How has the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) affected how you design a project”

The Americans with Disabilities Act has affected virtually every aspect of design; site access, interior space planning, and even to an extent walls and finishes. More importantly, it has made many of us aware of the range of disabilities that affect our ever-aging population.

Back in 1979, when I took my first course in “Barrier Free Design”, I was astounded to watch a video at a presentation by Ron Mace, who was one of the early advocates of accessibility, featuring a gentleman who was wheelchair-bound as a result of being injured while serving in Vietnam, going up a moving down escalator-while in the wheelchair! Ron did not this to illustrate that even though this man was in a wheelchair, he did not consider himself “handicapped”.

We are all familiar with the ever-present five foot diameter circle (required for a typical wheelchair to be able to turn around), or the wheelchair icon on parking spaces. Most of us do not even realize the magnitude of disabilities that are actually affected by this legislation.

We now are required to place fire alarm strobes every 50 feet in public spaces, and we have learned that they need to be synchronized to avoid epileptic seizures, yet must be audible as well for those that are blind. We have volume controls on public telephones, minimum signage and font sizes and color contrasts for those with visual acuity issues. We have access to buildings via gentle slopes and ramps in conjunction with or replacements to stairs. There are spaces for parking of vans with special lifts and convenient parking for those who are less mobile.

Mass transportation and public housing have become accessible. All of this has led to a greatly increased sense of community and the ability for those that do not fit the mold to finally become outgoing, productive members of our society. It has added benefits for those that either become injured, ill or otherwise less mobile than we were previously, to still function in the manner in which we were accustomed. It has allowed parents with strollers to navigate places that were previously difficult to traverse. It has allowed grandparents to attend family functions; special needs children to attend schools; hearing impaired persons to speak on public telephones, blind persons to travel to work.

There have also been some of what I would call unanticipated results of this legislation; namely oftentimes a sea of unused parking spaces at the main entrances to stores and shopping malls, reductions in space utilization due to larger access aisles and clearances. We can only hope that with the upcoming revisions to the Federal guidelines due to be published next year, some of these issues will be rethought in light of the actual needs of our society.

We recently had a reviewer on a project comment that trees along an accessible route should be selected such that limbs did not grow lower than 80″ above the walkway. There comes a time when common sense should and must prevail with regard to the issues at hand. As I have said many, many times, “you cannot legislate good taste or judgment” but with some rational explicit guidelines, everyone can benefit.

I think I can speak for the design community when I ask that ADA should be resolved on a national level, as the ANSI 117.1 code was originally drafted, and not on a local level; leaving each of us exposed to the interpretations of the local community. Does someone who uses a walker have different space needs in part of the country than they do in another” Should the size of accessible parking spaces and access aisles vary from state to state”

In closing, I would also like to see this legislation extend to persons with mental disabilities. What could be more confusing than someone who can drive a vehicle, park it in an accessible space, and yet have a horrendous time navigating the road network to the facility due to confusing or illegible signage and road configurations”