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About the U.S. Access Board

Performance and Accountability Report, Fiscal Year 2025

Performance and Accountability Report, Independent Auditor’s Report, and Financial Statements

For the Fiscal Year Ended
September 30, 2025

Prepared By
Brown & Company CPAs and Management Consultants, PLLC
December 3, 2025

Brown & Company pencil footer -- Certified Public Accountants and Management Consultants, PLLC

Table of Contents

Agency Head Message

December 3, 2025

I am pleased to present the Access Board’s Performance and Accountability Report for Fiscal Year 2025. This report provides key information on the Access Board’s progress in meeting its mission and managing its financial responsibilities. Our agency has a proud history of serving the public through its programs focused on accessibility for people with disabilities.

Fiscal Year 2025 was a year of continued success. The Access Board continues to develop accessibility requirements, provide technical assistance and training, and enforce access requirements for the federal government. We will continue to strive for excellence to fulfill our responsibilities to provide accessibility for people with disabilities.

Sincerely,

Sachin Dev Pavithran signature

Sachin Dev Pavithran
Executive Director

Management Discussion and Analysis

Mission

Established by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the United States Access Board — which was then known as the “Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board” — is an independent federal agency devoted to advancing accessibility and equality for people with disabilities. Originally, in the mid-1970s, the Access Board’s primary mission was enforcement of the Architectural Barriers Act of 1968 (ABA), which requires federal buildings and certain other federally financed facilities to be accessible to people with disabilities. Congress has, however, expanded the agency’s mission and responsibilities over the years. Today, the Access Board’s mission embraces four main areas: development of accessibility criteria for the built environment and other matters as directed by Congress (e.g., transit vehicles, information and communication technology, telecommunications equipment, medical diagnostic equipment); training and technical assistance; ABA compliance and enforcement; and promotion of accessibility.

Organizational Structure

The Access Board is governed by a 25-member board, with the Board Chair serving as agency head.  Figure 1 depicts the agency’s organizational structure in FY 2025.

Figure 1:  U.S. Access Board Organizational Structure
Org chart which graphically outlines eight component boxes. Three in the top row are labeled Federal Board Members, Access Board Chair, and Public Board Members. A single box in the second row is labeled Office of the Executive Directory (OED), and it connects to Access Board Chair. The third row shows four Offices connecting to OED: General Council (OGC), Administration (OA), Technical & Information Services (OTIS), and Information Technology (OIT). There is one item in a fourth row to the side, labeled ABA Compliance & Enforcement Program, which connects to OGC box.

Board Members

The agency’s 25-member Governing Board acts as a coordinating body among senior officials from twelve federal agencies (referred to as “Federal Members”) and thirteen presidentially appointed members of the general public, a majority of whom must be persons with disabilities (referred to as “Public Members”).

Agency heads have the discretion to designate their agencies’ respective Federal Member so long as such members are drawn from the ranks of senior-level appointees (i.e., officials whose positions are compensated on the Executive Schedule at Level IV or higher). As such, the “terms” of Federal Members have no pre-determined length. Public Members, on the other hand, are appointed for 4-year terms with the possibility of one successive reappointment term. Public Members serve as Special Government Employees (SGEs) and, when performing their official duties, are paid at Executive Schedule Level IV.

Under the Access Board’s bylaws, the Governing Board meets quarterly, with one of its Board Meetings annually taking place outside the Washington, D.C. area. The Governing Board is led by a Chair and Vice-Chair, each of whom are elected by majority vote of their fellow Board Members and serve one-year terms. To foster a balance of interests, the Chair and Vice-Chair must alternate annually between Federal and Public Members, such that, when the Chair is a Federal Member, the Vice-Chair is a Public Member, and vice-versa. The Board Chair (or their written delegee) acts on the agency’s behalf in matters reserved for agency heads under federal law or regulation.

Staff Offices

The Access Board’s career staff is organized into five units/offices. At the close of FY 2025, the agency had 24 full-time employees, most of whom are professionals with subject-matter expertise in accessibility within the Access Board’s jurisdiction. The agency’s physical office is in Washington, D.C. at 1331 F St. NW, Suite 1000.

Office of the Executive Director

The Office of the Executive Director (OED) is responsible for providing overall administrative leadership of the agency. The Executive Director, who is appointed by the Governing Board, oversees the day-to-day operation of the agency by, among other things, setting agency-wide priorities and overseeing their performance, supervising agency personnel, ensuring that the budget is administered effectively and efficiently, coordinating Governing Board Meetings, and representing the Access Board on interagency committees and at other official events.

In addition, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 tasks the Executive Director with directing the Access Board’s ABA compliance and enforcement program, including, when needed, the issuance of formal citations, which initiate formal administrative proceedings when ABA complaints cannot be resolved voluntarily, and filing of civil actions to enforce final orders. OED also directs the agency’s Public Affairs Program, including managing its external communications, handling media relations, directing outreach activities, and serving as point of contact for legislative affairs.

Office of General Counsel

The Office of General Counsel (OGC) provides legal expertise and counsel to Board Members and staff regarding the work and operations of the agency, including matters relating to the Access Board’s jurisdiction or authorities and the development of agency regulatory initiatives. OGC manages the agency’s ethics, Freedom of Information Act, and privacy programs. OGC also oversees the Access Board’s ABA compliance and enforcement program. As the agency’s legal officers, OGC attorneys may represent the agency in administrative proceedings and, where permitted by statute, in civil actions in federal and state courts that arise under the ABA or Section 502 of the Rehabilitation Act.

Office of Administration

The Office of Administration (OA) coordinates and manages administrative support functions for the Access Board. OA’s support includes the areas of human resources (HR), budget and financial management, space management, and records management. Due to its small size, the Access Board has an interagency agreement with the Treasury Department’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service/Administrative Resource Center (BFS/ARC) for financial management, HR, procurement, and travel services. OA is responsible for overseeing and coordinating with BFS/ARC as its shared services provider. Although the Access Board is a “non-CFO” agency, OA employs a Financial Program Manager to oversee the agency’s finances and financial reports.

Office of Technical and Information Services

The Office of Technical and Information Services (OTIS) leads the agency’s development of accessibility guidelines and standards for the built environment, public right-of-way, transportation vehicles, information and communication technology (ICT), medical diagnostic equipment, and universal changing tables. OTIS provides technical assistance to the public on these guidelines and standards. It also conducts webinars and training on accessibility.

Office of Information Technology

The Office of Information Technology (OIT) directs and implements a range of business and informatics programs in support of the mission of the Access Board. OIT articulates the agency’s information technology (IT) strategic plan, forecasts future needs, and sets and implements IT policies and procedures. Moreover, OIT defines and executes IT management methodologies encompassing strategic planning and meeting end-user expectations while keeping the Access Board safe from internal and external cybersecurity threats. Furthermore, OIT plans, monitors, and enforces information and systems security protocols and day-to-day operation of the agency’s information technology infrastructure including software, servers, storage, networks, websites, computing, and mobile devices. OIT guides and supports agency staff in the development and effective use of IT applications and services, collaborates with other agency offices to identify IT needs, and evaluates and implements IT solutions to meet those needs.

The Access Board recognizes that maintaining integrity and accountability in its financial systems, programs, and operations is critical for good government, demonstrates responsible stewardship over assets and resources, helps ensure high-quality and responsible leadership, allows for effective delivery of services to customers, and maximizes desired program outcomes.

