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The following document is forwarded to you by the Great Lakes ADA Center for

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Access Currents

Volume 8, No. 1 January/ February 2002

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- Meeting on Access to Public-Rights-of-Way Held in Portland, Oregon

- New Board Telephone Numbers

- Board Adopts New Agency Logo and Design for Print Materials

- Draft Bulletin on Construction Tolerances Available for Public Review

- New Program on Innovative School Design to Air on Public Television

- The Board Updates its Emergency Evacuation Plan

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Meeting on Access to Public-Rights-of-Way Held in Portland, Oregon

Currently, the Board is preparing guidelines on public rights-of-way that

will supplement its ADA Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG). These guidelines,

which will cover access to sidewalks, street crossings, and other related

pedestrian facilities, will be based on recommendations from an advisory

committee organized by the Board. The Public Rights-of-Way Access Advisory

Committee included representatives from disability organizations, public

works departments, transportation and traffic engineering groups, design

professionals and civil engineers, government agencies, and

standards-setting bodies. Last year, the Committee presented its

recommendations to the Board in the form of a report, " Building a True

Community, " which the Board has made widely available along with guidance

material it has developed on accessible public rights-of-ways.

A subgroup of Committee members is continuing to work with the Board on

additional guidance materials that will focus on alterations in the public

right-of-way. This group has met in various locations around the country to

analyze and recommend improvements to local sites and intersections and to

gather information for " real world " case studies that will be part of the

materials to be developed. The group has selected meeting sites that offer

a good range of issues and opportunities, including geometric design,

orientation and mobility, signaling, and barrier removal.

In February, the group met in Portland, Oregon. The City of Portland is a

leader in pedestrian and transit planning and has implemented various

innovative and cutting-edge solutions to challenges often found in urban

centers. Its Pedestrian Master Plan has been a model for many cities in the

U.S. Portland's transit system and public streets feature elements of

interest to the group, including new detectable warnings at intersections

that are currently being tested, a long-standing program for accessible

pedestrian signals, a new accessible on-street trolley system, a light rail

line that serves its airport, and a new traffic roundabout at the airport.

These innovations provided group members and the Board an opportunity to

explore, first-hand, issues raised in the Committee's report, such as

flangeway gaps at rail lines that cross pedestrian routes and access to

roundabouts for pedestrians who have vision impairments. Jerry Markesino of

the Portland Office on Transportation, who had served as chair of the

Committee, hosted the meeting. The group previously held similar meetings

in Las Vegas (November) and Atlanta (July).

The next meeting will be held in San , Texas on April 3, 2002, in

conjunction with the Texas Department of Transportation's annual design

conference. The event will feature a facilitated workshop that will begin

with an overview of the legal requirements for accessible facilities, the

status of efforts to develop requirements specific to public rights-of-way

projects, and the state perspective on these efforts. The group of

committee members will also meet on the following days (April 4 and 5). A

future meeting is scheduled for Columbus, Ohio, in June. For more

information, contact the Board at (800) 872-2253, ext. 0025 (voice), (800)

993-2822 (TTY) or by e-mail at windley@....

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New Board Telephone Numbers

Due to an upgrade of its telephone system, the Board's toll and fax numbers

have changed, but its toll-free numbers remain the same:

voice: (202) 272-0080 or (800) 872-2253

TTY: (202) 272-0082 or (800) 993-2822

Fax: (202) 272-0081

An automatic roll-over will be in effect for several months.

New phone menu options:

1 if you know your party's extension or name

2 to order publications

3 for technical assistance

4 to file a complaint under the Architectural Barriers Act

5 for general information about the Board

0 for operator assistance

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Board Adopts New Agency Logo and Design for Print Materials

The Board has adopted a new logo for the agency that was selected through a

design competition organized by the Society of Environmental Graphic

Designers (SEGD) last year. The new logo is posted on the Board's website

at: www.access-board.gov/logo.htm. The Board sought to replace its previous

logo, which was developed almost 15 years ago, to create a more unique

graphic representation for its print materials. Specifically, the Board

wanted a distinctive design that was reflective of its mission yet

" official " looking enough for use by a Federal agency. The new logo was

designed by Coco Raynes of Coca Raynes Associates, Inc. in Boston,

Massachusetts. Raynes' design features formal elements of a star and

stripes to indicate that the Board is a Federal entity. However, her design

depicts these elements in a way that is open, optimistic, and suggestive of

movement, to highlight what accessibility is all about. In addition to the

new logo, Raynes has supplied the Board with new designs to be used for its

print materials including stationary, reports, brochures, and its newsletter

(starting with this issue).

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Draft Bulletin on Construction Tolerances Available for Public Review

The Board is sponsoring a project with the Construction Specifications

Institute (CSI) to develop guidance on certain types of construction

tolerances for use with the Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility

Guidelines (ADAAG). CSI is a technical society whose core purpose is to

improve the process of creating and sustaining the built environment. A

technical bulletin being developed under the project will discuss exterior

walk and ramp surfaces and how they are affected by ADAAG specifications

with respect to construction tolerances. Recommendations on construction

tolerances and measurement protocols will be provided for surface flatness,

slope, vibration, and rollability. ADAAG generally recognizes conventional

building industry tolerances for field conditions, but does not specifically

define accepted tolerances. The bulletin will provide guidance for design

professionals, contractors, and code officials in determining acceptable

tolerances. A draft of the bulletin was previously made available for

public comment. A revised draft is available for review on the Internet at

www.infraknowledge.org.

