Disability Rights

This definition includes individuals with sensory impairments (SI), who are Deaf or hard of hearing and communicate using American Sign Language (ASL), have speech impairments, or that are blind or have visual impairments.  LEP individuals may be entitled to language services or communication assistance for a service, benefit, or program that receives federal assistance. 

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Civil Rights, provides examples of a Policy and Procedure for Providing Meaningful Communication with Persons with Limited English Proficiency here, and a Policy and Procedure for Providing Auxiliary Aids for Persons with Disabilities here.   

Title VI Requirements                                                                           

For details about the Title VI requirements refer to the Title VI page.  

ADA and Section 504 Requirements                                          

The protections of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504), apply equally to LEP individuals with disabilities or that are Dear of hard of hearing (HOH). There are also many assistive technical (AT) devices that are available to LEP individuals with disabilities.

Entities covered by the provisions of Section 504 and the ADA must provide services and programs in the most integrated setting appropriate to the needs of qualified individuals with disabilities and make reasonable modifications in their policies, practices and procedures to avoid discrimination on the basis of disability. 

They must also provide auxiliary aids to individuals with disabilities, at no additional cost, where necessary to ensure effective communication with individuals with hearing, vision, or speech impairments.  Auxiliary aids include such services or devices as qualified interpreters, assistive listening headsets, television captioning and decoders, telecommunication devices for the deaf (TDDs), videotext displays, readers, taped texts, brailled materials, and large print materials.

For a full explanation of these rights, see the Department of Justice (DOJ) guide to Disability Rights,  available at www.ada.gov  There is also a Spanish version of the Disability Rights Guide available at the following location, click here.

Federal Resources                                                                            

• Disability Information

  • ADA.gov in English    ADA.gov (in Spanish)

  • ADA Employment Rights  (English)  (Spanish)

  • Disability Related Terms in Spanish and English (PDF)

  • Spanish and English Health Terms, California Mexico Health Initiative, July 2005 (Large PDF)

  • Special Education for LEP Individuals

• Assistive Technology (AT)

  • AT Resource Page, Center for Assistance Technology

  • Alliance for Technology Access Resources for LEP Individuals with Disabilities (in Spanish)

Last Updated: March 17, 2009 ● Empire Justice Center © 2009