As a small, independent federal agency, the Access Board leadership recognizes that it is cost effective to obtain various administrative services (e.g., financial management, HR, procurement, travel, and Equal Employment Opportunity [EEO] services) from federal shared service providers than develop in-house capabilities for these services. With respect to financial management systems, the Access Board relies heavily on the systems, controls, and assurances provided by BFS/ARC to meet applicable legal requirements, including Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidelines. In addition, the Access Board supplements BFS/ARC’s controls with its own internal control processes to ensure the propriety of agency spending, as well as the validity of financial and performance data. Collectively, the Access Board believes that these measures sufficiently ensure the performance and financial data included in this report are accurate, reliable, and complete.

Federal Managers’ Financial Integrity Act of 1982 (FMFIA)

The objective of the Federal Managers’ Financial Integrity Act of 1982 (FMFIA) is to ensure that agencies have internal controls and financial systems in place that provide reasonable assurance of the effectiveness and efficiency of operations, reliability of financial reporting, and compliance with regulations and applicable laws. To that end, the FMFIA, as implemented, requires agencies to establish internal control processes consistent with guidelines established by OMB and the Comptroller General. Agency heads must annually attest — via a written assurance statement — whether the agency does or does not comply with applicable FMFIA requirements.

During FY 2025, the Access Board had several interagency agreements with other federal agencies for shared administrative services. The Access Board contracted with BFS/ARC for financial management, HR, procurement, and travel services. Other shared service providers included: the General Services Administration (GSA) for internet, voice communication, Personal Identity Verification (PIV) card administration, and web hosting; the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Financial Center (NFC) for payroll; the Department of the Interior’s (DOI) Interior Business Center for HR security and drug testing; the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) for employee relations consulting services and performance management program and system; the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) for background investigations services; and the United States Postal Service (USPS) for EEO complaint investigation.

With respect to financial management and payroll systems, certain aspects of the Access Board’s financial management system are largely influenced by the controls, practices, and procedures employed by BFS/ARC and NFC. Each has established practices and procedures that ensure appropriate internal controls.

BFS/ARC’s financial management system is audited annually for compliance with Statement on Standards for Attestation Engagements (SSAE) 18, and the Access Board receives quarterly SSAE 18 SOC 1 Type II reports on the ongoing effectiveness of the system’s internal controls. Likewise, NFC annually provides its customers/stakeholders with a written statement of assurance concerning the effectiveness of its financial reporting controls.

Moreover, the Access Board has implemented its own internal controls and procedures to complement the measures employed by its shared service providers. For example, the Access Board’s Financial Program Manager reviews and reconciles financial reports from BFS/ARC quarterly to ensure that the agency’s obligations and disbursements have been properly recorded; additionally, year-end financial statements are reviewed to verify that they are accurate and correct. Agency procedure also requires the Financial Program Manager to prospectively certify funds availability for all obligations. In addition, the Financial Program Manager and Director of OA conduct periodic reviews of internal systems, including travel, payroll, and procurement. Lastly, the Access Board’s financial statements undergo annual audits by an independent accountant, which includes review of the adequacy of its internal control systems.

For these reasons, the Access Board can provide reasonable assurance that internal controls over financial reporting are operating effectively and that there are no material weaknesses relating to the design or operation of internal controls over financial reporting.

Financial Statement Audit

Under the Accountability of Tax Dollars Act of 2002 (codified at 31 U.S.C. § 3515), most small agencies, such as the Access Board, are required to have their financial statements audited annually. As such, the Access Board’s financial statements have undergone an audit annually by independent accountants, including reviews of the adequacy of its control systems.

Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019 (PIIA)

In 2020, the Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019 (PIIA) became law. The PIIA repealed the prior statutory regime and established new requirements concerning federal agency obligations to prevent, identify, and annually report on improper payments (e.g., payment of incorrect amount, duplicate payment). There are, however, some differences. For example, unlike its predecessors, the PIIA establishes a monetary threshold for “significance” determinations, requires agencies to post improper payment reports on their respective websites, tasks OMB with developing PIIA guidance for agencies, and requires OMB to create a centralized website for agencies’ improper payment reports concerning OMB-designated “high-priority” programs.

Because OMB has not yet issued implementing guidance under the PIIA, the contours of agencies’ reporting and/or assurance obligations remain unknown. Nonetheless, the Access Board can definitively state that, based on the PIIA’s statutory definition of “significance,” the agency had no programs/activities at significant risk of improper payments in FY 2025.

Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996 (DCIA)

The Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996 (DCIA), as amended, maximizes collection of delinquent debts owed to the federal government by facilitating timely action to collect outstanding debts and minimizing collection costs using centralized and/or cross-agency collection mechanisms for most non-tax debts. Under the DCIA, federal agencies are required to refer non-tax debts that have been delinquent for more than 120 days to the Treasury Department for collection.

The Access Board pursues the collection of delinquent debt. When the Access Board does have DCIA-covered accounts that have been past due for more than 120 days, it refers these debts to the U.S. Treasury for collection.

Prompt Payment Act of 1982

The Prompt Payment Act requires federal agencies to make timely payments to vendors for covered supplies and services, pay an interest penalty when payment is made after the due date, and take cash discounts when economically justified. The Access Board always strives to maintain a 100% on-time payment rate and, in FY 2025, incurred $0 in interest penalties. The agency will work to maintain 100% on-time vendor payments in future fiscal years.

Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014 (DATA Act)

The Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014 (the DATA Act) requires agencies to establish common standards for financial data provided by all government agencies and to expand the amount of data that agencies must provide to the government website USAspending.gov, the official open data source of federal spending information.

BFS/ARC has implemented software that enables the Access Board to comply with DATA Act requirements. In FY 2025, the agency was compliant with applicable DATA Act requirements and submitted all certifications timely.

Anti-Deficiency Act

The Anti-Deficiency Act prohibits federal employees from obligating more funds than are available under an appropriation, or before appropriated funds are available, or from volunteering their services to the federal government. The Access Board had no anti-deficiency violations in FY 2025. As required by this Act, the agency would notify appropriate authorities were such a violation to occur.

Computer Information and Security Program

The Federal Information Security Act of 2002 (FISMA), as amended by the Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014, requires agencies to ensure adequate security protections for federal information systems and information. The Access Board continues to make improvements to internal controls through policy, procedure provisions, and an emphasis on employee development. As part of this effort, the Access Board achieved its Authority to Operate (ATO). The agency employs ongoing maintenance and testing to keep its ATO active, and further implementation measures will be required to meet the new revision 5, which includes additional provisions for privacy.

Performance Data Verification

The Access Board requires accurate performance data to assess the agency’s progress toward its strategic goals and make good management and program decisions. The performance data reflected in the Performance Report below were compiled throughout the FY during the normal course of agency business. Although the information herein has not been subject to a formal validation process, it has been reviewed for accuracy by agency leadership.

Limitations on Financial Statements

The principal financial statements have been prepared to report the financial position and results of the operations of the Access Board, pursuant to the requirements of 31 U.S.C. § 3515(b). The statements have been prepared from the books and records of the Access Board in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles for federal entities and the formats prescribed by OMB. Reports used to monitor and control budgetary resources are prepared from the same books and records. The financial statements should be read with the realization that they are for a component of the U.S. government, a sovereign entity.

