The Board’s guidelines issued under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Architectural Barriers Act (ABA) have been completely updated and revised. The ADA Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG) cover the construction and alteration of facilities in the private sector (places of public accommodation and commercial facilities) and the public sector (state and local government facilities). The accessibility guidelines issued under the ABA primarily address facilities in the Federal sector and others designed, built, altered, or leased with Federal funds. The guidelines under both laws have been updated together in one rule that contains three parts: a scoping document for ADA facilities, a scoping document for ABA facilities, and a common set of technical criteria that the scoping sections will reference. As a result, the requirements for both ADA and ABA facilities will be made more consistent.
Current Status: On July 23, 2004, the Board published the guidelines in final form.
What’s Next: The Board's guidelines serve as the baseline for standards maintained by other Federal agencies that are used to enforce the ADA and ABA. These agencies include the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of Transportation (DOT), which are responsible for ADA standards based on the Board's guidelines. (On September 30, 2004, DOJ issued an advance notice on its intent to revise its ADA standards according to the Board's guidelines). Under the ABA, standards are maintained by the General Services Administration, the Department of Defense, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the U.S. Postal Service. These agencies will update their standards according to the Board's guidelines and will indicate when the new standards are to be followed. Until then, the current standards remain in effect.
Background: The Board established an advisory committee to conduct a complete review of ADAAG and to recommend changes. The ADAAG Review Advisory Committee consisted of 22 members representing the design and construction industry, the building code community, State and local governments entities, and people with disabilities. The committee was charged with reviewing ADAAG in its entirety and making recommendations for updating ADAAG so that it remains consistent with technological developments and changes in model codes and national standards and continues to meet the needs of people with disabilities. The committee developed a comprehensive set of recommendations that address substantive changes to ADAAG scoping provisions and technical requirements as well as its format and numbering system. Cited as an outstanding example of reinventing government, the Committee and the Board received the Vice Presidential Hammer Award in July 1996. The Board’s proposal will be largely based on the committee’s final report, Recommendations for a New ADAAG.
On November 16, 1999, a proposed rule was published in the Federal Register and made available for public comment until May 15, 2000. The Board held public hearings on the proposal in Los Angeles, CA (January 31, 2000) and Arlington, VA (March 13, 2000) during the comment period. Over 2,500 comments were received on the proposal.
Rulemaking History: