Reasonable accommodation

The United Nations use this term in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, saying refusal to make accommodation results in discrimination.

It defines a "reasonable accommodation" as: ... necessary and appropriate modification and adjustments not imposing a disproportionate or undue burden, where needed in a particular case, to ensure to persons with disabilities the enjoyment or exercise on an equal basis with others of all human rights and fundamental freedoms;[1]Employers and managers are often concerned about the potential cost associated with providing accommodations to employees with disabilities.

(The origin of the term reasonable accommodation in Canadian law is found in its labour law jurisprudence, specifically Ontario (Human Rights Commission) v Simpsons-Sears Ltd, [1985] 2 SCR 536, and is argued to be the obligation of employers to change some general rules for certain employees, under the condition that this does not cause "undue hardship".)

In Québec the Bouchard-Taylor Commission examined the subject of reasonable accommodation due to religious and cultural differences.

In the United States, federal law requires that reasonable accommodations be made by providers of employment, education, or housing; and in courts and other public venues.

[12] A modification differs from accommodations by changing the curriculum, usually to make it easier for a student who is unable to complete the normal work.

[18] State and local governments must provide reasonable accommodations to ensure such access, unless a fundamental alteration would result.

Title III of the ADA requires private businesses open to the public and commercial facilities to provide reasonable accommodations to people with disabilities to ensure that they have equal access to goods and services.

A reasonable accommodation must be granted when such an accommodation is necessary to afford a prospective or existing tenant with a disability an opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling (including but not limited to apartments, single family homes, and other types of private and public housing) to the same extent as a person who does not have that disability.

It bears noting that in regard to larger dwellings such as apartment buildings, the right to a reasonable accommodation under the Fair Housing Act requires that housing providers grant a requested reasonable accommodation that is necessary to enable a disabled tenant to enjoy an indoor or outdoor common area to the same extent as a non-disabled tenant enjoys such areas.

In Canada, women have the right to keep their hair covered as a religious accommodation. Students can wear a close-fitting sports hijab as part of their uniform while participating in physical education classes and team sports programs.
Students play wheelchair basketball
Students with disabilities can attend school.
Two people stand on top of light-colored truncated domes at a curb cut. They both face the parking lot, and the person in front holds a white cane.
Tactile paving is used to alert blind people to the edge of the sidewalk. This helps people participate in everyday activities, like walking through the neighborhood.