Attitude,access and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): The rural business owners' perspective in Montana

This paper reports on the findings of a pilot study focused to discover the range of attitudes and perceptions of Montana rural, small business owners' on disability-accessibility issues. Research methods of this qualitative study utilized in-depth personal interviews with business owners in rural communities in Montana. Their attitudes may help explain why accessibility changes in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), are or are not occuring. Moreover, disability groups striving to achieve compliance through non-threatening technical assistance may be able to apply these findings and fine-tune or redirect their approach with the business community. The study focuses on the attitudinal impact of six factors on small rural business owners in Montana: (1) acknowledge level of awareness and relative importance of the ADA; (2) perceived affect of ADA on their business and community; (3) external and internal influences affecting their attitudes; (4) presence or absence of attitudinal barriers towards people with disabilities; (5) perceived motivators and/or solutions; and (6) personal background information.