A special accommodation category exists for those with visual and hearing impairments. The “auxiliary accommodations” are designed to make it easier to communicate with people who have difficulty seeing or hearing. Among the accommodations ADA can recommend are the following:
- Interpreters who speak sign language
- Special listening devices and headsets
- Texts in large print and Braille, or recorded on tape
- TDD/TTY text telephones for those with hearing impairments
As with physical alterations, auxiliary accommodations are not designed to create an undue burden on the building owner. Nor are they meant to alter the nature of goods or services offered by the public facility in question. For example, a museum whose art works are too delicate to be handled may implement a “no touch” policy, even though it means that certain blind people may not be able to enjoy the exhibit fully.
Stores are not required to have signs or price tags in Braille, nor do they need to have a sign language interpreter on staff. As long as an employee can read price tags and similar information to blind shoppers, and as long as store employees can communicate with deaf customers by writing out notes, there is no requirement for businesses to incur the expense of extra assistance.
Actually, many auxiliary accommodations can be made quite inexpensively. Most ordinary computer programs can be set to display and print in large type, for example. TDD/TTY telephone units equipped with printers cost about $500, which most fair-sized businesses could afford with little difficulty.
