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Access
Currents News from the U.S. Access Board • May/ June 2015 |
- Rail Access Advisory Committee to Present Final Report
- Board to Webcast Meetings Starting in July
- Board Holds Town Hall Meeting in Salt Lake City
- Upcoming Board Webinars
- Kathy Johnson, Board Legislative Analyst, Retires
- NCD Issues Report on Transit Accessibility
- Justice Department Issues ADA Guide for State and Local Governments
- Interagency Disability Research Committee to Hold Symposium on Employment
The Rail Vehicles Access Advisory Committee (RVAAC) will present its
final report to the Board in July. The Board organized this committee to review
requirements for rail cars in the ADA Accessibility Guidelines for
Transportation Vehicles and to adopt consensus recommendations on how they
should be updated. These requirements apply to fixed guideway systems, including
rapid, light, commuter, intercity, and high speed rail.
The committee's 23 members
include representatives from advocacy organizations, transit operators, rail car
manufacturers, trade groups, and other stakeholders. Since its creation in 2013,
the committee has held seven meetings. Several subcommittees it formed met
frequently by conference call in between committee meetings. The committee's
report will address how requirements for rail vehicles should be revised and
refreshed, including those covering boarding and alighting, on-board
circulation, seating, communications, and rooms and spaces. The Board will use
this report to propose updates to the guidelines that will be made available for
public comment. The Board previously released for public comment updates to
sections of the vehicle guidelines covering buses and vans which are currently
being finalized.
The committee will present
its report to the Board at a meeting on July 29 from 9:30 to 11:30 at the
Board's conference center. The meeting will be open to the public. For further
information, contact Paul Beatty at rvaac@access-board.gov, (202)
272-0012 (v), or (202) 272-0072 (TTY).
Presentation of the Rail Vehicles Access Advisory Committee's Final Report
July 29, 9:30 – 11:30
Access Board Conference Center
1331 F Street, NW, Suite 800
Washington, D.C.
Note: For the comfort of all participants and to promote a fragrance-free environment, attendees are requested not to use perfume, cologne, or other fragrances.
Details for a call-in option (listening only) and Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) will be posted on the Board's website.
The Board will webcast its regular meetings beginning with
its next meeting on July 29. Board meetings, which are open to the public, are
held every two months at the Board conference center in downtown Washington,
D.C. The Board usually substitutes one of these meetings each year for a town
hall meeting held in a different city.
"We are eager
to open up Board meetings to a much broader audience and to give those outside
the D.C. area a virtual ringside seat," states Board Executive Director David M.
Capozzi. "Webcasting our meetings will foster greater engagement with the public
and promote greater awareness of the Board's work."
The agenda for
the July Board meeting includes briefings from invited speakers. Marilyn Golden,
a Senior Policy Analyst at the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund,
will review major findings from a comprehensive analysis of public
transportation accessibility conducted for the National Council on Disability.
Maria Town, Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement,
also has been invited to address the Board. The agenda also includes reports
from Board standing and ad hoc committees and from the Executive Director as
well as updates on agency rulemaking and other activities.
Further
details, including the webcast link, will be posted on the Board's website.
Meeting of the U.S. Access Board
July 29, 1:30 – 3:00
Access Board Conference Center
1331 F Street, NW, Suite 800
Washington, D.C.
Note: For the comfort of all participants and to promote a fragrance-free environment, attendees are requested not to use perfume, cologne, or other fragrances.
The Board held a town hall meeting in Salt Lake City on
April 29 that featured panel discussions on technology and implementation of the
ADA. It also included a public hearing on the Board's proposed update of
accessibility requirements for information and communication technologies.
The first panel focused on technology and people with
disabilities and included representatives from Utah Assistive Technology, Web
Accessibility in Mind (WebAIM), an organization that promotes website
accessibility, and Sorenson Communications. Topics covered in this discussion
included video relay service to provide sign language interpretation, strategies
to promote and advance website accessibility, text-to-911 functionality, and a
state-wide program in Utah that helps individuals with disabilities acquire
assistive technologies.
This was followed by a panel discussion on implementation
of the ADA in the Salt Lake City area. Panelists included Salt Lake City's ADA
Coordinator and representatives from ADAPT and Disabled Rights Action Committee,
the Utah Transit Authority, and the Utah Division of Risk Management. Speakers
addressed the importance of integrating accessibility into master planning and
reviewed past and future initiatives by the city and transit authority to
improve accessibility to public sidewalks, parking, special events, housing,
parking enforcement, taxi cabs, and public transportation. They also discussed
how accessibility improvement projects are determined and prioritized through an
advisory council organized by the city.
Following the panel discussions, a hearing was held on
the Board's proposed rule updating requirements for information and
communication technologies covered by Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act and
Section 255 of the Communication Act. The event allowed the public to testify on
the proposal which was released for public comment in February. This was the
third and final hearing on the rule and followed those held earlier in San Diego
and Washington, D.C. Comments on the proposed rule were due May 28 and are
viewable at regulations.gov.
