THE ADA TURNED 30, BUT THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT IS STILL FAR FROM INCLUSIVE (PART 5)

While many cities have shown efforts to implement accessible design since the 1990 adoption of the American Disabilities Act, more must be done

As an advocate for inclusive design, I see the self-fulfilling negative prophecy – from inception to epic failure. 

If the professional’s attitude is anti-ADA…their designs come out complicated, costly, confounding and non-compliant.

These same masters of their fields have awards on their walls for innovative projects. 

Projects that dealt with myriad fire, HVAC, flood, wind, life safety, commercial/residential building and zoning codes – but were still able to be creative, signature works. 

But toss the ADA at them and they feign that it is impossible to integrate human-friendly design into their master work.