Performance Report

Goal #1: Establish Technical Specifications for Accessible Design

The Access Board’s first strategic goal is supported by five objectives, which are:

  • Objective 1.1: Develop and update technical specifications to achieve accessibility.
  • Objective 1.2: Coordinate with standards and codes organizations to build effective industry accessibility standards.
  • Objective 1.3: Engage with the public, including underserved communities, to inform the development of accessible design.
  • Objective 1.4: Address accessibility of emerging technologies and design trends.
  • Objective 1.5: Collaborate with organizations to encourage research on accessibility.

Background

In its mission and under its statutory authority, the Access Board develops and maintains accessibility standards and guidelines, and Goal #1 establishes objectives that direct Board staff and operations to complete such work. The Access Board is responsible for developing and maintaining accessibility criteria for the built environment, transportation vehicles, ICT, medical diagnostic equipment, and outdoor recreational areas under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Architectural Barriers Act (ABA), and Sections 508 and 510 of the Rehabilitation Act. In general, the Access Board has regulatory authority for two different types of accessibility criteria: (1) accessibility “guidelines,” which only have force of law when formally adopted through regulation by an enforcing entity — typically, another federal agency; and (2) accessibility “standards,”1 which have force of law upon issuance. For example, under the ADA, the Departments of Justice and Transportation must provide for at least the level of accessibility in the Access Board’s guidelines when implementing regulations addressing the accessibility of state and local government facilities, places of public accommodation, and transportation vehicles, respectively.

By contrast, under Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, the Access Board is charged with issuing technical and functional performance standards for the accessibility of ICT that federal agencies develop, procure, maintain, or use, and these standards are enforceable upon promulgation by the Access Board. Technical standards for medical diagnostic equipment issued under Section 510 of the Rehabilitation Act1, part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, are voluntary in nature. Federal agencies are not required to adopt these standards, but they may adopt them as mandatory requirements under the ADA or Section 504 of the Rehabilitation (applicable to facilities that receive federal financial assistance).

Summary of Key Accomplishments in FY 2025

Compliance with Executive Order 14192

On January 31, 2025, President Trump issued Executive Order (EO) 14192, entitled “Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation.” Among other things, the Order requires that agencies identify ten regulations for repeal for each regulation they propose for notice and comment or finalize during FY 2025. Also, the incremental cost of any regulations finalized during FY 2025, including repealed regulations, must be significantly less than zero. In furtherance of the goals of EO 14192, the Access Board has placed on inactive status four regulatory actions – on accessibility of electric vehicle charging stations, self-service transaction machines, rail vehicles, and passenger vessels. Previously, final guidelines on accessibility of electric vehicle charging stations and proposed guidelines on accessible self-service transaction machines were planned for issuance in FY 2025.

Guidelines for the Accessibility of Universal Changing Stations

The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 directs the Access Board to establish comprehensive accessible design standards for universal changing tables and standards on the privacy, accessibility, and sanitation equipment of the room in which such tables are located, required to be installed, or maintained. See 49 U.S.C. § 47107(y). These standards will be used by sponsors of medium and large hub airports that are seeking airport development project grants.

In FY 2025, Access Board staff drafted an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) to seek information from the public regarding the approach to the future rulemaking. The Board must vote to send the ANPRM to OMB for review. A Board vote on the ANPRM is anticipated during the first quarter of FY 2026.

Participation in Development of Voluntary Consensus Standards

Objective 1.2 reflects the agency’s long-standing history of collaborating with model code groups and standards development organizations (SDOs) on codes and voluntary consensus standards related to accessibility. To contribute to the achievement of Objectives 1.2, 1.4, and 1.5, Board staff also served on numerous committees, technical working groups, and cooperative research panels in FY 2025 to ensure that the agency’s technical expertise and perspectives contribute to the development (or revision) of model codes and standards that affect accessibility in a wide range of settings, including such areas as: the built environment; recreational facilities; websites and web content; public transportation technologies; and traffic control devices. The Access Board believes such efforts enhance its credibility as a knowledgeable source of information regarding technical aspects of accessibility. Moreover, working cooperatively with codes organizations and SDOs’ standards brings greater likelihood of harmonization between private codes/standards and federal accessibility requirements.

In FY 2025, Board staff served on, or worked with, the following model code groups, standard-setting organizations, and research cooperatives:

  • American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM) Committee on Sports Equipment, Playing Surfaces, and Facilities
  • Kennedy Center for Performing Arts’ Assistive Listening System Research Project Advisory Committee
  • Election Assistance Commission (EAC) Advisory Committee and Technical Guidelines Development Committee (TGDC)
  • Federal Emergency Management Agency Community Assistance Recovery Support Function
  • International Standards Organization’s Assistive Technology Working Group (ISO/TC 173/WG10)
  • International Code Council (ICC) Consensus Committee on Accessible and Usable Buildings and Facilities (ANSI A117.1)
  • National Committee on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (NCUTCD)
  • National Cooperative Highway Research Project (NCHRP) (part of the Transportation Research Board [TRB])
  • National Fire Protection Association (NFPA): The Disability Access Review and Advisory Committee (DARAC)
  • Transportation Research Board’s Transportation Cooperative Research Project (TCRP)
  • Transportation Research Board’s Standing Committee on Mobility for Older Persons & Individuals with Disabilities
  • Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA) Standards Committee on Cognitive Accessibility (CA)
  • RESNA Standards Committee on Inclusive Fitness (IF)
  • RESNA Standards Committee for Assistive Technology for Air Travel (ATAT)
  • RESNA Standards Committee on Wheelchairs and Transportation (COWHAT)
  • World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Accessibility Guidelines Working Group (AGWG)
  • Multimodal and Accessible Transportation Standard Coordinating Committee
  • National Collaboration on Bicycle, Pedestrian and Accessibility Infrastructure Data

During FY 2025, Board staff also continued participating in numerous interagency committees and working groups that foster cooperation on accessibility-related issues, including the following:

  • The OTIS Director assisted in the planning and participated in the Interagency Disability Senior Disability Leadership Networking Group. Meeting quarterly, the group serves as a collaborative forum for federal agencies (or components) with similar disability-related missions to share information and best practices and to establish new partnerships.
  • Board ICT staff are leaders in promoting understanding and compliance of the Section 508 standards through significant interagency contributions to the U.S. Federal Chief Information Officers Council’s (CIOC) Accessibility Community of Practice (ACOP). Board staff are active contributors to all three subcommittees, including Co-chairs for Education and Best Practices subcommittees and Project Lead for development of Accessibility Conformance Report evaluation guidance.
  • Participation in developing interagency consensus guidance on accessible electronic documents.
  • Co-lead of the interagency workgroup for the Section 508 ICT Testing Baseline Portfolio, which develops minimum testing requirements for Section 508 conformance and alignment validation.
  • Co-lead of the Accessibility Conformance Testing Task Force, which is part of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) Accessibility Guidelines Working Group.
  • The Access Board is an ex officio member of the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) Disability Advisory Committee (DAC).
  • National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)-sponsored Interagency Committee on Standards Policy (ICSP), which provides a forum for coordination of federal standards policies and promotion of standardization activities and reports to the Secretary of Commerce through the NIST Director.
  • Artificial Intelligence Standards Coordination Working Group (AISCWG) that facilitates the coordination of federal government agency activities related to the development and use of artificial intelligence (AI) standards, and to develop recommendations relating to AI standards to the ICSP as appropriate. The AISCWG activities also support NIST’s Federal Coordinator role for AI standards. The AISCWG reports to the Chair of the ICSP and advises the members of the ICSP on relevant issues.
  • Board staff met quarterly with National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) staff to discuss research and advancements in accessible autonomous vehicles.
  • Board staff provided technical assistance on rail vehicle and transportation facility accessible design at the quarterly meetings between Amtrak and disability representatives.
  • Board staff served as subject matter experts on NCHRP projects that address accessible design research needs aimed at improving accessible design in the public right-of-way.

