Disabled guests with limited mobility can rent scooters at the Imperial Palace. Photo by Ralph Fountain. This sign alerts people with hearing impairments that they can amplify the sound on this telephone at the Imperial Palace. Photo by Ralph Fountain. Some chairs in the Ka Theatre at the MGM Grand can be moved to give guests in wheelchairs greater access. Photo by John Locher. The Americans with Disabilities Act requires clear markings for disabled people. Here, the Imperial Palace designates a special path. Photo by Ralph Fountain.

By SONYA PADGETT

REVIEW-JOURNAL

Kae Pohe likes to joke that he's so familiar with Las Vegas, he can give a better tour of the Strip than the chamber of commerce, despite being blind.

The 40-year resident of Southern Nevada, who calls his blindness more of an inconvenience than a disability, says he finds getting around Strip casinos to be, overall, pretty simple. Not effortless, mind you, but doable for most blind people.

"I think, in general, when you're talking about casinos in Las Vegas it is just like for sighted people. ... We have to deal with crowds" and an overload of sensory input, he said with a laugh.

Access for people with disabilities "is still not 100 percent, but it's getting better than it used to be," added Pohe, 67. He's had vision problems off and on since he was 12, when he got kicked in the head playing rugby in his native New Zealand. "The casinos are slowly turning around, the public access is improving. All I can say is it is better today from what it was like 10 years ago. It still has a long way to go before it's considered equal access, though."

Casino operators must consider equal access because of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Title III of the act specifies that private places of business, such as restaurants, casinos, movie theaters and retail stores, must, among other things, widen doors, install ramps, reposition telephones and rearrange furniture to remove barriers for those with disabilities.

How that happens depends on the disability. But whether a person is blind, deaf or wheelchair-bound, local resorts provide a variety of services and amenities to meet their needs, not just because it's mandated by federal law; it's also good for business, said Tim Jones, director of safety and ADA coordinator for the MGM Grand resort.

"It is certainly looked at in terms of making guests as comfortable as (possible) with no barriers throughout their stay," Jones said of the efforts made to provide easy access to people with disabilities and to ensure they "can actually get their hands on all of the amenities we're trying to offer."

While it helps for a guest to mention special needs before a visit, it's not necessary, resort representatives said. Guests in wheelchairs can request rooms with roll-in showers, grab bars in the bath, seated vanity countertops, automatic doors and widened doorways, Jones said.

Rooms also are set up with shake-awake alarm clocks that work by feel rather than sound, lights that alert people to a knock at the door, and telecommunication devices for the deaf, or TDDs, for those with hearing impairments, said Jeremy Handel, Imperial Palace spokesman.

Buttons written in braille or raised numbers can be found throughout elevators along the Strip; often a bell sounds to identify floors.

Gambling is made easier by tables that can seat wheelchairs and slot machines with braille buttons. But the law does not apply to the games in a casino if an accommodation would change the nature of how they are played, Jones noted.

MGM Grand and its sister properties, like all casinos with entertainment venues, often arrange to have a sign language interpreter at concerts and shows, if needed, Jones said. They receive such requests about four to six times per year for the large venues, he noted.

The new Ka Theatre is equipped with what Jones calls the "latest and greatest" in theater chairs. Placed throughout the theater as opposed to just one area, they have casters and can be wheeled in and out of a row of seats as needed, enabling a wheelchair to take its place. They also feature an audio system attached to each chair, providing some hearing-impaired guests with a more individual experience.

Since the law's inception, a few local casinos and Strip resorts have had complaints or lawsuits filed against them, including the MGM Grand, New York-New York, the Plaza and Binion's Horseshoe, said Paul Martin, president of Nevadans for Equal Access and a wheelchair user.

The nonprofit organization serves as a watchdog for compliance with the law. It takes complaints from people who encounter what they think may be a violation of the ADA and work with businesses to resolve it, Martin said. If needed, the organization takes legal action. So far, all of the group's cases, numbering in the dozens, have been resolved, he added.

Access on the Strip is "better than it was a few years ago," but issues still arise, said Martin, 53, who has muscular dystrophy and has used a wheelchair since 1994. The majority of Strip-related complaints come from wheelchair users and usually deal with clear pathways or signage.

"Often, a path of travel isn't marked appropriately. People get to a point before realizing they have to turn around and go back to find a way," Martin said. "It can be very frustrating, very scary, especially if you've had a few to drink, or if you don't know where you're going."

Although the ADA states that businesses must provide equal access, it doesn't specify that access has to be the easiest route, Jones said.

In many Strip resorts, guests have to take a circuitous route to get from point A to point B. It's that way at Tequila Joe's in the Imperial Palace, Handel said. A lack of land space limited the resort when it came to creating a route easily traversed by the disabled from the restaurant to the casino.

"It's a tough situation but it had to be done," he said of the long route. Signs direct the disabled to the accessible entrance and exit, he added.

Martin's group hasn't had to take a lot of action against Strip resorts, "because as soon as we bring it to their attention they want to fix it." Every property should have an ADA coordinator, Martin said, to field concerns and ensure compliance with the act. He recommends that people who have a complaint first talk to management. If they feel things aren't resolved or won't be, contact the Nevadans for Equal Access at 399-5361.