history of accessibility

HO ME

DESIGN OBJECTIVES Acce ssib le Hist o ry o f Acce ssib le B uild ing D e sig n Pro vid e Eq ual Acce ss Plan f o r Fle xib ilit y: B e Pro act ive Ae st he t ics C o st - Ef f e ct ive Funct io nal / O p e rat io nal Hist o ric Pre se rvat io n Pro d uct ive Se cure / Saf e Sust ainab le

ABO UT

CO NTACT

SIT E MAP

RSS

Home > Design Guidance > Design Objectives > Accessible > History of Accessible Building Design

History of Accessible Building Design

LO G IN

S

E

A

R

C

CO MMENT O N T HIS PAGE BO O KMARK AND SHARE

by the WBDG Accessible Committee Last updated: 06-01-2010

The accessibility mo vement has co mmo n ro o ts with the civil rights mo vement and the Civil Rights Act o f 19 6 4. These ro o ts lie in the structure and implementatio n o f laws dealing with accessibility.

The first natio nally reco gnized accessible design standard American Natio nal Standards Institute (ANSI) A117.1 Accessible and Usable Buildings and Facilities. Released in 19 6 1, this standard was based upo n research do ne by the University o f Illino is and funded by the Easter Seals Research Fo undatio n. It served as an impo rtant reference fo r private entities and lo cal and state go vernments. In 19 74, the standard received federal input when the Department o f Ho using and Urban Develo pment jo ined the Secretariat o f the co mmittee in charge o f the standard.

Since 19 6 8 , when the Architectural Barriers Act was passed, the federal go vernment has taken steps to address accessibility and its enfo rcement in facilities designed, built, altered, o r leased using certain federal funds. The timeline belo w details many o f these steps.

B UILD IN G T YPES SPAC E T YPES D ESIG N D ISC IPLIN ES PR O D UC T S & SYST EMS

(Courtesy of Bill Brack)

PDFmyURL.com

H

Milest ones of Accessible Design Requirement s Ye ar Mile st o ne 1961 American 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.

1964 Civil 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 1968 Architectural Barriers Act (ABA) —Requires that facilities designed, constructed, altered, or leased with certain federal funds be accessible to persons with disabilities 1973 Rehabilitation 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.

1984 Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards (UFAS) —Contains accessibility scoping and technical requirements implementing the Architectural Barriers Act of 1968 1988 Fair Housing Amendments Act (FHAA) —Requires adaptable features in certain covered multi- family dwellings with 4 or more units 1990 Americans 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 1991 Fair Housing Accessibility Guidelines —Provides minimum technical and scoping criteria for compliance with the FHA 1991 American 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 PDFmyURL.com

cover transportation facilities in the private and public sectors.

1998 ADA Accessibility Guidelines—Amended to include guidelines for state and local government facilities and building elements designed for children's use 2000 ADA Accessibility Guidelines—Amended to include guidelines for play areas 2002 ADA Accessibility Guidelines—Amended to include guidelines for recreation facilities 2002 Help America Vote Act —Regulates equipment and voting booths for equal access voting areas 2003 Equal 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 2004 ADA and ABA Accessibility Guidelines for Buildings and Facilities —Updated and published in the Federal Register in July of 2004

Summary info rmatio n abo ut these regulatio ns is available at the Department o f Justice's Guide to Disability Rights Laws.

BACK TO TO P

National Institute of Building Sciences | An Authoritative Source of Innovative Solutions for the Built Environment 1090 Vermont Avenue, NW, Suite 700 | Washington, DC 20005- 4950 | (202) 289- 7800 | Fax (202) 289- 1092 © 2011 National Institute of Building Sciences. All rights reserved. D isclaime r

PDFmyURL.com