Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 prohibits discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities. Federal agencies and organizations that receive Federal financial assistance are required to ensure that no otherwise qualified individual with a disability is, solely by reason of their disability, excluded from participation in, denied the benefits of, or subjected to discrimination under the programs and activities they conduct.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) will provide accommodations that give individuals with disabilities an equal opportunity to obtain a comparable result, gain a comparable benefit, or reach a comparable level of achievement in a program or activity as a nondisabled individual. However, when SSA provides an accommodation, it does not mean that the accommodation will produce the identical result or level of achievement for all individuals.

Section 504:

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  Applies to all Federal agencies and organizations that receive Federal financial assistance; and

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  Prohibits discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities.

Section 504 does not apply to:

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  Agency employees, when interacting with the agency as a member of that workforce, e.g. in their official capacity;

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  Applicants for employment;

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  Non-qualified individuals, e.g., individuals who do not meet the “essential eligibility requirements” for the receipt of services or participation in programs or activities;

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  Persons not seeking participation in or benefit of SSA programs and activities; and

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  Vendors or contractors performing work functions or related activities under those contracts or blanket purchase agreements. This includes medical or vocational experts, interpreters, and hearing reporters or contract hearing reporters.

While there are many parallels between the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) passed in 1990, the ADA applies to state and local governments, public accommodations, commercial facilities, transportation, telecommunications, and the U.S. Congress. However, Federal agencies may look to the ADA for additional guidance regarding issues not addressed under Section 504 and its regulations, such as which animals may qualify as service animals and what is required for an animal to be recognized as a service animal.

We presume that individuals with disabilities are capable of conducting business with SSA without an accommodation unless they request an accommodation. When a member of the public who has a disability informs us that they require an accommodation, we will make every reasonable effort to meet that need. In determining what accommodation to provide an individual, SSA will consider the request unless a more effective accommodation exists.

Individuals may request one or more accommodations. To request an accommodation, an individual may:

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  Call SSA's National 800 Number

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  Visit a local field office or hearing office;

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  Contact, either by telephone or in writing, the hearing office where they propose to receive the accommodation;

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  Request notices in an alternate format through ssa.gov using the current internet Special Notice Options (SNO) process for individuals who are blind or visually impaired.

On request, hearing offices will provide standard accommodations to individuals with disabilities who require them to conduct business with SSA. Standard accommodations are generally available locally and do not require special handling or approval by a manager.

Agency-wide standard accommodations include:

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  Certified and qualified sign language interpreter;

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  Certified and qualified video remote sign language interpreter;

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  Handwritten notes; and

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  Lip reading or speech reading.

In some instances, a member of the public may indicate that a standard accommodation is insufficient to provide meaningful access. If so, they have the option to request a different, non-standard accommodation. A non-standard accommodation is one that SSA does not routinely provide. Employees must consult with management on non-standard accommodation requests.

When a standard accommodation is inadequate, hearing office staff should first offer alternative service options such as eServices or contacting the National 800 Number. If the individual indicates that neither alternative service options nor standard accommodations, including locally available options, will be effective, hearing office staff will consider the request for a non-standard accommodation.

iAccommodate is an intranet application used to record and report accommodation requests (including standard accommodations and SNO) and, when applicable, to refer non-standard accommodation requests to the Deputy Commissioner for Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity, Center for Compliance Management (CCM).

Hearing office employees will follow the process set forth below to provide requested standard and non-standard accommodations. Staff will document all claimant requests for recurring or future accommodations in the remarks section of a claimant's record in the Case Processing and Management System (CPMS).

When working up a case, hearing office staff will check iAccommodate to determine if the claimant has previously requested an accommodation. Relevant accommodation requests include those marked as repeating and those requested specifically for the hearing level.

Review any claimant correspondence to determine if the claimant or the representative has submitted an accommodation request independently.

When scheduling a case for hearing, staff will make a note of any requests for accommodations from the claimant, representative, or non-expert witness. Staff will process those requests as indicated in C.2. above, if not previously added to iAccommodate.