Goal #2: Provide Education and Information on the Importance and Implementation of Accessible Design

The Access Board’s second strategic goal is supported by four objectives, which are:

  • Objective 2.1: Provide training on accessible design.
  • Objective 2.2: Provide technical assistance on implementation of accessibility guidelines and standards.
  • Objective 2.3: Create educational materials to promote understanding of accessible design.
  • Objective 2.4: Use stakeholders’ feedback to improve our information services.

Background

The Access Board provides technical assistance (TA) to the public on its guidelines and standards and with other aspects of accessible design through a TA hotline, published documents, and webinars and training. The agency responds to thousands of TA inquiries each year via phone and e-mail. In recent years, the Access Board’s website has also become a well-utilized resource on accessible design. Users of the website can, among other things, view the Access Board’s accessibility guidelines and standards, as well as animations, which illustrate the rationale behind the guidelines and standards and demonstrate how accessible features are used by individuals with disabilities. All published materials are downloadable in accessible formats. Collectively, the Access Board’s TA services play a critical role in assisting design professionals, governmental jurisdictions, people with disabilities, and other stakeholders understand and apply accessible design requirements.

Summary of Key FY 2025 Accomplishments

Technical Assistance

The Access Board’s TA program is a signature service to the public, enabling the agency to achieve Objectives 2.1 and 2.2. Inquiries are fielded through the Access Board’s TA phone line and via e-mail. TA helps improve understanding of accessibility requirements and their application to specific, real challenges posed by members of the public. In FY 2025, Board staff managed over 4,700 TA inquiries, representing a 17% decrease from FY 2024. The decrease in TA inquiries was expected when compared to FY 2024. Due to Executive Order 14192, no new guidelines were released as NPRMs or adopted in FY 2025, whereas the Public Right-of-Way Accessibility Guidelines (PROWAG) were finalized and adopted as ABA Standards immediately before the beginning of FY 2024, leading to an increase in PROWAG specific inquiries. Additionally, more proactive training opportunities (such as providing ABA training for all GSA regions) reduced the number of incoming TA questions.

Central to the agency’s technical assistance services, Board staff use an internal Knowledge Management System (KMS) to efficiently track and manage inquiries. Inquiries and staff answers are categorized and documented in the KMS. Unique and challenging questions requiring additional consideration and research are marked for review and discussed during weekly staff meetings. This information serves as a learning opportunity for technical staff and to gain consensus. Final answers are then documented in the KMS, with hyperlinked references to relevant agency materials, citations, responses to past TA inquiries, and notations about accessibility or design issues. KMS data is also regularly analyzed to help reveal important technical assistance trends, hot topics, and incorporated into training, educational materials, and in some cases, rulemaking.

TA Guidance

As part of its TA program, the agency develops various educational materials (Objective 2.3) to help explain various aspects of its guidelines under the ADA, ABA, and other laws. The agency’s issuance of guidance documents and other TA documents further illustrate the practical application of relevant existing ADA and ABA Accessibility Guidelines. Additional documents include recommendations and best practices to improve access to a site, building, facility, space, element, or service. Board staff produce informative animations that help design professionals understand the reason and method for applying the ADA and ABA Accessibility Standards. The agency’s website provides a complete list of its Guidance Documents (including animations and videos) and its TA documents.

The Access Board provides publicly available guides/technical bulletins that cover Chapters 1-6 and the Signs section of Chapter 7. During FY 2025, staff completed final drafts of Chapter 7 guides covering Communication Elements and Features of the ADA and ABA which includes fire alarm systems, telephones, detectable warnings, and two-way communications systems.

Board staff have also been developing clarifying images to explain certain technical assistance situations. An internal archive has been created, allowing all technical staff to use the images to better explain requirements that can be difficult to describe verbally.

Other Technical Assistance and Resources

The Access Board achieves Objective 2.3 through other efforts, such as collaborations, resources, and public communication. In FY 2025, Board staff accomplished several interagency collaborations, including in-depth technical assistance to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), GSA, Social Security Administration (SSA), National Park Service (NPS), Architect of the Capitol (AOC), and a partnership with Amtrak to continuously facilitate accessibility improvements as rail cars are updated.

Access Board Website

In FY 2025, the Access Board continued refining and updating the agency website as the national resource on ADA and ABA accessible design, Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, and other accessibility provisions. Through this site, the Access Board provides updates to federal agencies and members of the public on rulemaking, research, ABA enforcement, training, technical assistance, and other programs.

The Access Board routinely contributes to technical assistance materials posted to Section508.gov. Board staff contributed to the assessment criteria for the government-wide Section 508 assessment, accessible social media webpage, best practices for Section 508 complaints, and articles on typography and equations.

The Access Board also improved the print versions of its web pages by updating the website’s print styles. This is a best practice for accessibility as it removes the labor required to create PDF versions of existing web pages. The agency has presented this approach in collaboration with Accessibility Community of Practice partners.

Agency-Sponsored Trainings and Webinars

The Access Board hosts monthly accessibility webinars and provides a wide range of training at local and national conferences for specific audiences throughout the year. In FY 2025, the training plan focused on making changes to the implementation of webinars and trainings to include data gleaned from audience post-webinar survey feedback. While the Access Board webinars consistently receive positive feedback overall, this strategy further incorporated audience suggestions to enhance meeting the needs of all learners and maximizing access to the webinar delivery. An analysis of the audience feedback data was completed and reviewed with the OTIS team. The result of this review has been reflected in the webinar series by, (1) increasing use of real-world examples, case studies and actual technical assistance scenarios received by the Access Board; (2) increasing collaboration with external speakers, and; (3) initiating a change in presentation format for optimal content delivery (e.g., panel presentation, breaking webinar content into two parts, etc.) to maximize audience engagement. The FY 2025 training strategy also included alignment of the webinar content with Access Board priorities.

In FY 2025, the Access Board presented 10 of the scheduled 12 built environment webinars and 5 of the 6 scheduled 508 best practices webinars. One webinar was cancelled due to the observance of former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral service, and two webinars were cancelled due to policy changes impacting the external Federal agency speaker’s participation. Overall, the number of training and webinars completed (66) decreased by 33% compared to FY 2024 and subsequently, webinar participants (over 14,500) also decreased by 42% this year over FY 2024. The cancelled webinars combined with a pause in government travel at the beginning of the fiscal year influenced the overall training numbers.

Facilitated Webinars

TThe Access Board’s monthly webinars for the built and digital environments continue to be a valuable resource for disseminating technical information on accessibility guidelines and standards to a broad range of audiences. Participants are provided with the option to join live or to later view archived recordings posted on the website. Currently, the Access Board hosts a catalog of 164 archived webinars. Additionally, there are 14 self-paced, archived webinars that offer continuing education credits (CEUs).

