Home, Safety & Accessibility

The ADA & your accessibility rights

Mobility challenges come with age for many of us — and the law gives you real rights when they do. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and a few related laws protect access to businesses, public places, housing, and parking. Here's what they cover, in plain language.

The key distinction: the ADA covers public places — businesses, government offices, parking, transit. Your home or apartment is covered by a different law, the Fair Housing Act. Knowing which is which saves a lot of confusion.

What the ADA covers

The ADA is a federal civil-rights law that bans disability discrimination. For everyday life, two parts matter most:

State & local government (Title II) — courts, public transit, voting, public hospitals must be accessible.
Businesses open to the public (Title III) — stores, restaurants, doctors' offices, hotels, theaters, banks.

In practice that means accessible parking and entrances, ramps, and — importantly — the right to bring a service animal (a dog trained to do a task) even where pets aren't allowed, plus effective communication for vision, hearing, and speech disabilities.

The big misconception: the ADA and your home

This trips up almost everyone: the ADA generally does not require private homes to be accessible, and it's not the law you use to get a landlord to modify your apartment. For housing, the law is the Fair Housing Act.

The Fair Housing Act: your rights as a tenant

The Fair Housing Act bans housing discrimination based on disability and gives you two distinct rights:

Reasonable modification — a physical change to your living space (grab bars, a ramp, a widened doorway). A landlord can't unreasonably refuse to allow it.
Reasonable accommodation — a change to a rule or policy (waiving a “no pets” rule for an assistance animal, or assigning you an accessible parking space).

Who pays? In private housing, the tenant generally pays for a physical modification — but the landlord must allow it, can't charge a higher security deposit for it, and can only require you to undo interior changes when you move out (not an exterior ramp). In federally assisted housing (public housing and many subsidized programs), the housing provider may have to pay for and install the modification. Policy accommodations are never charged to you.

Getting a disabled parking placard

Kansas

Use Form TR-159 (Kansas Department of Revenue), certified by a licensed MD, DO, chiropractor, or podiatrist. Temporary placards are available for temporary disabilities; permanent eligibility is reviewed every five years.

Missouri

File two forms together with the Missouri Department of Revenue: Form 2769 (the application, notarized) and Form 1776 (the physician's statement — which a physician, APRN, PA, chiropractor, podiatrist, physical therapist, or optometrist can sign). Permanent placards carry no fee; temporary placards have a small fee and a 180-day limit. Drivers 75+ are exempt from the periodic renewal statement.

Where to get help

ADA Information Line: 1-800-514-0301 — free answers to ADA questions. File an ADA complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice at ADA.gov.
Housing discrimination: HUD Fair Housing, 1-800-669-9777 — file within one year of the act.
Centers for Independent Living — practical, local help: Independence, Inc. (Lawrence & KCK) and The Whole Person (Kansas City metro).
Disability-rights advocates: the Disability Rights Center of Kansas (1-877-776-1541) and Missouri Protection & Advocacy Services (573-893-3333).

Remember: public place not accessible? That's the ADA. Need a change to your home or apartment? That's the Fair Housing Act. And to make a home itself safer, see our home modifications guide.

This guide is general information, not legal advice, and laws, forms, and procedures change. For a specific dispute or situation, contact the agencies above or a qualified attorney.