A public accommodation is any place that is open to the public. It can be owned by a public or private organization. When a place is open to the public, it must do things to help make sure people with disabilities have equal access.

Hotels, motels, inns and other places people sleep (this does not include places where the owner lives and has less than 6 rooms).

• Restaurants, bars, and other places that serve food and drinks.
• Movie theaters, concert halls, stadiums, and other places you go for entertainment.
• Convention centers, lecture halls, and places where the public gets together.
• Banks, gas stations, barbers, hospitals, lawyers, and other places that sell services.
• Trains stations, bus depots and other places of public transportation (not including airports).
• Museums, libraries, art galleries, and other places where art and books are on display.
• Parks, zoos, amusements parks, and other places people go for fun.
• Schools, colleges, and other places you go to learn.
• Day cares, senior centers, homeless shelters, food banks, and other places with similar services
• Gyms, spas, bowling alleys, golf courses, and other places of recreation.

These types of places to have to follow many rules under the ADA to make sure people with disabilities can do all of the things that people without disabilities can. These rules include:

• Let people with disabilities use the same spaces as people without disabilities, unless the only way to make sure everyone has equal access is to have separate spaces.
• Stop using rules that do not let people with disabilities get the same goods and services that people without disabilities get.
• Change the way services are given to make sure people with disabilities can get them too.
• Give auxiliary aids like large print documents or ASL interpreters.
• Change parts of the building that might stop people with disabilities from moving around.
• Add things like ramps or elevators if it is not possible to change parts of the buildings.
• Give accessible options if transportation is part of the services.
• Keep all accessible parts of the building free of barriers and in good shape.
• Build all new buildings to be accessible and when renovating old buildings, do it in a way that makes them more accessible.

Most of the time. Sometimes, if a change will be too expensive or will really change the core services or goods sold, a business does not need follow the rules.

Churches and private clubs with membership fees do not have to follow the ADA. But if the church or private club has 15 or more employees, then they have to follow the ADA rules for those employees.  

Yes. Any new building that will be open to the public must be accessible to all people with disabilities.

Older buildings that are not accessible should be fixed to make them accessible. Sometimes this is not possible. If a building cannot be fixed, the business must do other things to let people with disabilities get the goods or services sold there. This can include:

• Giving goods and services at the door, sidewalk, or curb.
• Delivering goods to a person’s home.
• Having staff get goods from high shelves.
• Moving activities to a different place that is accessible.

If a business does any of the above things, it cannot charge people with disabilities more.

Yes. Hospitals and healthcare places must let you bring your service animal with you in public areas like waiting rooms, exam rooms, and cafeterias. They do not have to let your service animal in restricted areas like operating rooms due to safety and cleanliness.

The hospital can ask you to remove your service animal if it is out of control or not housebroken. Staff cannot ask for proof of training or certification but they can ask: “Is this dog a service animal needed for a disability?” and “What task is it trained to do?”

Note: A service animal is a dog trained to help a person with a disability. Dogs that only give comfort or emotional support are not service animals under the ADA.

Both the owner of the building and the owner of the store have to make sure the ADA rules are followed.