. For legal advice, connect with an ADA attorney.
Know Your Rights
Introduction to the ADA
What the ADA covers, who it protects, and how it's structured across five titles. Start here if you're new to disability rights law.
Your Legal Options Explained
Filing a DOJ complaint vs. hiring an attorney — understand the different paths, deadlines, what you can recover, and which is right for your situation.
What to Expect: The Legal Process
Step-by-step guide from documenting a barrier to demand letter, settlement, and resolution — including timelines, costs, and common questions.
Why You Need an ADA Attorney
How private attorneys enforce the ADA, what they do that you can't do alone, and how ADA Legal Link connects you at no cost.
How to File an ADA Complaint
Step-by-step instructions for reporting disability rights violations to the Department of Justice, including what to expect after filing.
Service Animals & the ADA
What qualifies as a service animal, where they're allowed, what businesses can and cannot ask, and your rights if denied access.
Effective Communication
How the ADA requires businesses and governments to communicate effectively with people who have vision, hearing, or speech disabilities.
Reasonable Modifications
When and how businesses and government entities must modify their policies, practices, and procedures for people with disabilities.
Wheelchairs & Mobility Devices
Your right to use wheelchairs, scooters, and other power-driven mobility devices in public spaces under the ADA.
Who the ADA Protects
Understanding the ADA's definition of disability, who qualifies for protection, and what 'regarded as' means.
Employment & the ADA (Title I)
Reasonable accommodation, the interactive process, what employers cannot do, and how to file an EEOC complaint.
Title I: Employment Rights Overview
Complete Title I overview — who it covers, reasonable accommodation, hiring rules, and how to file an EEOC complaint.
Title III: Businesses & Public Places
Complete Title III overview — barrier removal, design standards, website accessibility, and how to enforce your rights.
Housing, Apartments & the ADA
Which laws apply to housing, Fair Housing Act design requirements, reasonable accommodations for tenants, and filing complaints.
Business Compliance
Small Business ADA Primer
A plain-language walkthrough of what the ADA requires from small businesses — barrier removal, reasonable modifications, and effective communication.
Accessible Parking Requirements
How many accessible spaces you need, van-accessible requirements, signage, dimensions, and where to locate them. Includes the scoping table from §208.
Barrier Removal: What's Readily Achievable?
Understanding the legal standard for removing architectural barriers in existing facilities, with practical examples and cost considerations.
New Construction & Alterations
What the ADA requires when building new facilities or making alterations to existing ones, including the path of travel rule.
Accessible Restroom Requirements
Detailed requirements for accessible toilet rooms — clearances, grab bars, fixtures, and signage from the 2010 Standards.
Accessible Entrances & Doors
Requirements for accessible entrances including door width, hardware, thresholds, automatic doors, and signage.
Ramps & Slope Requirements
Maximum slopes, landing sizes, handrail specs, and edge protection requirements for ramps under the 2010 Standards.
ADA Signage Requirements
Which signs need Braille, raised characters, and high contrast — and the specific mounting heights and placement rules.
Reach Ranges & Operable Parts
Forward and side reach envelopes, obstructed reach over counters, clear floor space, operable parts requirements, and children's reach advisories.
Turning Spaces & Handrail Profiles
Circular and T-shaped turning space options, plus handrail cross-section profiles — circular and non-circular — with wall clearance requirements.
ADA Tax Incentives for Businesses
Federal tax credits and deductions available to help businesses cover the cost of ADA accessibility improvements.
Hotels & Lodging Accessibility
Accessible guest room requirements, reservation systems, and communication features required for hotels and places of lodging.
Restaurants & Retail Accessibility
ADA requirements for dining areas, sales counters, checkout aisles, and display areas in restaurants and retail stores.
Medical Facility Accessibility
ADA requirements for doctors' offices, hospitals, and medical facilities — including exam rooms, equipment, and communication.
Accessible Playgrounds
Ground-level and elevated play components, accessible surfaces, transfer platforms, and what parents should look for.
Swimming Pool Accessibility
Pool lifts, sloped entries, spa access requirements, and obligations for existing hotel and public pools.
Design Standards
Navigate by Chapter
The 2010 Standards are organized into 10 chapters. Each chapter page includes plain-language explanations alongside the official requirements.
Web & Digital Accessibility
Website & App Barriers: Your Rights
Encountered an inaccessible website or app? Learn what counts as a digital barrier, how to document it, and what you can do about it.
Title II Web & Mobile App Accessibility Rule
The April 2024 rule requiring state and local governments to meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA — deadlines, exceptions, and what to do now.
WCAG 2.1 Level AA — What It Requires
A practical breakdown of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines — perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust.
First Steps Toward Web Compliance
Practical guidance for getting started — audit your site, prioritize fixes, work with vendors, and build accessibility into contracts.
How to Test Your Website for Accessibility
A practical guide to automated tools, manual testing, and screen reader testing for web accessibility compliance.
Making Documents Accessible
How to create accessible PDFs, Word documents, and presentations that meet WCAG requirements.
Social Media & Digital Content Accessibility
How to make social media posts, videos, and other digital content accessible under ADA obligations.
Government (Title II)
Title II: State & Local Government Obligations
What Title II requires — program access, effective communication, reasonable modifications, and the integration mandate.
Voting & Election Accessibility
ADA requirements for polling places, ballot accessibility, and ensuring full and equal opportunity to vote for people with disabilities.
Program Accessibility
How state and local governments must ensure their programs and services are accessible, even in older buildings.
Emergency Management & Disability
ADA requirements for emergency preparedness, evacuation plans, shelters, and disaster response that includes people with disabilities.
Education & the ADA
How the ADA applies to public schools, universities, testing, and educational programs operated by government entities.
Criminal Justice & the ADA
ADA requirements for law enforcement encounters, courts, jails, and prisons — ensuring access for people with disabilities.
ADA Coordinators: Roles & Requirements
What government entities need to know about designating an ADA Coordinator, grievance procedures, and self-evaluations.
Sidewalks & Pedestrian Access
Sidewalk width, curb ramps, detectable warnings, pedestrian signals, and filing complaints about broken sidewalks.
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What this guide is for
Searching for the ADA standards usually means hunting through dense federal text. This guide takes the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design and sorts them by topic, in plain words, next to the official legal text. Look up parking spaces, grab bars, door width, ramp slope, restrooms, service animals, small business rules or web accessibility, all in one search.
How to use it
Start with the topic that matches what you ran into. Each entry explains what the standard generally requires and links to the official Department of Justice (DOJ) text on ADA.gov. These are federal design rules, not a judgment about any one building or business. Whether a specific place meets them depends on the actual space, so treat each entry as a starting point for understanding the rule, not a verdict on what happened to you.
If you hit a barrier
This guide tells you what the standard says. It does not tell you what your situation means or what to do next. For that, the next steps are:
- Read the section on your topic here to understand the rule
- Talk to Ada, our free intake assistant, opening soon, to walk through what happened in plain language
- Find an ADA attorney if you want to discuss your situation with someone who can advise you directly
For legal advice about your own situation, connect with an ADA attorney. This guide is informational only. It is not legal advice and ADA Legal Link is not a law firm.
Checking a building or space yourself
If you want a read on a specific doorway, ramp, restroom or parking space, Spot can look at one photo and name what stands out, as a screening read rather than a certification. Get a free Spot read.
Keep learning
Read the full ADA Standards Guide to search all 118 sections by topic, or browse the cases we track to see how these standards have come up in real, filed matters.