UD for Adult Education Step 1

image of three people with magnifying glass highlighting the center individual

Assess for qualified individual

The Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits discriminating against a “qualified individual with a disability,” or “QID.” In order to ensure your activity/course/program does not discriminate against a QID, it’s important to ascertain who is qualified to take part in your activity/course/program. To do this, work through the following questions:

  1. Is there a fee or other cost for this specific activity/course/program?
    1. Is it possible for a qualified individual to be accompanied by another person who is not asked to pay a fee but who is invited to participate in the activity/course/program anyway?
    2. Will your activity/course/program be archived and made available to people who will not be asked to pay a fee?
  2. Are there admission standards individuals must meet to qualify for this specific activity/course/program?
    1. Is it possible for your qualified individual to be accompanied by another person who is not asked to meet admission standards but who is invited to participate in the activity/course/program anyway?
    2. Will your activity/course/program be archived and made available to people who will not be asked to meet the admission standards?
  3. Are the participants for your activity/course/program limited to a set of known individuals AND you will not reuse your activity/course/program in the future?

 

Once you have answered these questions, define what it means to be a qualified individual at the lowest possible standard for your activity/course/program. For example:

  • If there are admission standards for most participants but some participants are not asked to meet these standards, then your qualified individual is the person who is not asked to meet admissions standards.
    • Example: You have admissions standards for people who will receive a credential from your program, but anyone from the community may participate in your program in a no-credential track.
  • If there is a fee for most participants but some participants have the fee waived, then your qualified individual is anyone who can pay the fee or who qualifies for the waived fee.
    • Example: You charge $10 for tickets to your play but allow anyone who comes within 10 minutes of the opening curtain to watch the play for free if there are empty seats.
  • If all participants must meet admissions standards and/or must pay a fee for the initial use of the activity/course/program but at a later date the same activity/course/program is made available without admissions standards and/or fee to any interested party, then your qualified individual is the person who is not asked to meet admissions standards and/or pay a fee and who can access the archived materials.
    • Example: You have admissions standards for the classes you offer at your college, but lectures are videotaped and archived in YouTube with the “public” setting.
  • If all participants for your activity/course/program limited to a set of known individuals AND you will not reuse your activity/course/program in the future, then your qualified individuals are that set of known individuals.
    • Example: You have been working with your class of students for several weeks and you will be designing an activity for that group of people only, and it will not be reused.

 

Define your qualified individual by completing this sentence:

The qualified individual for this program must meet the following admissions standards: xxxxx; and pay a fee of xxxxx; and have access to xxxxx [necessary resources or other skills].

Examples of qualified individual definitions:

  • The qualified individual for this activity/course/program must meet the following admissions standards: 1) they must have an ACT score of 24 or higher 2) they must have a high school GPA of 2.5 or higher; and they must pay a fee of $5,000 a semester; and be able to travel to Lawrence as needed for class.
  • The qualified individual for this activity/course/program must meet the following admissions standards: none; and they must pay a fee of $10; and they must be able to travel to the theatre.
  • The qualified individual for this activity/course/program must meet the following admissions standards: none; and they must pay a fee of $0; and they must have internet access.
  • The qualified individual for this program must meet the following admissions standards: they must be admitted to my class; and pay a fee of $0; and have access to my instruction.