The built environment bi-monthly webinars (AccessibilityOnline) focuses on the ADA and ABA Accessibility Standards and provides technical assistance on a range of facility types and covers common sources of confusion. These monthly, 90-minute sessions are facilitated through a contractor. All webinars include sign language interpreting and real-time captioning. New for FY 2025, the Access Board initiated using a new feature within the webinar delivery platform that allows attendees to have more control of the sign language interpretation such as (1) viewing the interpreters in a separate window with continuous uninterrupted viewing; (2) controlling the size and location of the interpreter window, and; (3) hiding the interpreter window from view by attendees who may find it distracting. CEUs are available to participants upon request. Recent built environment webinar topics include accessibility in historic buildings and facilities, accessible polling places, and ABA accessibility for leased federal facilities.

The Board’s second bi-monthly series highlights Section 508 Best Practices. This series provides a pipeline of information and best practices for federal agencies to emulate in meeting the accessible ICT requirements. Recent Section 508 Best Practices webinar topics include a free and accessible media player, accessible options other than PDFs, and an exploration of global accessibility laws.

Goal #3: Improve the Accessibility of the Federal Government

The Access Board’s third strategic goal is supported by three objectives, which are:

  • Objective 3.1: Improve the accessibility of federal buildings and facilities through enhanced awareness and robust enforcement of the ABA.
  • Objective 3.2: Improve accessibility of federal information and communication technology through collaboration with other federal agencies.
  • Objective 3.3: Be a model employer of persons with disabilities.

Background

Improving the accessibility of the federal government is a foundational pillar of the Access Board’s mission. The agency was established by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to be the sole agency responsible for the enforcement of the Architectural Barriers Act. The ABA requires most buildings designed, constructed, altered, or leased by the federal government — along with certain other federally-financed facilities — to be accessible to and usable by people with disabilities.

The Access Board is charged, under Section 502 of the Rehabilitation Act, with developing and maintaining standards for the accessibility of facilities to which the ABA applies. Four standard-setting agencies — the United States Postal Service (USPS), GSA., the Department of Defense (DoD), and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) — adopt these guidelines as applicable to facilities within their jurisdiction. USPS, GSA, and DoD have adopted the Access Board’s 2004 ABA Accessibility Guidelines. HUD has not adopted these guidelines to date, and so the earlier Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards (UFAS) apply to ABA-covered facilities within HUD’s jurisdiction. In late 2024, GSA also adopted the Access Board’s Public Right-of-Way Accessibility Guidelines (PROWAG) as part of its ABA Accessibility Standards (ABAAS)2. The agency’s ABA compliance and enforcement program staff process and investigate complaints under the standards applicable to each of these four agencies. When violations are found, the Access Board works with the appropriate federal agency or facility owner/leaseholder to remedy these barriers.

Each year, the Access Board receives ABA complaints concerning a wide range of federal buildings and facilities, such as: federal office buildings and United States Courthouses; Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Centers and Community-Based Outpatient Clinics; Social Security Administration (SSA) offices; post offices; National Parks; and DoD facilities, including buildings where civilians are employed, base exchanges, military family housing, and Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) facilities.

Enforcement Program staff also work proactively with federal agencies and others to ensure that relevant officials at headquarters, regional and field offices, and local sites have a working knowledge of their accessibility obligations. The Access Board has cultivated partnerships with senior leaders at its sister federal agencies, particularly those that own, manage, or lease federal properties or see frequent ABA complaints.

While the Access Board continues to successfully execute its ABA-related mandates, its responsibilities have expanded significantly during its 50-year history. One such duty includes ensuring that ICT is accessible to and usable by people with disabilities, as required under Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. Federal agencies must develop, procure, maintain, and use ICT that is accessible; this ensures equal access to federal employment for people with disabilities and reduces the need for agencies to undertake individual accommodations. In addition, this ensures that members of the public with disabilities have access to government information and services. The Access Board is undertaking initiatives in partnership with other federal agencies to promote and advance ICT accessibility throughout the federal sector.

In all its work, the Access Board seeks to remove barriers that people with disabilities experience. Nevertheless, the Access Board acknowledges that these outward, public-facing endeavors cannot succeed if it does not also focus its efforts on its own employees. As such, the Access Board continuously strives to be a model employer of people with disabilities, as required under Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act, in all phases of the employment life cycle—from recruitment and hiring to retention and advancement.

Summary of Key Accomplishments in FY 2025

ABA Enforcement

With respect to Objective 3.1, during FY 2025 the Access Board received 324 new ABA complaints (4.9% decrease in filings from FY 2024) and closed 271 complaints (2.3% increase from FY 2024), which includes 100 complaints where federal agencies (or other facility owner/leaseholder) took corrective action to remediate violations of the applicable accessibility standard — representing a 17.6% increase over the previous year and more than one-third (36.9%) of all closures.

Presented in Table 1 are ABA caseload statistics for FY 2025, as well as comparative data for FYs 2022 through 2024. (Note: all tabular data provided in this section about ABA cases was compiled from the Access Board’s cloud-based Complaint Tracking System (CTS), which is the official repository of all ABA complaint files.)

Table 1: ABA Caseload Statistics (FYs 2022-2025)
ABA Cases FY
2022		 FY
2023		 FY
2024		 FY
2025
Complaints Pending (start of FY) 83 127 161 237*
Complaints Received 241 201* 341 324 (4.9% decrease)
Complaints Closed (during FY) 197 167 265 271 (2.3% increase)
Complaints Pending (end of FY) 127 161 237* 290 (22.3% increase)

* Best estimate based on available data.

In summary, the 100 ABA complaints closed in FY 2025 based on completed corrective action can be broken down into four broad categories by facility type:

Defense-related and Veterans Facilities: The Access Board successfully resolved 9 ABA complaints regarding Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs facilities:

  • Defense Supply Center Columbus (Columbus, Ohio) – a variety of mandatory corrective actions to enhance or install accessible parking spaces for the North and South parking lots serving Building 20;
  • Patrick Space Force Base (Brevard Co., Florida) – installation of three accessible, dispersed ABAAS-compliant sites for recreational vehicles at the Manatee Cove Family Campground;
  • Naval Station Mayport (Jacksonville, Florida) – installation of properly dispersed, accessible RV spaces at the Pelican Roost and Osprey Cove RV Parks;
  • Joint Base San Antonio Lackland (San Antonio, Texas) – installation of new accessible women’s bathroom at Forbes Hall;
  • Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (Anchorage, Alaska) – repair of entrance ramp;
  • Los Angeles Air Force Base (Los Angeles, CA) – repair of accessible pool lift at Fort MacArthur Swimming Pool;
  • Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam (Oahu, Hawaii) – installation and repair of ramps and accessibility improvements to restrooms; and
  • Fort Drum (Watertown, New York) – installation of a compliant patio in an individual accessible residential unit.

Post Offices and other USPS facilities: The Access Board successfully resolved 83 ABA complaints relating to U.S. Postal Service facilities, including:

  • Installation or repair of accessible doors (adjustment of opening force or installation/repair of automatic door opener) at various locations including post offices in Minnesota, Kansas, Illinois, Arizona, and Texas;
  • Correction of entrance threshold and repair of broken elevator (Old Chelsea, New York);
  • Installation of accessible employee parking (Decatur, Illinois); and
  • Adjustment of door opening force and closing speed, installation of accessible door hardware, re-striping of accessible parking space and provision of accessible signage, installation of accessible service counter, and modification of signage clarifying that service animals are permitted without restriction to those assisting blind or deaf users (Lakeside, Arizona).

