ADA Coordinator Certification or Employer ADA Training: Which One Fits Your Job?

Where the ADA Coordinator Role Comes From

The term "ADA Coordinator" comes from Title II of the ADA, which covers state and local governments. The Department of Justice regulation at 28 C.F.R. § 35.107 says:

• A public entity that employs 50 or more persons "shall designate at least one employee to coordinate its efforts to comply with and carry out its responsibilities" under the Title II regulation, including investigating complaints.
• The entity must make the name, office address, and telephone number of that employee available to all interested individuals.
• A public entity of that size must also "adopt and publish grievance procedures providing for prompt and equitable resolution of complaints."

That is the whole federal requirement. The regulation does not require the coordinator to hold a certification, and it does not prescribe training. A credential is a way to build and show competence in the role, not a legal condition of holding it.

Two things follow. First, the Title II coordinator's job is broad. It concerns whether the public can use the entity's programs, services, buildings, communications, and, increasingly, its websites. Second, Title I of the ADA, the employment title enforced by the EEOC under 29 C.F.R. Part 1630, contains no coordinator requirement at all. A private employer is not required to designate an ADA Coordinator. Many do assign one person or team to manage accommodations, which is sound practice, but that role is defined by employment law, not by Title II. Some organizations that receive federal funding have a separate coordinator duty under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Check the applicable funding agency's Section 504 regulation for the threshold and wording.

The ADA Coordinator Certification, Described Fairly

The recognized credential for the Title II role is the ADA Coordinator Certification, which the program's site now abbreviates ADACC. You will still see it listed as the ADA Coordinator Training Certification Program, or ACTCP, including on the ADA National Network's site. It is the same program.

Based on the program's own website as of this writing:

• Who runs it. The program is administered through the University of Missouri, College of Arts and Sciences, and is associated with the Great Plains ADA Center, one of the regional centers in the ADA National Network. The University issues the certification.
• How it works. Candidates complete a set number of approved training credits, split among a prerequisite ADA basics course, required foundation topics, and electives, and then pass an online examination. The site lists 41 credits in total and gives candidates three years from registration to finish. Confirm current numbers on adacoordinator.org.
• What it covers. Required foundation topics listed on the site are the role of the ADA Coordinator, self-evaluation and transition plans, the 2010 Standards for Accessible Design, and Title I guidelines. Candidates add topics such as effective communication, emergency preparedness, public rights of way, and reasonable accommodation, plus electives across categories including Title II program access, Title III, transportation, education, and accessible technology.
• What you earn. People who complete the requirements and pass the exam may use the ADAC designation. The certification is valid for three years and is maintained through continuing education. Check the program site for current renewal requirements.
• Who it is for. The site names state and local government ADA Coordinators first, and also health care professionals and facility administrators, architects, engineers and ADA consultants, nonprofit and disability organization staff, and others with ADA compliance responsibilities.

It is a substantial, multi-part credential tied to a university, with an exam and a renewal cycle. If you are the designated coordinator for a public entity, or you want that job, this is the credential built for it. We do not offer a substitute for it and would not suggest one.

What Employer (Title I) ADA Training Covers

Private-sector HR professionals deal with a different slice of the ADA, in far more depth than a broad coordinator curriculum can give it:

• Who is covered and who is protected under the ADA, including the definition of disability after the ADA Amendments Act. See who is protected under the ADA.
• Recognizing an accommodation request and running the interactive process. See our interactive process guide.
• Essential functions, qualified individuals, and job descriptions.
• Limits on medical inquiries and examinations, and confidentiality of medical information.
• Undue hardship and direct threat.
• Leave as an accommodation, reassignment, and return-to-work decisions.
• How the ADA interacts with the FMLA, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, workers' compensation, and state law, where much of the real exposure sits. See FMLA and ADA coordination risks.

Employer ADA training is typically offered by HR training providers, employment law firms, and professional associations. It usually ends in a certificate of completion or a provider designation rather than a university-issued certification. We explain those terms in what ADA certification means for HR.

Side-by-Side Comparison

Which One Do You Need?

• You are the designated ADA Coordinator for a city, county, state agency, public school district, public university, transit agency, or other public entity. Pursue the ADA Coordinator Certification. Your responsibilities reach well beyond employment, and that program is designed around them.
• You work in HR for a public entity but someone else is the coordinator. Public employers have ADA employment obligations too, so the day-to-day accommodation work in your office looks much like private-sector HR. Employer ADA training fits your job. Coordinate with your entity's ADA Coordinator on the grievance procedure.
• You hold both roles in a small public entity. You likely need both: the coordinator credential for the Title II program, and deeper employment training for the accommodation and leave cases that take up most of your week.
• You work in HR for a private employer. You need Title I training. The coordinator program would have you spending many of your credits on transition plans, public rights of way, and accessible design standards that do not apply to your accommodation caseload, while giving less time than you need to medical documentation, leave, and return-to-work decisions.
• You are an architect, facility manager, or consultant. The coordinator program lists you among its audiences, and built-environment credentials may also apply. HR training is not aimed at you.
• Your managers are the problem. Neither credential fixes a supervisor who ignores a request. Start with ADA training for managers.

Some state or local laws may add their own coordinator or training requirements; check your jurisdiction.

If Employer ADA Training Is the Right Fit

HRTrainingCenter's programs are employment-focused. They are certificate programs: the certificate or designation shows you completed our training, and it is not a government credential, a license, or the Title II coordinator certification. The descriptions below are taken from the current course pages.

• ADA Training & Certification Program. A self-paced online course sold as an annual subscription. It covers basic ADA requirements, reasonable accommodation, job restructuring, medical examinations, mental disabilities, interaction with other laws, and ADA investigations, with scenario-based quizzes that explain each answer. An optional test leads to our "Certified ADA Administrator" designation. Approved for eight hours of HRCI and SHRM recertification credit.
• Certificate Program in FMLA, ADA, and PWFA Compliance. A three-day instructor-led program, in person or by video conference, with 17 sessions, a 300-page workbook, case studies based on real court cases, and interactive exercises. It carries 18 HRCI and SHRM recertification credits.
• Leave and Accommodation Management seminar. A two-day advanced workshop, in person or by video conference, on cases where the ADA, FMLA, PWFA, USERRA, workers' compensation, and state laws overlap. It uses real-world case studies and more than a dozen interactive exercises and carries 12 HRCI and SHRM recertification credits. The course page states that basic knowledge of the statutes is presumed.

Reconfirm credit counts on each course's Credits tab at publish time.

A reasonable path for an HR professional new to accommodations is the online program or the three-day certificate program first, then the advanced seminar once you are handling multi-law cases. Session dates are on the HR seminar calendar. For other providers, see ADA training programs compared.

Frequently Asked Questions

The Bottom Line

ADA coordinator certification and employer ADA training answer different questions. If the public entity you work for has designated you under 28 C.F.R. § 35.107, go to the ADA Coordinator Certification program; it was built for your role and we recommend it for that purpose. If you handle accommodation requests from employees, especially in the private sector, you need Title I training with real depth on the interactive process, medical documentation, leave, and return to work.

For that second group, start with our online ADA Training & Certification Program or the three-day certificate program, and move to the Leave and Accommodation Management seminar when your caseload involves overlapping laws. Keep our Glossary of ADA Terms nearby while you compare programs.