Items 1 – 3 below provide resources for monitoring compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). They can be used as an illustrative guide and adapted for use in other countries to monitor national disability laws and policies. Items 4 – 6 are specific to monitoring implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
1. The ADA Checklist for Accessibility Assessment of Existing Facilities
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires state and local governments, businesses, and non-profit organizations to provide goods, services, and programs to people with disabilities on an equal basis with the rest of the public. The ADA Checklist is a helpful tool for entities to make sure they’re in compliance with access standards and it also provides tailored checklists for recreation facilities. Access the ADA checklist below or online here.
2. ADA Best Practices Toolkit for State and Local Government
This toolkit provides an overview of common ADA compliance issues and workable solutions. It is designed to teach state and local government officials how to identify and fix problems that prevent people with disabilities from gaining equal access to state and local government programs, services, and activities. It will also teach state and local officials how to conduct accessibility surveys of their buildings and facilities to identify and remove architectural barriers to access. This publication was developed by the U.S. Department of Justice. View the ADA Best Practices Toolkit below or online here.
3. ADA Checklist for Voting Polling Places
This 25-page document is an updated technical assistance publication on polling place accessibility for voters with disabilities. The publication includes information about key areas of a facility that must be accessible to voters with mobility or vision disabilities, options for low-cost temporary measures for removing barriers, and a survey to guide election officials in evaluating the accessibility of facilities used or being considered for use as polling places. Download the ADA Checklist for Voting Polling Places below or online here.
4. Monitoring the CRPD: Guidance for Human Rights Monitors
See page 40 for the Monitoring in Practice section, which covers the monitoring cycle and focuses on collecting information, legal and information analysis, and documentation and reporting/corrective action and follow-up. This publication was developed by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner. The document is available for download below.
5. CRPD Implementation Framework by World ENABLED
The framework operationalizes the CRPD and allows advocates on the ground to easily compile and compartmentalize research and advocacy efforts based on their findings. This framework has proven to be robust and insightful. It will allow your team to have a meaningful discussion of accessibility across the five evaluative criteria. Download the document below.
For example, if you choose to focus on accessibility, you would evaluate accessibility across the following areas using the Comparative Measures for Disability Policy (CMDP) Framework applied to accessibility (as defined in Article 9):
1) Legal Measures on Accessibility
2) Executive and Budgetary Support
3) Administrative and Coordinating Capacity
4) Participation of Persons with Disabilities in the area of Infrastructure, Planning and Monitoring of Accessibility
5) Public Attitudes toward Universal Accessibility of the Built Environment
6. The Gold Indicators: Measuring the Progress of the Implementation of the UN CRPD
The Gold Indicators are a set of 10 statistical outcome indicators that compares the situation for persons with and without disabilities in relation to 10 thematic areas of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). The main purpose of the indicators is to generate change and stimulate action because statistical indicators have the potential to inspire concrete policy-making. This publication, available below, was developed by The Danish Institute for Human Rights.
