The ADA gets a new look.

Changes make compliance easier, more consistent.

They're changing it again! The rumors that the ADAAG (Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines) was changing started not long into 1992, when it first went into effect. Except for suspending some mandated applications

So why does one get the impression that the ADA is constantly shifting?

The ADA is a civil rights law, so the Access Board (Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board, or ATBCB) was charged with specifying how the law would apply to access for buildings and facilities. The board based its work on accessibility standards published by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), New York City.

Another layer of regulation involves state building codes, which may use ANSI standards as a framework. Most states have been slow to incorporate the 1992 accessibility standards, and even when they do, there is a lag time between the effective date and when building inspectors become proficient in the new codes. Because each local jurisdiction can add its own, unique twist, as long as it is as stringent as the federal guidelines, there has been a constantly evolving set of local building codes, with interpretations that vary.

As soon as the ink was dry in 1992, ANSI convened its A117.1 committee to start rewriting. Reaction had come in to both the Access Board and ANSI, as people tried to make sense of what sometimes seemed to be contradictory regulations. ADAAG scoping provisions - when, where, and how to apply the standards - were pages away from the standards themselves, and an advisory appendix was often ignored, or mistaken for part of the regulation.

ANSI put task forces to work on plumbing, signs, ATMs, and living spaces. Visual fire alarms got much attention, along with detectable warning surfaces and some new kinds of elevators. Midway through the process, the Access Board announced it would begin revising ADAAG. The ADAAG Advisory Review Committee was appointed and charged with writing standards harmonious with the new ANSI standards.

The committee worked through subcommittees with many members from ANSI. The draft that went to the committee for approval and submitted to the Access Board was almost identical with the final ANSI standard, published in October 1998. In 1999, that report, altered somewhat by the Access Board, will go out for public comment, and by the year 2000, a new and improved ADAAG should take effect.

So what does the publication of ANSI mean, if ADAAG is still two years away? First, the major change to ANSI, and subsequently to ADAAG, is not so much in the rules themselves, but how they are organized. Consistent terminology and references clarify ambiguities and apparent contradictions. To know what something in ADAAG really means, try looking at the new ANSI standards.

The new standards leave less to the imagination. Wonder where braille should be located on signs? Guess no longer. Locate it below the raised text. Want to install a destination-oriented elevator? Accessibility standards are in 1998 ANSI.

Usually, because ANSI is more stringent than ADAAG but doesn't conflict with it, there is no question about which rules to follow. By the time the revised ADA Accessibility Guidelines appear, having passed through the gauntlet of Access Board perusal, public comment, rewriting, and various approval processes, many new buildings will already comply with most of the new guidelines.

Follow the Guide

Accessible buildings are probably safer for everyone, nor just people with disabilities. As the population ages, ramps, increased visibility, and safer stairs become more vital. To make buildings more accessible, though, standards should be more accessible.

ANSI A117.1-1998 presents a new organizational model that will probably also be used in the ADA Accessibility Guidelines. Chapter titles reveal how easy it is to navigate through ANSI 1998:

1. Application and Administration. 2. Scoping. 3. Building Blocks. 4. Accessible Routes. 5. General Site and Building Elements. 6. Plumbing Elements and Facilities. 7. Communications Elements and Features. 8. Special Rooms and Spaces. 9. Built-in Furnishings and Equipment. 10. Dwelling Units.

To purchase ICC/ANSI A117.11998, contact the Secretariat of the International Code Council, 5203 Leesburg Pike, Suite 708, Falls Church, VA 22041, or call (703) 931-4533.

For More Information

Sharon Toji publishes a newsletter on communications and signage as well as the book Signage and the ADA, which provides both general information of the ADA and detailed specifications and checklists. For more information on either, contact Toji at (310) 323-5210.

Sharon Toji, of Access Communications, Gardena, CA, an ADA consulting firm specializing in communications issues, represented the international Sign Association on the ANSI A117.1 committee and the communications subcommittee of the ADAAG Advisory Review Committee. She is on the California State Fire Marshal's committee that is developing standards for accessible emergency evacuation plans.