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New Program on Innovative School Design to Air on Public Television

A new special on leading-edge school design is scheduled to air on Public

Television in April. The hour-long program, " The Future of Schools: Inside

and Out, " features creative solutions and alternative ideas used in the

design of new and renovated schools. Covered in the program are innovative

designs and technologies for improving classroom acoustics, air quality,

lighting systems, energy efficiency, strength, and safety. The Board, which

has been involved in the development of industry standards for classroom

acoustics that take into account students with hearing impairments, helped

sponsor the program, along with the International Codes Council, the U.S.

Department of Energy, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Modular

Building Institute, and Dell Computer Corporation. The program was produced

by the Information Television (ITV) Network and will be distributed by

American Public Television. For information on air dates or to order a copy

of the program, call ITV at (888) 380-6500 or visit its website at

www.itvisus.com.

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The Board Updates its Emergency Evacuation Plan

Recently, the Board completed a review and update of its emergency

evacuation plan to ensure that it meets the needs of employees and visitors

to its offices. Almost a third of the Board's staff uses wheeled mobility

aids or has a vision impairment. Its offices are located on the top floor

of a ten story building in downtown Washington, DC. The terrorist attack on

the Pentagon on September 11th, which led to the evacuation of buildings in

downtown Washington, and later unrelated building emergencies, raised some

questions about the adequacy of the Board's existing evacuation plan. These

issues were discussed extensively in-house and addressed in the Board's

update of its plan.

As a first step in the review of its evacuation procedures, the Board

organized a committee of employees who met with Board staff to discuss

evacuation issues. The committee consulted employees with disabilities

individually on preferred methods for assisted evacuation. Board staff also

met with building management, local fire department personnel, a

manufacturer of evacuation chairs, as well as other agencies and groups with

evacuation plans involving persons with disabilities. Important elements of

the plan were developed in consultation with the fire department and

building management. Such consultation is critical since fire department

procedures and protocols for assisted evacuation may vary by locality. Once

the plan was developed, the Board communicated essential details to these

entities for their records.

Various products are available to accommodate persons with disabilities in

emergencies. The Board's plan includes the use of evacuation chairs for

those employees unable to use stairs. These devices are designed with

seats, rollers, and treads that enable a person to be transported down

stairs with the assistance of another individual. These devices can be a

key element of an evacuation plan, particularly where areas of rescue

assistance, horizontal exits, or evacuation elevators are not available.

The committee reviewed a variety of evacuation chairs on the market and

selected a new model to update the Board's current inventory of chairs. The

Board included additional evacuation chairs in its purchase for use by

visitors to the Board's offices.

The Board trained all staff on the new evacuation chairs and conducted

practice evacuations. Additional practice sessions are to be held on a

regular basis. The Board considered it important that both persons who

would occupy the chairs and all staff who may provide assistance in the use

of the chairs take part in the training. Also, the Board found it essential

to conduct practice sessions with the chairs in the stairway to be used in

an emergency and to tailor the plan, in consultation with building

management, according to particular characteristics of the building. For

example, Board staff surveyed both available emergency stairways in its

building for landing size, landing uniformity, and exit location, and

designated one as more suitable for use with evacuation chairs. Because

many Board employees have varied work and travel schedules, it is difficult

to predict which employees may be in the office on any given day. The

Board's plan does not rely on the designation of particular employees to

provide assistance, but instead is aimed to train as many employees as

possible to provide assistance and to perform the various roles outlined in

the plan.

The revised plan includes supplementary features, such as two-way radios

which will allow employees to communicate with building management during an

evacuation. The Board also improved its existing plan by addressing

additional issues and concerns. For example, staff using evacuation chairs

expressed a concern about their mobility aids being left behind in the

building. As part of its plan, employees who are not providing assistance

are encouraged to exit with the manual wheelchairs belonging to those

individuals using evacuation chairs. It is understood that this may not be

practical in all cases.

Evacuation planning is an important supplement to various accessibility

requirements covering building design. The Board's ADA Accessibility

Guidelines (ADAAG) contain specifications for emergency alarms, accessible

means of egress, and fire-resistant spaces known as " areas of rescue

assistance " where persons unable to use stairs can call for and await

evacuation assistance. Evacuation plans cannot substitute for compliance

with these design requirements where they apply, including those for areas

of rescue assistance. Model building codes, life safety codes, and state

access codes also address building elements related to emergency egress.

Even in fully-compliant facilities, evacuation planning is an important part

of life safety.

Although the Board's evacuation plan is tailored to its building site and

workforce, the Board has made its plan and the process for its review

publicly available as a guide to others. This information is posted on the

Board's website at www.access-board.gov/evacuation.htm and is also available

by calling the Board at (800) 872-2253 ext. 0043 (voice) or (800) 993-2822

(TTY). It is important to consult the local fire department and building

management in developing or updating evacuation plans. Resources on fire

safety and evacuation planning for persons with disabilities are available

from the following organizations:

- National Fire Protection Association (617) 770-3000 e-mail:

Education@... web: www.nfpa.org

- U.S. Fire Administration (800) 561-3356 web: www.usfa.fema.gov

- Job Accommodation Network (800) 526-7234 (v/TTY) web: www.jan.wvu.edu

- National Organization on Disability (202) 293-5960 (v/TTY) e-mail:

ability@... web: www.nod.org

- Abledata, a database on assistive devices and technologies, including

emergency and evacuation products (800) 227-0216 (v) (301) 608-8912 (TTY)

e-mail: abledata@... web: www.abledata.com

- www.ican.com, a web-based resource for persons with disabilities

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Access Currents is a free newsletter issued by the Access Board every other

month by mail and e-mail. Send questions or comments to

news@... or call (800) 872-2253 ext. 0026 (voice) or (800)

993-2822 (TTY). Mailing address: 1331 F Street, N.W., Suite 1000;

Washington, D.C. 20004-1111.