City of Chicago Notice of Nondiscrimination based on Disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act

By the requirements of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended (“ADA”) and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended (“Rehabilitation Act”), the City of Chicago does not discriminate against qualified individuals with disabilities based on disability in any of its services, programs, or activities.

Employment: The City of Chicago does not discriminate based on disability in its hiring or employment practices and complies with all regulations promulgated by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission under Title I of the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act.

Effective Communication: The City of Chicago will, upon request, provide appropriate aids and services to ensure effective communication for qualified persons with disabilities so they can participate in the City of Chicago’s programs, services, and activities.  Examples of auxiliary aids and services include but are not limited to qualified sign language interpreters, captioning, assistive listening devices, communication access real-time translation (CART), electronic documents, Braille documents, large print documents, note takers, and audio descriptions.  

Anyone who requires an auxiliary aid or service to participate in a program, service, or activity of the City of Chicago should contact the department or agency responsible for that program, service or activity. Requests for auxiliary aids or services should be made as early as possible but no later than 72 hours before the scheduled program or activity.  Although auxiliary aids and services may not be available if requested less than 72 hours before an event, the City will attempt to make an effective auxiliary aid or service available even if this deadline is not met.

Modifications to Policies and Procedures: The City of Chicago will make all reasonable modifications to policies and procedures to ensure that people with disabilities have an equal opportunity to enjoy all of its programs, services and activities.  For example, individuals with service animals are welcomed in City of Chicago offices, even where pets are generally prohibited.

Anyone who requires a modification of policies or procedures to participate in a program, service, or activity of the City of Chicago, should contact the department or agency responsible for the program, service or activity.

Surcharges: The City of Chicago will not place a surcharge on a particular individual with a disability or any group of individuals with disabilities to cover the cost of providing auxiliary aids/services or reasonable modifications of policy.

Neither the ADA nor the Rehabilitation Act requires the City of Chicago to take any action that would fundamentally alter the nature of its programs or services, or impose an undue financial or administrative burden.

Complaints: Complaints that a program, service, or activity of the City of Chicago is not accessible to persons with disabilities, is failing to provide appropriate auxiliary aids and services or has failed to make reasonable modifications to its policies and procedures to allow participation by individuals with disabilities should be directed to the Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities for the City of Chicago, the City’s designated ADA/Rehabilitation Act Coordinator.  The City has established procedures for filing complaints under the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act.  These procedures are posted on the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities website.

Contact information for the City of Chicago’s ADA/Rehabilitation Act Coordinator:

Rachel Arfa, Commissioner
Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities
City of Chicago
121 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 104
Chicago, Illinois 60602

Phone: 312.744.7209
TTY: 312.744.4964
Fax: 312.744.3314
Email: Rachel.Arfa@cityofchicago.org