Accessibility

NOTICE UNDER THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT (ADA)

The City of Jacksonville Beach (“City”) welcomes individuals with disabilities (employees, residents, and visitors). The City seeks to be proactive in making its programs, services, and employment accessible to all. In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (“ADA”), the City will not discriminate against qualified individuals with disabilities in its services, programs, activities, or employment. 

The City has one ADA Coordinator to facilitate assistance for disabled residents, employees, and visitors to address any ADA-related accessibility issues. The ADA Coordinator also investigates and seeks to resolve any informal complaints and grievances regarding accessibility to City facilities or programs.

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

Effective Communication: The City will make every reasonable effort, upon request, to provide aids and services leading to effective communication for qualified persons with disabilities so they may participate equally in City programs, services, and activities, including sign language interpreters, documents in Braille, and other ways of making information accessible to people who have speech, hearing, or vision impairments.

Modifications to Policies and Procedures: The City will make reasonable modifications to its policies, procedures, and programs to ensure that people with disabilities have an equal opportunity to participate. For example, individuals with service animals are welcome in City facilities, even where pets are generally prohibited. 

The ADA does not require the City to take action that would fundamentally alter the nature of its programs or services, or impose an undue financial burden.

Anyone who requires an auxiliary aid or service for effective communication, a reasonable accommodation, or a modification of policies and procedures to participate in City services, should submit an Accommodation Request Form to the ADA Coordinator as soon as possible, but no later than 48 hours (two business days) before the scheduled event or meeting.

The City 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, such as retrieving items from locations that are open to the public but are not accessible to persons who use wheelchairs.

Questions, concerns, comments, requests, informal complaints, or grievances alleging violation of the ADA should be brought to the City’s ADA Coordinator identified below. An official ADA grievance may be submitted by the City’s ADA Grievance Procedure set forth below.

Elise Brosch, ADA Coordinator

City of Jacksonville Beach

11 North Third Street

Jacksonville Beach, FL 32250

E: ebrosch@jaxbchfl.net

P: 904-712-6297

WEBSITE ACCESSIBILITY STATEMENT

The City is committed to ensuring that individuals with disabilities enjoy full access to the City’s website. We are continuously improving the user experience for everyone through the implementation of relevant accessibility standards. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (“WCAG”) provide guidance for designers and developers of online content to improve accessibility for people with disabilities. The City strives to implement WCAG Level AA standards across its website. Although this standard is more stringent than requirements pursuant to the ADA, the City recognizes and appreciates the importance of inclusivity for all individuals.

We welcome your feedback on the accessibility of the City’s website. If you have found an inaccessible area or process on the site, have specific questions or feedback about the City’s website, or need assistance using specific features, please contact the ADA Coordinator.

ADA GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE

Purpose

The City of Jacksonville Beach has established the following internal grievance procedure to ensure the prompt and equitable resolution of grievances alleging violation of the ADA on the basis of disability in the provision of services, programs, activities, or benefits by the City. This grievance procedure is adopted pursuant to the regulations implementing Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), as amended. 28 C.F.R. § 35.107.

Procedure

The procedure to file a grievance is as follows:

1.   A written grievance should be submitted to the ADA Coordinator on the ADA Grievance Form. If the grievance is not filed on the City’s ADA Grievance Form, it shall contain the following information:

• The name, address, and telephone number of the person making the grievance;
• The name, address, and telephone number of the person alleging the ADA violation, if other than the person making the grievance;
• Names, addresses, and telephone numbers of any witnesses;
• A description of the alleged violation, including date and time of the alleged violation and the City program or facility where the alleged violation occurred, and the remedy sought; and
• Any other documentation that may provide an additional explanation or identification of the alleged violation.

NOTE: Alternative means of filing a grievance, such as personal interviews or a recording of the grievance, will be made available for persons upon request.

2.   All grievances should be submitted to the ADA Coordinator as soon as possible, but no later than 60 days from the date of the alleged violation.

3.   Within 15 calendar days after receipt of the grievance, the ADA Coordinator will meet with the complainant to discuss the grievance and possible resolution.

4.   Within 30 calendar days of the meeting, the ADA Coordinator will complete an investigation of the allegations and respond in writing, and where appropriate, in a format accessible to the complainant, to the person who filed the grievance. The response will explain the position of the City and offer options for substantive resolution of the grievance.

If the response from the ADA Coordinator does not satisfactorily resolve the issue, the complainant may submit a written appeal to the City Manager or designee within 15 calendar days.

Within 15 calendar days after receipt of the appeal, the City Manager or designee will meet with the complainant to discuss the grievance and possible resolutions. Within 15 calendar days after the meeting, the City Manager or designee will respond in writing, and where appropriate, in a format accessible to the complainant, with a final resolution of the grievance.

The resolution of any specific grievance will require consideration of varying circumstances such as, the specific nature of the disability, the nature of the access to services, programs, or facilities at issue, and the essential eligibility requirements for participation. Also, other areas to consider would be the health and safety of others, the degree to which an accommodation would constitute a fundamental alteration to the program, service, or facility, or cause an undue hardship to the City. Accordingly, the resolution by the City of any one grievance does not constitute a precedent upon which the City is bound or upon which other grieving parties may rely.

All written ADA grievances received by the ADA Coordinator, appeals to the City Manager or designee, and responses from these two offices, will be retained by the City for at least three years.