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Accessible

by the WBDG Accessible Committee

Last updated: 04-28-2008

Overview

"We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal..."
- Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776

In daily life, as we maneuver through society, nothing is more important yet taken for granted more often than access. For millions of people with disabilities, the access that most of us take for granted is difficult, impossible, or achievable only with the intervention of a third party. We live in what is considered an independent society, yet independent access to programs, facilities, and employment are not easily achievable by many. Physical access is historically the arbiter of success and the source of opportunity in education, employment, and social freedom. Thus, accessibility is a civil rights issue for many people with disabilities and for our society.

History of Accessible Building Design

The accessibility movement has common roots with the civil rights movement and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. These roots lie in the structure and implementation of laws dealing with accessibility.

The first nationally recognized accessible design standard American National Standards Institute (ANSI) A117.1 Accessible and Usable Buildings and Facilities. Released in 1961, this standard was based upon research done by the University of Illinois and funded by the Easter Seals Research Foundation. It served as an important reference for private entities and local and state governments. In 1974, the standard received federal input when the Department of Housing and Urban Development joined the Secretariat of the committee in charge of the standard.

Since 1968, when the Architectural Barriers Act was passed, the federal government has taken steps to address accessibility and its enforcement in facilities designed, built, altered, or leased using certain federal funds. The timeline below details many of these steps.

Timeline of accessibility movement. Federal government; 1968-ABA, 1973-DoD ANSI A117.1 standards and Rehab Act Sect.504, 1985-UFAS standards. Private Sector; 1990-ADA, 1991-ADAAG standards

(Courtesy of Bill Brack)

Milestones of Accessible Design Requirements

1961American National Standard Institute (ANSI) A117.1 Accessible and Usable Buildings and Facilities—Became the private sector model for a technical standard for accessible features. This document was most recently updated and published in 2003.
1964Civil Rights Act—Made racial discrimination in public places illegal, required employers to provide equal employment opportunities, stated that uniform standards must prevail for establishing the right to vote
1968Architectural Barriers Act (ABA)—Requires that facilities designed, constructed, altered, or leased with certain federal funds be accessible to persons with disabilities
1973Rehabilitation Act—Prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in programs conducted by federal agencies, in programs receiving federal financial assistance, in federal employment, and in the employment practices of federal contractors
Section 504—Each agency has its own set of section 504 regulations that apply to its programs. Agencies that provide federal financial assistance also have section 504 regulations covering entities that receive federal aid. Requirements common to these regulations include reasonable accommodation for employees with disabilities; program accessibility; effective communication with people who have hearing or vision disabilities; and accessible new construction and alterations.
1984Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards (UFAS)—Contains accessibility scoping and technical requirements implementing the Architectural Barriers Act of 1968
1988Fair Housing Amendments Act (FHAA)—Requires adaptable features in certain covered multi-family dwellings with 4 or more units
1990Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)—Prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability; establishes design requirements for the construction or alteration of facilities required to be accessible. It covers facilities in the private sector (places of public accommodation and commercial facilities) and the public sector (state and local government facilities).
Title I—Access to workplace
Title II—State and local government services
Title III—Places of public accommodation and commercial facilities
Title IV—Telecommunications: hearing or speech impairments
Title V—Miscellaneous instructions to Federal agencies that enforce the law
1991Fair Housing Accessibility Guidelines—Provides minimum technical and scoping criteria for compliance with the FHA
1991American with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG)—Contains scoping and technical requirements for access to buildings and facilities by individuals with disabilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
As originally published in July 1991, ADAAG addressed places of public accommodation and commercial facilities in the private sector. ADAAG was updated in September of 1991 to cover transportation facilities in the private and public sectors.
1998ADA Accessibility Guidelines—Amended to include guidelines for state and local government facilities and building elements designed for children's use
2000ADA Accessibility Guidelines—Amended to include guidelines for play areas
2002ADA Accessibility Guidelines—Amended to include guidelines for recreation facilities
2002Help America Vote Act—Regulates equipment and voting booths for equal access voting areas
2003Equal Opportunity Commission Management Directive 715—Provides a roadmap for creating effective equal employment opportunity (EEO) programs for all federal employees as required by Title VII and the Rehabilitation Act
2004ADA and ABA Accessibility Guidelines for Buildings and Facilities—Updated and published in the Federal Register in July of 2004

Summary information about these regulations is available at the Department of Justice's Guide to Disability Rights Laws.

Definition and Goals of Accessible Design

Illustration of the range of disabled people

(Courtesy of Bill Brack)

If we live long enough, all of us may eventually have a disability that requires a modification of the built enviroment. The number of Americans having a disability is projected to grow rapidly as our population ages. One outgrowth of this is that the line between who is and who is not a person with a disability will steadily erode. We must redefine and redirect our traditional understanding of designing for accessibility to not only include those persons permanently disabled, but also those temporarily disabled due to an injury as well as any other potentially debilitating condition.

The Accessible branch of the WBDG is designed primarily to provide insight and raise awareness on accessible design issues. For information about compliance with accessibility guidelines and standards for a particular facility, contact the Department of Justice or the U.S. Access Board.

Two principles of accessible design are:

Note: Information in these Accessible pages must be considered together with other design objectives and within a total project context in order to achieve quality, high performance buildings.

Emerging Issues

Revision of ABA and ADA Accessibility Guidelines

The U.S. Access Board's guidelines issued under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Architectural Barriers Act (ABA) have been completely updated and revised. The ADA Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG) cover the construction and alteration of facilities in the private sector (places of public accommodation and commercial facilities) and the public sector (state and local government facilities). The accessibility guidelines issued under the ABA primarily address facilities in the federal sector and others designed, built, altered, or leased with federal funds. The guidelines under both laws have been combined into one rule entitled Americans with Disabilities Act and Architectural Barriers Act Accessibility Guidelines that contains three parts: a scoping document for ADA facilities, a scoping document for ABA facilities, and a common set of technical criteria that the scoping sections will reference. As a result, the requirements for both ADA and ABA facilities will be made more consistent. The updated guidelines were published as a final rule in the Federal Register in July of 2004.

Revision of Accessibility Standards

The federal agencies that are responsible for setting the standards to enforce the ADA and ABA are revising their standards so that they are consistent with the updated guidelines. For the ADA, the responsible agencies are the U.S. Department of Justice and Department of Transportation. The responsible agencies for the ABA are the U.S. Postal Service, Housing and Urban Development, General Services Administration, and Department of Defense. Until an agency revises its standards, the current standards will remain in effect. For more information, contact the U.S. Access Board.

Relevant Codes and Standards

Major Resources

The major resource for guidance on accessible design is the U.S. Access Board (Access Board). The Access Board is an independent federal agency devoted to accessibility for people with disabilities. Key responsibilities of the Board include developing and maintaining accessibility requirements for the built environment, transit vehicles, telecommunications equipment, and electronic and information technology; providing technical assistance and training on these guidelines and standards; and enforcing accessibility standards for federally funded facilities. For additional resources, see the Access Board's Links Page.

Federal Mandates, Legislation, etc.

Organizations

Federal Agencies

Related Resource Pages
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