GSA Facilities: The Access Board also successfully resolved 4 ABA complaints relating to the following facilities owned or leased by GSA:

  • William Jefferson Clinton Federal Building (Washington, DC) – provision of temporary alternative, compliant accessible route enabling members of the public to access the Benjamin Franklin Post Office until Post Office entrance doors are repaired;
  • U.S. Department of Justice – Criminal Division (Washington, DC) – reduction of opening force of various interior doors;
  • San Ysidro Land Port of Entry (San Diego, California) – installation of directional signs to accessible lanes and kiosks; and
  • Social Security Administration (Greenfield, Wisconsin) – modification of curb ramp to compliant slope.

Other ABA-Covered Facilities: In addition, corrective action projects were completed at other ABA-covered facilities, including:

  • Everglades National Park: Shark Valley Visitor Center (Miami, Florida) – the Department of the Interior removed inaccessible picnic tables from the park and benches were placed in accessible locations;
  • Federal Correctional Institution Texarkana – Command Center (Texarkana, Texas) – the U.S Bureau of Prisons installed an accessible entrance ramp and brought the accessible toilet room into compliance with ABAAS; and
  • Bitterroot National Forest – Headquarters (Hamilton, Montana) – the U.S. Forest Service has undertaken numerous corrective actions, including correcting the clear floor space adjacent to the activation buttons for the automatic doors, adding sufficient compliant accessible parking spaces for visitors, as well as complaint signage, access aisles, and ground surfaces.

The balance of ABA cases closed at the end of FY 2025 — 171 out of 271, or 63.09%—were concluded for a range of technical or legal reasons: 17 because the investigation revealed that the Board lacked jurisdiction (for example, the building was built prior to 1968 and was not altered since, and therefore, was not covered by the ABA); 18 because the investigation revealed that the complaint allegations did not constitute an ABA violation (for example, a building inspection revealed that the element at issue did in fact meet the minimum scoping requirements or technical specifications in the ABA standards); 1 where the standard-setting agency (USPS) issued a waiver; and 127 where the Board made a referral since it determined, without an investigation, that the ABA did not apply to the complainant’s concerns but that another disability civil rights law, such as the ADA, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, or the Fair Housing Act, did.

Table 2 provides data for ABA cases closed in FY 2025 by reason for case closure.

Table 2: Reasons for ABA Case Closures (FY 2025)
Basis for ABA Case Closure # of Cases % of All
Closed Cases
(FY 2025)
Corrective action taken (accessibility barriers addressed) 100 36.9%
Investigation found no ABA jurisdiction 17 6.27%
Investigation found no ABA violation 18 6.64%
Waiver/modification issued by standard-setting agency 1 0.37%
Referral to another federal agency 127 46.9%
Administrative Closure* 8 2.95%
Totals 271 100%

* Administrative Closure refers to cases closed for procedural reasons.

Table 3 provides similar case closure data about the bases for ABA case closures, but from a longitudinal perspective for FYs 2022 – 2025.

Table 3: Reasons for ABA Case Closures (FYs 2022 – 2025)
Basis for ABA Case Closure FY 2022 FY 2023 FY 2024 FY 2025
Corrective action taken (accessibility barriers addressed) 45 54 85 100
Investigation found no ABA jurisdiction 8 22 27 17
Investigation found no ABA violation 13 17 29 18
Waiver/modification issued by standard-setting agency 0 1 1 1
Referral to another federal agency 72 73 123 127
Administrative closure‡ 58 0 n/a 8

‡ Note: The use of the “administrative closure” designation has varied over time. Prior to FY 2023, the Access Board used the “administrative closure” label for complaints that included unintelligible or “spam” filings and complaints that lacked sufficient details to discern the nature of the allegations. In FY 2023, the Board discontinued the practice of counting spam filings as complaints and ceased to use the “administrative closure” designation. However, during FY 2025, the Access Board resumed the “administrative closure” of cases, using that designation only for complaints stating potential ABA violations, but where was staff was unable to obtain sufficient information from the complainant or other sources to pursue resolution of the complaint.

Raising Awareness of the ABA Compliance and Enforcement Program

Aside from ABA enforcement, Objective 3.1 also addresses enhancing awareness of the ABA and the Access Board’s enforcement role. For the benefit of other agencies and the public at-large, the Access Board continues to publicize results from its ABA enforcement program on its website and social media accounts. In addition, the Access Board now provides information regarding the ABA and ABA enforcement throughout its training programs.

In FY 2025, Access Board staff worked to strengthen relationships with federal agencies, increasing the frequency of communications regarding ongoing cases. The Access Board has also established new relationships with additional federal offices. In FY 2025, the Access Board conducted site inspections for atypical cases where critical information could not be obtained through the usual channels.

Government Accountability Office (GAO)

U.S. Access Board is working with the GAO to provide information for the General Services Administration (GSA) Buildings’ Compliance with Architectural Barriers Act Engagement (108575). GAO is conducting this work in response to a congressional mandate contained in the Water Resources Development Act, Section 2308 which includes a provision for GAO to report on the compliance under the ABA of all office buildings under the jurisdiction, custody, or control of GSA.

Accessible Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Federal Agency Collaboration

With respect to Objective 3.2, Board ICT staff continued leading federal efforts to advance digital accessibility. Congressional activities increased focus on federal agency ICT accessibility and mandated an annual federal agency Section 508 reporting requirement in FY 2023. For each annual report, Board ICT staff partnered with GSA’s Government-wide IT Accessibility Program team and OMB to develop assessment criteria to cover all aspects of Section 508 compliance for federal agencies. In FY 2025, the Board provided accessibility testing of a new agency reporting tool and provided support to agencies with determining and submitting their responses. After the agency response period has closed, the Board will analyze agency responses, identify trends from previous reports, and draft recommendations for the FY 2025 GSA Section 508 Government-wide Assessment report to Congress.

During the third quarter of FY 2025, the Access Board, GSA and OMB, issued the FY 2025 assessment criteria. The Board provided accessibility testing and remediation guidance to OMB to support the use of an OMB tool for the agency responses to the criteria. Board staff provided technical assistance to agencies completing the self-assessment via open-office hours, recurring meetings, and answered questions via Section 508 listservs, emails, and phone calls. In the first quarter of FY 2025, Board staff also provided subject matter expertise in reviewing and analyzing FY 2024 data and agency responses to assist GSA in interpreting the data for the FY 2024 report.

The Access Board continued development on the ICT Testing Baseline Portfolio subdomain, a notable expansion of technical assistance materials available for Section 508 and ICT accessibility. To improve the evaluation of ICT for Section 508 conformance across federal agencies, the Access Board develops and maintains ICT Testing Baselines for several types of ICT in partnership with GSA. Each Baseline identifies accessibility properties and provides comprehensive evaluation instructions to ensure accurate test results for each accessibility requirement. The Access Board test processes that incorporate the ICT Testing Baselines produce consistent test results and improve trust in their test reports. Many federal agencies participate and contribute to the Baseline Portfolio, including DHS, OPM, SSA, and HHS.

In FY 2024, the Access Board released a new Baseline for Electronic Documents and an update to the Baseline for Web. The Baselines are available to federal agencies and industry to improve accessibility testing. In FY 2025, the Board in collaboration with GSA and other federal partners drafted the Baseline for Software and Baseline for Hardware. Work also continues on the development of test cases for the Baseline for Web Alignment Framework which will be used to determine how well test methodologies align to the Baseline for Web.

