The ADA (American With Disabilities Act) is not new legislation, it was put in effect over 20 years ago. Every school should have an action plan as to how to make their facilities handicap accessible. How accessible is your school?
There are 5 major components that lead towards making your facility accessible.
First, is there parking allocated for wheelchair access and is the path to the main entrance free from barriers? The designated handicap parking space must be at least 96" wide with a 60" access aisle adjacent to it. If you only have one h.c. parking space it must be designated as 'van accessible' and be 132" wide. The van space can be 96" wide if it has an adjacent access aisle of at least 96" wide. The pathway from the h.c. parking space must be accessible to the main entrance. No slopes of over 5% are allowed unless they are ramps. The ramps cannot slope over 8.33% (a one in twelve rise to run ratio) and must have handrails on both sides. The ramp cannot run more than 30' in the horizontal distance before having a level landing of at least 5'. There cannot be more than a 1/2" rise to overcome along the accessible path. For instance, if a tree root has caused the sidewalk to raise up and crack, if the rise is more than 1/2", it is considered to be a barrier.
Second, is the path of travel in the interior of the facility free from barriers? Access to all goods and services must be on an accessible path. Education is the service provided in the school, so all floors and all spaces must be accessible.
Third, are your restrooms accessible? All components of the restroom must be accessible. The ADA requires certain heights for the plumbing fixtures and at least one stall to be accessible (5'x5'). Mirrors, hand dryers and soap dispensers must be set at the appropriate height for the user of the facility. If you are building an addition to your school and it does not contain restrooms, then you must assure that accessible restrooms are available in the existing bldg. and that the restrooms are along an accessible pathway.
Fourth, are your drinking fountains accessible? ADA requires that drinking fountains be set at certain heights for the main users of the bldg and that they be located in pairs. One to be set at a lower height for wheelchair users and one set at a slightly higher elevation for those people that might have difficulty stooping over at the lower of the two fountains.
Fifth, are your public telephones accessible? This requirement is not difficult to comply with since the advent of mobile phones. But if you do have phones available to the public, one must be set at an accessible height.
These are simply the basic things you should be looking for to have an accessible facility. There are of course quite a few more items such as doors and door hardware that will make the interior pathway of the bldg accessible or not. If you do not have a plan in place to remove the barriers in your school, we highly recommend that you put one in place as soon as possible. More and more lawsuits are being filed every year by accessible advocates, and having a plan in place would greatly assist, should you be filed on.
Michael D. King AIA
Experiencing a physical space - such as a university campus - first-hand as a person with a mobility-related disability would is excellent advice. Obstacles and challenges that may not be immediately obvious to able-bodied individuals do exist for people with disabilities, and universities (as well as public spaces in general) not only have a legal responsibility to make spaces accessible, but an ethical responsibility as well. This extra time and thought put into the design of educational facilities will not be lost on people with disabilities and their advocates. In the long run, this extra effort and money spent on accessibility measures is more likely to be advantageous for the university. Avoiding legal settlements, protecting students' and faculty's safety and well-being, and creating a welcoming atmosphere (while promoting a positive public image of the university) are additional benefits that an accessible campus can provide.
ReplyDelete- A. Reinhardt, Kansas State University
Universal design is getting more and more awareness in higher education as well as the business sector. Having wheelchair accessibility was once the only "requirement" in public and higher education entities as well as the business sector. Today, universal design is being discussed in these arenas along with people building or redesigning their own homes. As the baby boomer generation ages, universal design has become more relevant as their own parents or themselves "need" accessibility in their workplace and home. Understanding the need for correct diminsions and styles of interior and exterior doors and doorways, hallways, door handles, bathroom facilities, and handrails, to name a few are important when considering building or remodeling facilties.
ReplyDeleteS. Lewis, TSU
Compliance with A.D.A will be critical for both public and private organizations. ADA has been referred as an "opportunity statute". The law and its guidelines allow for greater awareness in not only the employment but access for those with disabilities. With regards to facilities much of the focus surrounds physical disabilities and accommodating for access. However there are other needs, hence the focus on universal design. Reasonable accommodation are necessary are not as costly as many organizations often argue. On average about 75% of these accommodations cost less than $1,000.
ReplyDeleteAs a faculty member at a regional university, I have seen a growing number of individuals with physical disabilities on our campus. I have become more aware of their needs as it relates to accessibility throughout our campus and within my class.
While my campus is ADA compliant based on the standards listed above, there are several areas which might pose mobility problems for individuals with disabilities. For example, there are no automatic doors on my campus, meaning the individuals using wheelchairs and crutches must struggle to open heavy glass or metal doors. Many of the classrooms in portable buildings are only accessible by a ramp going into one classroon, which can mean that a student has to enter and pass through one classroom to reach another, often with little or no space to manuever between desks. As the comment above ponts out, many accomodations can be made at low cost, but are often overlooked by individuals without disabilities, simply because they do not realize the difficulties others face. It's important to remember that meeting ADA standards is a minimum level of accomodations, and that other changes might be needed to allow individuals with disabilities to have full access to all facilities.
ReplyDelete- Elizabeth Garcia, Tarleton State University
Though all the mandates of code compliance and ADA can make your head swim at times, when you have a disabled student on your campus, it makes you very happy that you meet all of these mandates. We want all students (and visitors) who enter our doors to feel welcome and happy to be there. Meeting these minimum standards is the least we can do. I'm glad that in our District we go above and beyond to meet all of these mandates on behalf of the students.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny my friend is doing her Master's Report on this subject.
ReplyDeleteOne of the problems that I think you are going to run into here on our campus is the age of the buildings. Most of the facilities were built before the American's with Disabilities Act, and are inherently difficult to retrofit. As well, I'm not sure if any of the buildings are on a historic register of any kind, but that is of course an issue when renovating to meet ADA standards.
For the most part, the retrofitting of old buildings to become compliant are not always the most convenient. To my knowledge, there are only 2 ground level entrances to my particular college building. Usually interior and fixture compliance are not too difficult to achieve, it's just the big stuff. But I do agree that we should be the first as educational facilities to accommodate for the disabled.
-B. Chmiel, Kansas State University