Accessibility
In accordance with the requirements of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), Howard County, Maryland, will not discriminate against qualified individuals with disabilities on the basis of disability in its services, programs, and activities.
Website Accessibility
Howard County Government is committed to providing equal access to all individuals seeking information on its website. Our website has been tested to be compliant with WCAG 2.1 AA guidelines.
If you have a disability and you have difficulty accessing information on our website, please contact the Howard County Public Information Office at 410-313-2022 (VOICE/RELAY), ask@howardcountymd.gov, or by submitting our Contact Form.
The Public Information Office will refer your request to the appropriate Department, which will respond to your request. To enable us to respond in a manner most helpful to you, please explain the nature of the accessibility issue; provide the web address of the information you tried to access and your contact information.
Employment
Howard County Government 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 under Title I of the ADA.
Effective Communication
Howard County Government will generally, upon request, provide appropriate aids and services leading to effective communication for qualified persons with disabilities so they can participate equally in County government programs, services, and activities, including qualified sign language interpreters, documents in braille, and other ways of making information and communications accessible to people who have speech, hearing, and vision disabilities.
Modifications to Policies and Procedures
Howard County Government will make reasonable modifications to its policies and programs to ensure that people with disabilities have an equal opportunity to enjoy County government programs, services, and activities. For example, individuals with service animals are welcomed in County offices, even where pets are generally prohibited.
Any person who requires an auxiliary aid or service for effective communication or a modification of policies and procedures to enable participation in a County government program, service, or activity, should contact the office coordinating the program, service, or activity, with as much advance notice as possible. To better enable Howard County Government to respond to requests for auxiliary aids and services, requests should be made no later than 48 business hours before the scheduled event.
Howard County Government 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.
The ADA does not require the County to take any action that would fundamentally alter the nature of its programs or services or impose an undue financial or administrative burden.
Information
To obtain additional information regarding the ADA, or to obtain a copy of Howard County Government’s ADA Grievance Procedure, please contact Michelle Henry, ADA Coordinator, at 410-313-6431 (VOICE/RELAY) or by email, at ada@howardcountymd.gov
Complaints
Complaints that a County government program, service, or activity is not accessible to persons with disabilities should be directed to the Chief Administrative Officer, Howard County Government, 3430 Court House Drive, Ellicott City, MD, 21043, 410-313-2171 (VOICE/RELAY).