On July 26, 2010 the U.S.
Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the revisions to the ADA regulations for
Titles II & III, which will include the revised ADA Standards for Accessible
Design.
DCAB is excited and
fortunate to be hosting the first conference on September 8, 2010 at the Ala Moana Hotel in which both the DOJ and Access
Board will jointly attend to discuss these revisions to the ADA regulations.
This year, the U.S. Justice Department's Mr. John L. Wodatch, Chief, Disability
Rights Section will be the morning keynote speaker. He will talk about the
adoption of the new standards and the related issues regarding time frame for
compliance, the impact of the new standards on Title II entities and their
Transition Plans as well as the Title III obligation of 'Readily Achievable
Barrier Removal'.
In addition to Mr. Wodatch,
the U.S. Access Board's Ms. Marsha Mazz, Senior Accessibility Specialist,
Technical Assistance Coordinator, will be the luncheon keynote speaker. She
will discuss the "Update on New Guidelines and Research" being done by the
Access Board, touching on the contents of the new standards. Ms. Mazz is the Access Board's
representative to the model code organizations and is on the ICC/ANSI A117
Committee on Architectural Features and Site Design of Public Buildings and
Residential Structures for Persons with Disabilities.
Due to unforeseen
circumstance, Mr. Bill Hecker,
frequent speaker at DCAB's Disability Access
Conferences, will not be able to attend this year's conference. However, DCAB
is extremely pleased to announce the addition of another speaker from the U.S.
Access Board.
Ms. Lois Thibault,
Coordinator of Research, U.S. Architectural and Transportation Barriers
Compliance Board (the Access Board) will be presenting at this year's
conference. Ms. Thibault will present Session A1: 'Public Rights-of-Way:
Designing for Access'. Ms.
Thibault will also present special Session D: 'Acoustics in Public
Spaces'. Ms. Thibault assists in
agency rulemaking, having worked on the Public Rights-of-Way guidelines and she authored
'Accessible Rights-of-Way', a design guide for pedestrian facility
accessibility published by the U.S. Access Board.
Also presenting this year is
Mr. John Harada, AIA, Vice President of In+Form Design who will be presenting Session B3: 'Accessible Public Spaces: Lobbies, Reception Areas,
Restaurants & Retail Spaces'
in conjunction with Mr. Curtis Motoyama of DCAB.
Mr. Harada graduated with a Bachelors of Architecture degree from the
University of Oregon and has worked extensively on hospitality and commercial
projects during the past 20 years. He and his firm have worked on a number of
retail and public spaces including Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Macy's, Fairfield
Resorts, Kona Hawaiian Village and Coldstone Creameries.
Early Registration
with the discounted fee of $150 has been extended to Monday August 9, 2010. Registration
forms and the advanced program are available by contacting Mona Higa or Laurie Palenske at 808-586-8121 or via email at [email protected] or [email protected]_______________________________