Please consider the following questions when evaluating your business for Disability Friendliness*.

1. Considerations for Evaluating Accessibility
   • Is the entrance to the business accessible to persons with mobility limitations? Is the entry to the building on an even hard surface and without steps?
   • If the accessible entrance is not immediately apparent, are there directional signs?
   • Are there handicapped parking signs/spaces with necessary access space for vans with lifts?
   • Does the business provide accessible restrooms, phones and water fountains?
   Depending on the business and its services to the public, other considerations could also include:
   • Posting a notice on the front door that assistance will be provided for customers with disabilities
   • Installing sensors or automatic door openers
   • Installing a lift or elevator
   • Having Braille on elevator panels or signs for public restrooms
   • Having Braille or large print available on menus
   • Having a TTY, volume controls on a public telephone or any other assistive technology device
   • Having movable seating and/or accessible tables that accommodate wheelchairs
   • Having wide aisles or appropriately spaced displays of merchandise for wheelchairs to maneuver through
   • Making the company's Website user-friendly to visitors with disabilities (i.e. including "text-only" versions for persons with visual impairments, or supplying text for audio clips for persons who are deaf/hard of hearing)
2. Considerations for Evaluating Customer-Friendliness
   • Is staff alert and helpful to customers who have visible disabilities?
   • Does someone on staff know sign language?
   • Has the business offered disability awareness training to staff?
   • If removal of a barrier is not "readily achievable," are the goods, services, etc. made available through alternative methods?
3. Considerations for Evaluating Employment-Friendliness
   • Are persons with disabilities included in their job applicant pool?
   • When interviewing persons with disabilities, is the focus on the candidate's skills and abilities, not the disability?
   • Has an effort been made to educate management or human resources personnel on ADA laws and compliance?
   • Are policies, practices and procedures flexible enough that, if necessary, modifications can be made to ensure that the skills and abilities of applicants with disabilities are equally represented?

* This checklist has been reprinted with permission from the Virginia Business Leadership Network.