THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT HAS MADE A POSITIVE IMPACT ON THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT — BUT THERE'S SO MUCH MORE LEFT TO BE DONE
Far too many people responsible for designing our built environment leave disability out of the conversation because no one on the planning and implementation teams belongs to the disability community.
Far too many others mistake the ADA for a
type of building code — which can and should allow for waivers and
variances under certain circumstance — rather than the iron-clad, non-negotiable,
federal civil rights legislation that it is.
I could fill a large room with people who have shamelessly asked me “Hey, Steve, you work with people with disabilities and design; how can I get away with having no ramp at the entrance to my new building?
How can we avoid the cost of an elevator?”
Even if that building is, of all things, a four-story medical office.
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