History
Located on the campus of West Virginia University since its inception in 1983, the Network began with two consultants providing accommodation information over two telephone lines with no computers. At that time, JAN served only employers seeking accommodation information. Because of additional demand for its confidential, direct, and no-cost service, JAN quickly expanded beyond providing information to employers to include rehabilitation and educational professionals, individuals with disabilities, and anyone else interested in workplace accommodations.
Initially, JAN consulted primarily on sensory disabilities, those involving hearing, vision, touch, or speech impairments. Until the early 1990s, about 30 percent of JAN’s requests addressed these disability areas. As computers, office machines, cell phones, wireless communication, and similar technology became common in workplaces, employees with all types of impairments needed to be able to use the technology. As caller questions became more technical, JAN consultants changed to a team approach, dividing into motor / mobility, sensory, and cognitive / neurological teams. A team approach allowed consultants to handle increasing case loads, yet stay current and knowledgeable about rapidly changing technology and products. With the implementation of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) in 1992, more individuals began calling JAN and more cases focused on accommodating individuals with motor / mobility impairments. Prior to 1992, JAN averaged 630 accommodation inquiries per month. In 1992, cases soared to over 1,600 per month and continued to steadily rise throughout the 1990s, ending with an average of almost 3,000 per month. JAN now averages between 32,000 and 38,000 inquiries and nearly 4,000,000 Website customers.
In 2000, the JAN staff was evaluated by WESTAT, an employee-owned research corporation serving agencies of the U.S. Government, as well as businesses, foundations, and state and local governments. JAN achieved recognition for achieving the highest score ever awarded by an outside evaluator.
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