Accessible design should be near the top of your list of things to consider when you’re remodeling or designing a new retail space.

Given that the 2010 census found that 19 percent of the U.S. population lives with some form of disability, creating retail environments that are accessbile, safe and welcoming for all isn’t only good business, it’s the law.

Passed by Congress and signed into law by President George H. W. Bush in 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits “covered entities,” including employers and businesses, from discriminating against people with disabilities. Among other provisions, it mandates that covered entities must meet some basic standards to ensure their buildings and work spaces are accessible to people with disabilities.

The regulations can be complex, but here’s an overview of the basic information retailers should know and discuss with their architects as they begin their design projects.

Is My Business a Covered Entity?

The law specifies 12 categories of “public accommodations” (entities that provide goods and services to the public) that must incorporate accessible design into their buildings, including retail businesses such as:

  • Restaurants, bars or other establishments serving food or drink
  • Inns, motels or other places of lodging (with some exceptions)
  • Theaters, concert halls, stadiums or other places of exhibition or entertainment
  • Auditoriums, convention centers, lecture halls or other places of public gathering
  • Bakeries, grocery stores, clothing stores, hardware stores, shopping centers or other sales or rental establishments
  • Laundromats, dry-cleaners, banks, barbershops, beauty shops, travel services, shoe repair services, funeral parlors, gas stations, accountants’ and lawyers’ offices, pharmacies, insurance offices, health professionals’ offices, hospitals or other service establishments
  • Parks, zoos, amusement parks or other places of recreation
  • Gyms, health spas, bowling alleys, golf courses or other places of exercise or recreation

In other words, if you sell goods or services to the public, you are almost certainly subject to the requirements of the ADA.

Barrier Removal for Accessible Design

In general, the law requires that you remove architectural barriers to access in existing facilities when it is “readily achievable” to do so. The definition of readily achievable depends on several factors, including a business’s size and resources, and the age of the facility. It may also change from year to year depending on the economic environment. Your architect and contractors should be up to date with the requirements for your business, but examples include:

  • Installing ramps and curb cuts
  • Repositioning shelves
  • Rearranging furniture
  • Repositioning telephones
  • Adding raised markings on elevator control buttons
  • Installing flashing alarm lights
  • Widening doors and offsetting hinges
  • Eliminating turnstiles or providing accessible alternatives
  • Installing accessible door hardware
  • Installing grab bars in toilet stalls
  • Rearranging toilet partitions to increase maneuvering space
  • Installing lavatory pipes under sinks to prevent burns
  • Installing raised toilet seats
  • Installing full-length mirrors
  • Repositioning paper-towel dispensers in a bathroom
  • Creating designated accessible parking spaces (see below)
  • Installing an accessible paper-cup dispenser at an existing inaccessible water fountain
  • Removing high-pile, low-density carpeting

Accessible Design for Events and Assemblies

If your business hosts events or other assemblies, you may be required to incorporate accessible design by:

  • Providing a reasonable number of wheelchair seating spaces and seats with removable aisle-side arm rests
  • Locating wheelchair seating spaces that
    • are dispersed throughout the seating area
    • provide lines of sight and choice of admission prices comparable to those for members of the general public
    • adjoin an accessible route that also serves as a means of egress in case of emergency
    • permit individuals who use wheelchairs to sit with companions

Alternatives to Barrier Removal

If barrier removal measures like those above aren’t readily achievable, the ADA requires businesses to consider other alternatives for accessible design, such as:

  • Providing curb service or home delivery
  • Retrieving merchandise from inaccessible shelves or racks
  • Relocating activities to accessible locations
  • Providing a portable chair or other means to permit a family member or other companion to sit with an individual who uses a wheelchair

Accessible Parking

If your business provides parking for customers, clients or employees, you may be subject to the ADA’s accessible parking requirements. It’s normally a small percentage of the total amount of parking spots required by the zoning in your area.

Additional requirements include:

  • Signage: accessible parking spaces must be denoted with international symbol of accessibility placed in front of the space
  • Access aisle: full length of parking space
  • Van-accessible spaces: must have one for every six accessible spaces

Accessible Entrances

If your building’s entrance has even one small step, you’ll need to make accommodations to allow employees, customers and clients who use wheelchairs or other mobility devices to enter and exit your building safely. You and your architect can accomplish this in several ways, including:

  • Installing a ramp or lift
  • Providing one or more alternative access routes and entryways, which must be open whenever other public entrances are open
  • Posting signage at inaccessible entrances directing users to alternate accessible entryways

Access to Goods and Services

Accessible design means that people with disabilities must be able to move through your retail space to access your goods and services. Your space must have a route at least three feet wide, not blocked by items like display racks, furniture, cabinets or plants, that allows employees and customers to get to merchandise, service areas, checkout areas, accessible restrooms and dressing rooms.

(Interestingly, while individuals who use mobility aids must be able to get through your aisles to your merchandise, shelving is not subject to any height requirements.)

In retail stores, at least one checkout aisle must have adequate space for wheelchairs and other mobility aids (more for larger businesses).

In restaurants, bars or other food-serving businesses, tables must be placed far enough apart to allow wheelchair access, and some wheelchair-accessible tables must be available and placed throughout the room (rather than in a single location). Self-service areas and items must also be accessible to those who use wheelchairs or other mobility aids.

Plan for Accessible Design

Accessible design and ADA compliance shouldn’t be an afterthought. You’ll save time, money and hassle if you work with an architect familiar with requirements and with how they apply in your industry.

You can find the text of Title III (the section that pertains to commercial facilities) of the ADA here.

The ADA National Network has resources about ADA compliance for employers and businesses.

The U.S. Department of Justice has a Primer for Small Businesses on ADA compliance.

A version of this post first ran in 2019.

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