Related to the Baseline Portfolio, the Access Board assisted DHS with updates to the Trusted Tester methodology for web content to ensure alignment to the Baseline for Web. Contributions included review of updated test instructions, testing tool updates, training content, and resolution of issues submitted by testers.

Model Employer of People with Disabilities

The federal government, as the nation’s largest employer, has a special responsibility to lead by example in including people with disabilities in the workforce. The Access Board prides itself on its history of inclusiveness in employment. It is part of who the Access Board is as an agency, and the Access Board will continue this effort as it moves forward to be a model employer of people with disabilities (Objective 3.3).

In FY 2025, Access Board managers and supervisors received Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) training to ensure they are well-prepared to manage EEO issues effectively. This training included the laws and policies related to EEO, how to manage employee interactions, and how to support the EEO complaint process. The EEO training will assist managers in making informed decisions about discrimination and accommodation requests and will equip them to manage any potential EEO-related issues that arise in the workplace. By training supervisors in EEO, the Access Board creates a more inclusive and respectful work environment, which is essential for maintaining a fair and equitable workplace for all employees.

The Access Board has conducted the annual self-assessment of Section 717 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 programs against the six essential elements for a model EEO program as prescribed by Equal Employment Opportunity Management Directive 715. The agency has analyzed its workforce profiles and conducted barrier analyses aimed at detecting whether any management or personnel policy, procedure, or practice is operating to disadvantage any group based on race, national origin, sex, or disability.

The Access Board continues to develop an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Awards Program that will recognize Access Board employees and senior leaders for their achievements, contributions, and efforts in supporting equal employment opportunities in the Access Board workplace. The EEO Awards Program is intended to acknowledge and encourage significant and continued efforts in promoting equal employment opportunity into everyday practice to make EEO a fundamental part of the Access Board workplace culture.

To facilitate the hiring, placement, and advancement of individuals with disabilities, the Access Board conducted a disability self-identification initiative which encouraged all employees to self-identify their disability status. Self-identification of disability status is essential for effective data collection and analysis of the Access Board’s hiring efforts.

The Access Board continues to maintain a file of “Schedule A” applicants that is reviewed prior to the posting of agency vacancies. Schedule A provides a means for agencies to hire qualified people with disabilities outside of the usual process for hiring into the competitive service. Individuals with disabilities may be hired into “excepted service” positions and then converted to the competitive service after having demonstrated successful job performance over a period of time.

Goal #4: Promote Accessibility throughout Society

The Access Board’s fourth strategic goal is supported by two objectives, which are:

  • Objective 4.1: Identify and address inequities in accessibility faced by underserved communities.
  • Objective 4.2: Identify and work to address barriers to accessibility beyond those covered by our guidelines and standards.

Background

The United States is a world leader in accessibility for people with disabilities. As the federal agency statutorily tasked with promoting accessibility throughout all segments of society, the Access Board works extensively to bring awareness to accessibility laws and regulations, and to highlight opportunities to enhance the quality of life for individuals with disabilities through the implementation of accessible design. This work includes activities such as holding in-person and virtual public events (town hall meetings and listening sessions, among others); speaking at national and international conferences; meeting with national organizations and international delegates and officials; and delivering information via its public communication channels to a wide range of stakeholders and audiences.

In FY 2025, the Access Board continued applying various strategies and activities to ensure that greater awareness of accessibility permeates parts of society; the Board also continued to listen to and collect data and comments from people with disabilities, those who serve people with disabilities, and those whose work relates to implementing accessible design.

Summary of Key Accomplishments in FY 2025

Public Events and Engagement

During FY 2025, the Governing Board met in October 2024, and in April and July 2025. During all three meetings, the formal sessions were open to the public through live web streams. During the formal session in July, the Access Board held a town hall meeting in New Orleans, LA for members of the public to join in person and provide public comments on the state of accessibility in the local community. At the April meeting, the formal session was hybrid for members of the public, with in-person attendance at the Access Board’s office building. Archival video recordings of formal sessions of Board meetings are also posted on the Access Board’s YouTube channel and website.

During the July 2025 Board meeting in New Orleans, the Board held a series of engagements to better understand the state of accessibility in the city and the region, and to provide resources to the local community. Board Members and staff attended several meetings with local advocates and officials from the State of Louisiana and the City of New Orleans, held at the Louisiana State University (LSU) Health Sciences Center New Orleans. The Board engaged with participants about the state of accessibility across Louisiana from the Governor’s Office, LA Developmental Disabilities Council (LaDDC), Disability Rights LA, and LSU Health’s Human Development Center. The Board also met with several city leaders who implement accessibility under the Americans with Disabilities Act for New Orleans residents with disabilities, as well as city leaders from the Department of Public Works who are working to address the accessibility of pedestrian facilities throughout the city.

While in New Orleans, the Board held its annual town hall meeting, where it heard directly from New Orleans residents regarding local accessibility concerns. The event was held concurrently with the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) National Convention, which allowed Access Board Members to also hear about accessibility concerns from people who are blind or have low vision from around the country. During the event, 10 Public Board Members represented the agency, including the Chair of the Access Board, Elver Ariza-Silva. Representatives from the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services and Veterans Affairs were also in attendance, as well as state and local officials including New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell. Over 20 attendees testified during the public comment portion of the town hall, sharing a range of accessibility concerns including, among others: public transportation, pedestrian facilities in the public right-of-way, self-service transaction machines, Section 508 enforcement, design for people who are neurodivergent, air travel, voting, maps, and braille signage. After the town hall meeting, the Access Board held a networking event to provide opportunities for members of the public to further engage with Board Members and staff. This activity supported Objective 4.1, whereby the agency sought to better understand accessibility inequities, including those in underserved communities. The Access Board will consider this information as it strategizes how its services and programs may serve the public beyond rulemaking, thus supporting Objective 4.2.

During its visit to New Orleans, the Board also focused on engaging with local leaders regarding accessible public transportation. To achieve this goal, the Board met with leadership from the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority (RTA). During these meetings, the Board and RTA staff observed the accessibility of two public transit systems in the city: (1) the public ferry boat that connects the New Orleans metropolitan area across the Mississippi River, and; (2) the Canal Streetcar Line. In addition, the Board met with local National Park Service leadership from Jean Lafitte National Historical Site and Preserve and New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park to provide resources for increasing accessibility for park visitors with disabilities. Finally, the Board also met with local accessibility advocates and residents with disabilities and heard from city officials and contractors about their efforts to make New Orleans more accessible to tourists with disabilities. The Access Board will continue to offer technical assistance, training, and other resources to state and local leaders as they strive to advance accessibility for Louisianians.

Throughout much of FY 2025, Board staff began preparation for the May 2026 Board meeting in Providence, RI. In September 2025, some Board staff traveled to Rhode Island to meet with local leaders, disability organizations, community members, and other stakeholders. These meetings included an accessibility observation of a ferry, a visit to a state veterans’ home, roundtables with community leaders and people with disabilities, and various other meetings with tourism industry personnel, local artists, and local and state government leaders, including the lieutenant governor. These week-long meetings with stakeholders supported Objectives 4.1 and 4.2, and the May 2026 Board meeting will continue in achieving these objectives through engagement with stakeholders in roundtables, panel presentations, discussions, site tours, and demonstrations. At the April 2025 Board meeting, the Board voted for the 2027 out-of-town meeting and town hall to take place in Nashville, TN; this Board meeting will also support Objectives 4.1 and 4.2.

