2010 ADA STANDARDS TRAINING

Presented by David Yanchulis of the U.S. Access Board

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Wednesday March 23, 2011 (8:00 am - 4:00 pm)

Thursday March 24, 2011 (8:00 am - 12:00 pm) 

$100 Registration  

(Due to increased demand, registration will be opened to 200 attendees)

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If you haven't done so already, don't forget to register for the 2010 ADA Standards Training.  The training will be held at the Ala Moana Hotel on March 23rd and 24th, 2011.  Twelve (12) HSW Continuing Education Units will be given for attendees who attend the entire 1-1/2 day training.

David Yanchulis of the U.S. Access Board will cover changes in the updated guidelines/standards, clarification of common sources of confusion, and open the floor to Q&A. 

If you would like to register, please go to the following:

2010 ADA Standards Training Registration 

or contact Mona Higa or Laurie Palenske at 586-8121  

or via email at mona.higa@doh.hawaii.gov or laurie.palenske@doh.hawaii.gov  

Webinar and Audio Conference Series

More information about each session and registration is available at:  http://www.access-board.gov/webinars.htm.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) published revised final regulations implementing the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for title II (State and local government services) and title III (public accommodations and commercial facilities) on September 15, 2010, in the Federal Register.  These requirements, or rules, clarify and refine issues that have arisen over the past 20 years and contain new, and updated, requirements, including the 2010 Standards for Accessible Design ("2010 Standards").  The DOJ recently published a fact sheet, which explains when new construction, alterations, program accessibility, and readily achievable barrier removal must comply with the 2010 Standards.

The entire fact sheet can be viewed at http://www.ada.gov/revised_effective_dates-2010.htm or a pdf version can be downloaded from http://www.ada.gov/revised_effective_dates-2010.pdf. 

This study was conducted by the Center for Inclusive Design and Environmental Access (IDEA Center) with support from the U.S. Access Board and the Department of Education.  Under this project, researchers collected detailed measurements of people using a variety of wheeled mobility devices.  Almost 500 people at three locations participated in the study, making it one of the largest of its kind ever conducted.  Results from the Anthropometry of Wheeled Mobility Project confirm significant differences in body and chair sizes and in functional abilities of manual chairs, power chairs, and scooters used by men and women.  Researchers compared the data to existing design specifications for accessibility.  Key findings from this analysis include:

• Clear floor space requirements, especially the length, and knee and toe clearances do not accommodate many wheeled mobility aid users.
• Some mobility aids, particularly scooters, require greater clearances for maneuvering and turning.
• Points at the low end of recognized reach ranges are more problematic than those at the high end of the range.

These and other findings are detailed in the final report, which is available at http://www.udeworld.com/anthropometrics.html.

The U.S. Access Board undertook an initiative to encourage stakeholders in the construction industry to develop information on specific tolerances, as well as dimensioning and measurement conventions.  This effort focused on specifications for the surface of exterior and interior routes, including ramps.  The Report on this effort offers suggested tolerances for the running slopes and cross slopes of routes and ramps and for surface uniformity or flatness.  It also provides design recommendations to accommodate tolerances and construction variations.  For example, the Report notes that designing ramps with a more gradual slope (7.5% instead of the 8.33% maximum) will accommodate tolerances for common methods of constructing ramps with concrete, asphalt, and pavers.  The Report also provides guidance on protocols and available tools for measuring running and cross slopes, flatness, gaps, and surface variations.

These and other suggested best practices for architects and engineers are detailed in the Final Report, which is available at http://www.access-board.gov/research/tolerances/final-report.htm.  

Under the Fair Housing Act, must an accessible route between public and common use areas and dwelling units be an interior route if the general circulation path is interior?

An accessible route between public and common use areas and dwellings may be interior or exterior. However, if the general circulation path is interior, it would not be appropriate to provide only an exterior accessible route for persons with disabilities.  The Guidelines require equitable use of covered multifamily dwellings for persons with disabilities and require public and common use areas to be "readily accessible to and usable by" persons with disabilities.  Requiring persons with disabilities to go outside of a building to access a public and common use area when persons without disabilities are not required to do so is not consistent with these provisions.  Further, the Fair Housing Act prohibits providing housing to persons with disabilities on different terms and conditions.  Requiring persons with disabilities to travel outside while persons without disabilities travel inside would be a different term or condition of housing.