Accessibility & Health

March 2025

Some you you may have heard that the Trump administration has recently made several significant changes to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) guidance and regulations. In the interest of keeping you in the loop, we’ve come up with this quick summary of some of these changes and the potential implications these changes may have for local public health departments. Each item includes links to recent news articles that provide more information in these developments:

1. The Department of Justice (DOJ) has withdrawn 11 pieces of ADA guidance, citing efforts to streamline compliance resources and reduce costs for businesses(1 5).
2. Five of the withdrawn documents pertained to COVID-19-related guidance, including recommendations on mask-wearing, protections for outdoor dining areas, and visitation rights in hospitals (1 4). The remaining six withdrawn guidance documents covered topics such as:

• Maintaining accessible features in retail establishments
• Gathering input from customers with disabilities
• Customer service practices for hotel and lodging guests with disabilities
• Outreach to customers with disabilities
• Assistance at self-serve gas stations
• Compliance steps for new lodging facilities (4)

3. In spite of the withdrawn guidance noted above, the DOJ emphasized tax incentives available for businesses to cover costs associated with making accessibility improvements(1 5).

These changes outlined above could potentially impact public health departments in Utah in several ways:

• Reduced guidance: The withdrawal of COVID-19-related ADA guidance may create uncertainty for public health departments when addressing disability-related issues during health emergencies.
• Accessibility concerns: The removal of guidance on maintaining accessible features and customer service practices may lead to inconsistent implementation of ADA requirements, potentially affecting how public health services are delivered to individuals with disabilities.
• Compliance challenges: The streamlining of ADA guidance may make it more difficult for public health departments to ensure they are fully compliant with current ADA requirements.
• Potential for reduced protections: Advocacy groups have expressed concerns that these changes could erode protections for people with disabilities, which may increase the burden on public health departments to address accessibility and accommodation issues (1).

In the end, it's important to note that while some ADA guidance has been withdrawn, the fundamental requirements of the ADA remain in place. State and local health departments across Utah should continue to prioritize accessibility and accommodations for individuals with disabilities while staying informed about any further changes to ADA regulations and guidance. We will also continue to provide you with timely and relevant updates as it becomes available.

Non-Apparent Disabilities Fact Sheets

Many disabilities are not immediately apparent, yet they profoundly impact the lives of those who live with them.

Check out our three fact sheets about supporting people with non-apparent disabilities in the work we do in local health departments!

Free Webinar!



ADA National Network Learning Session:

Accessible Electronic Communication in Healthcare Settings

Learning Objectives:

• Know basic ADA legal requirements to communicate effectively with people with disabilities
• Understand how people with disabilities use assistive technology to interact with digital environment
• Recognize principles of digital accessibility, plain language, and Easy Read
• Discover online tools to help make written communication easy to understand

April 17, 2025

12:30 PM Mountain Time

New Utah DHHS Report

The Utah Department of Health & Human Services recently published a report summarizing the perspectives of people with disabilities and caregivers throughout Utah when engaging with health services. 

The participants provided the following recommendations:

1. Public health information and program materials, including marketing and registration, need to be more accessible - in digital and printed formats.
2. Public health staff need better training on disability awareness, disability competent care, and communication best practices.
3. There needs to be better communication between public health officials, medical providers, and insurance companies to help people get clear answers about preventative care and what is covered by insurance.
4. Demographic disability data and accommodations should be better documented in healthcare records.

The interview will take about one hour and will be conducted over Zoom.

Click the link to sign up and help us create better resources for your community!

Questions?

Email Elle at Rebecca.Smith@usu.edu or Dr. Chen at Chen.Chen@usu.edu.

This study has been approved by the USU IRB (Protocol #14360).