E – 1768 ADA Paths – Part 1 No One Left Behind

In September of 2010, the U.S. Department of Justice published the “2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design,” a comprehensive set of standards about designing buildings to facilitate their use by the handicapped. The publication contained two parts, one establishing accessibility laws for facilities built with public funds, and one providing guidelines for public buildings built by private entities. Since that time, numerous model codes, building codes and published standards have been released, based in part or in whole on those standards, creating some confusion as to what exactly is required. This course is a comprehensive overview of the original guidelines and their intent.

The “2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design,” though quite lengthy, have been broken out and grouped into nine categories of information, presented in the following sequence. A series introduction discusses the creation of the standards and their applicability as regulations. This course then focuses on the additional parts of the standards addressing; accessible parking facilities and accessible building entryways.  An attempt was made to simplify these regulations and present them in an orderly and comprehensible fashion. Hopefully, the resulting information will be of use in designing public accommodations and commercial facilities, making them readily accessible to, and usable by individuals with disabilities.

Since the “2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design” was published, numerous building codes have been released, based in part or in whole on those standards. These covered the entire path from parking through special use facilities. The first two thirds of these standards have been discussed in previous courses and covered accessible parking through handicap friendly hardware and equipment.

This last portion will address the final third of the standards, dealing with communication equipment designed for the disabled, best choices in building finishes to enable use by those with mobility aids and the design of recreational facilities to make them available for continued enjoyment by the handicapped.

In short, this portion will cover the details of living safely, communicating safely and having fun the same way. Despite being handicapped.