During the town hall discussion, members of the public
raised concerns about access to point-of-sale technologies, including those with
touch screens, vending machines, rail cars, visual display of bus stop
announcements, and remote sign language interpretation. Board members also
fielded questions concerning the work of the Board, including the status of its
rulemaking activities.
The next webinar in the Board's free monthly series
will take place July 2 from 2:30 – 4:00 (ET)
and will feature an open question and answer session on accessible swimming
pools and spas. Presenters will review scoping and technical requirements for
accessible swimming pools and spas but will devote most of the session to
responding to questions from attendees. The webinar will clarify various
technical requirements, including those for pool lifts and sloped entries, and
discuss how scoping provisions apply to sites with multiple pools and spas.
Questions can be submitted in advance of the session
(total limited to 25) or can be posed during the webinar. A previous webinar in the series provided an
overview of swimming pool and spa accessibility. Participants are encouraged to
view this archived webinar in advance of the upcoming session.
For more information, including registration
instructions, visit www.accessibilityonline.org. Webinar
attendees can earn continuing education credits (CEUs). The webinar series is
made available in cooperation with the ADA National Network.
Section 508 Best Practices Webinar Series
The Board, in partnership with the Accessibility Community of Practice of the CIO Council, also conducts the Section 508 Best Practices Webinar Series. These webinars provide helpful information and best practices for federal agencies in meeting their obligations under Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act which ensures access to electronic and information technology in the federal sector. The next webinar in this series will be held July 14 from 1:00 – 2:30 (ET). For further information, visit www.adaconferences.org/CIOC/.
The Board, in partnership with the Accessibility Community of Practice of the CIO Council, also conducts the Section 508 Best Practices Webinar Series. These webinars provide helpful information and best practices for federal agencies in meeting their obligations under Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act which ensures access to electronic and information technology in the federal sector. The next webinar in this series will be held July 14 from 1:00 – 2:30 (ET). For further information, visit www.adaconferences.org/CIOC/.
The Board's longtime legislative analyst Kathy Johnson retired from
government service in May. Johnson joined the Board's staff in 1991 where she
oversaw legistlative affairs. In additon to managing congressonal relations for
the agency, she conducted public outreach and promoted Board activities,
including town hall meetings and public hearings. Prior to her service at the
Board, she worked at the National Council on Disability and was involved in its
release of the landmark report, "Toward Indpendence," which helped lay the
groundwork for passage of the ADA. She also was employed by United Cerebral
Palsy. Her service in the federal and non-profit sectors spans over 40 years.
In May the National Council on Disability (NCD) released
findings from a nationwide analysis of public transportation in the U.S. The
report, "Transportation Update: Where We've Gone and What We've Learned,"
outlines the progress that has been made in surface transportation under the ADA
over the past decade and details barriers to passengers with disabilities that
persist.
"More people
with disabilities are riding public transit than ever before and yet, in many
areas, significant barriers to ground transportation for Americans with
disabilities remain pervasive," noted NCD Chair Jeff Rosen upon release of the
report. "NCD's report addresses the broad range of surface transportation … and
makes recommendations policymakers should use to address these barriers
promptly."
The study,
which was conducted for NCD by the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund
(DREDF), found that bus and rail ridership among people with disabilities has
grown far faster than paratransit ridership and that further improvement is
needed in paratransit service, including eligibility, wait times, and on-time
performance. The report also indicates that a lack of transit service in rural
or remote areas still creates serious barriers to employment, health care, and
full participation in society, and that full compliance with the ADA in
intercity rail continues to lag in achieving access to stations, platforms, rail
cars, communications, and reservation practices. Marilyn Golden, DREDF Senior
Policy Analyst, will review these findings at a meeting of the Board on July 29.
The report and
related information are available on NCD's
website.
The Department of Justice has published a new technical
assistance guide, "ADA Update: A
Primer for State and Local Governments," to help State and
local government officials understand how title II of the ADA applies to their
programs, activities, and services. The 16-page illustrated docment addresses
general nondiscrimination requirements, such as provisions relating to program
accessibility, service animals, communicating with people with disabilities,
other power-driven mobility devices, and policies and procedures. The guide also
addresses how the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design apply to the built
environment, including existing buildings and facilities, new construction, and
alterations.
Further
information is avaialble on DOJ's website at ada.gov or its toll-free ADA hotline
at (800) 514-0301 (v), or (800) 514-0383 (TTY).
The Interagency Committee on Disability Research, which coordinates
disability research among federal agencies, will hold a symposium on disability
employment June 24 at the U.S. Department of Labor in Washington, D.C. The full
day conference, "Disability & Employment Policy Symposium: Research
Informing Practice and Policy," will address how research-based knowledge can
affect employment practice and policy, and how practice and policy can influence
research. Federal government representatives, researchers, individuals with
disabilities, advocates, employers and others are welcome to attend. The event
is free, but registration is required and must be completed by June 16. Further
information and registration is available at http://icdr.acl.gov or by contacting
ICDR at ICDRinfo@neweditions.net or (703)
356-8035 ext. 106.
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