Executive Order on Artificial Intelligence

In the first quarter of FY 2025, the Access Board summarized its findings from a series of FY 2024 informative and collaborative AI sessions entitled: “Developing Artificial Intelligence (AI) Equity, Access & Inclusion for All Series”. As part of this series, the Access Board held public hearings with members of the disability community, federal agency AI leaders, academics, and the AI industry to learn about the risks and benefits of the technology. In total, three virtual hearing sessions took place: two for the disability community (on August 8, 2024) and one for federal agency and AI industry practitioners (on August 22, 2024). Information gained from the hearings was consolidated into a summary and presented to the public via a webinar in January 2025.

Presentations

To further achieve Objectives 4.1 and 4.2, Board staff also provided presentations and engaged with stakeholders outside the context of Board meetings and other public agency events. Board staff were featured speakers or panelists at both government and industry conferences, forums, symposiums, and other public events to discuss accessible design and accessibility. Examples include, but are not limited to, the Interagency Accessibility Forum (IAAF), M-Enabling Summit, National ADA Summit, and ADA National Network Directors Meeting. These presentations span a range of topics in both the built environment and Section 508 and reached thousands of attendees.

In October 2024, several Access Board staff attended and presented at the 2024 M-Enabling Summit held in Alexandria, VA. Additionally, Executive Director Sachin Pavithran facilitated a panel discussion on Title II of the ADA for federal, state, and local governments alongside staff from the Department of Justice, General Services Administration, State of Minnesota, and National Association of Counties.

Also in October 2024, Board staff were invited to provide trainings on PROWAG for the American Society of Landscape Architects Annual Conference, the City of San Marcos, Texas, and the City of Long Beach, California. Trainings were also completed on accessibility and artificial intelligence at the Annual U.S. Conference on Disability, on ADA accessibility for transportation vehicles and the Passenger Vessel Accessibility Guidelines for Access Matters New Zealand, and on electric vehicle charging for the Accessible Mobility Collaborative Summit. Board staff were also invited to present two trainings at the Certified Access Specialist Institute (CASI) Summit on accessibility and non-standard short-term lodging and accessible long-term care and social services. Along with the conference presentations, Board staff were invited to provide a two-day overview on the ABA for the Social Security Administration, and a 60-minute overview of the ABA and accessibility in federal facilities for the Army Research Laboratories. The month ended with two final presentations on accessibility and artificial intelligence at the Council of State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation Fall Conference. The Access Board webinar scheduled and completed in October 2024 included a built environment webinar on a review of the requirements in the ADA and the ABA for alterations.

In November 2024, Board staff were invited to co-present with GSA on three topics — Section 508 exceptions, PDFs and document accessibility, and social media accessibility — at the Interagency Accessibility Forum. Board staff were also invited to provide training on the Public Right-of-Way Accessibility Guidelines for the National Association of ADA Coordinators. Access Board webinars scheduled and completed in November 2024 included a built environment webinar on accessibility of spa resorts and a 508 best practices webinar on essential strategies for creating accessible social media content. The two aforementioned social media presentations were based upon the updated accessible social media webpage on Section508.gov; the content on this page was based upon the Board’s current social media strategies and was a collaboration between the Access Board and GSA.

In December 2024, Board staff provided virtual training for the 1,100 business members of New Orleans & Company with a focus on public rights-of-way to support accessibility efforts as New Orleans prepared for the upcoming Super Bowl. The session included an overview of the Access Board and an invitation to attendees to the agency’s July 9, 2025, town hall in the city. Board staff were also invited to present a webinar on the Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) and Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR) for the Department of Defense. The Access Board webinar scheduled and completed in December 2024 included a built environment webinar on accessible bus and van transportation.

In January 2025, Board staff were invited to be a part of a panel presentation on the ADA at the Accessibility Professionals Association Conference. Along with the panel presentation, a collaborative presentation on ADA requirements and the FHA was also completed. Access Board webinars scheduled in January 2025 included a built environment webinar on accessibility and the role of the Access Board (postponed due to the observance of former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral service) and a 508 best practices webinar on highlights from the FY 2024 Government-wide Section 508 Assessment.

In February 2025, the scheduled Access Board webinar on accessible airport terminals was cancelled due to policy changes impacting the external federal agency speaker’s participation.

In March 2025, Board staff attended and presented at the 2025 National Title VI Training & Technical Assistance Conference. Sessions included discussions of caregiving for older Native Americans with disabilities, resources for older Native Americans, nutritional programs, fiscal training, and more. Board staff were provided with multiple presentation offers: (1) an invitation from the Access Association UK to provide a presentation focusing on designing for children at the Access Association virtual Spring 2025 Seminar; (2) an invitation from the City of Baltimore to provide an introductory training on the ADA and PROWAG; (3) an invitation from the Tennessee Department of Transportation to provide a virtual training on PROWAG, and; (4) an invitation to provide a training on the ABA Accessibility Standards and federal leased facilities for the Federal Aviation Administration. Access Board webinars scheduled in March 2025 included a built environment webinar on accessible means of egress and a 508 best practices webinar on training agency contracting teams on 508 compliances (cancelled due to policy changes impacting the external federal agency speaker’s participation).

In April 2025, Board staff attended the Equity in Motion Summit and presented on accessible design in the public right-of-way and provided training to the Bureau of Land Management on the ADA and ABA Accessibility Standards. The Access Board webinar scheduled and completed in April 2025 included a built environment webinar on exhibition design and accessibility for visitors with disabilities.

In May 2025, Board staff presented at three events: (1) the “born-accessible design for digital accessibility” workshop at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies at Harvard University; (2) a co-presentation on international accessibility laws at the Interagency Accessibility Forum, and; (3) a panel discussion on website and document accessibility with PlayCore. Access Board webinars scheduled and completed in May 2025 included a built environment webinar on outdoor dining, retail, and community spaces and a 508 best practices webinar on the NPS media player—an accessible option for government agencies.

In June 2025, Board staff attended the National ADA Symposium in Atlanta, GA and presented a total of four training courses on creating an accessible built environment. Board staff presented three 90-minute training courses on topics including accessible travel, accessible outdoor developed areas, and common accessibility mistakes. Board staff were also invited to provide a three-hour workshop covering an overview of the ADA Accessibility Standards. While there, Board staff also attended several sessions and learned from peers in the accessibility field. Also in June, Board staff were invited to provide an ABA overview training for GSA, provide two virtual trainings—accessibility of residential facilities and transient lodging facilities—for the Hawaii State Department of Health Disability Access Conference, and participate in an ADA immersive experience with the Institute of Transportation Engineers. The latter session included a walk around with transportation practitioners to discuss challenges navigating the built environment. Board staff also presented at the United Nations Conference of State Parties annual event on accessibility and artificial intelligence. The Access Board webinar scheduled and completed in June 2025 included a built environment webinar on accessibility and historic buildings and facilities.

In July 2025, Board staff were invited to present three trainings at the National Federation of the Blind National Convention including an overview of the ABA, a training on accessible ICT, and a training on PROWAG. Board staff also provided trainings on PROWAG for the Louisiana State Department of Transportation, Jefferson Parish Transit, New Orleans Department of Public Works, New Orleans Regional Transit Authority, Wisconsin ADA Coordinators Association, and DC Department of Transportation. Later in July, Board staff were invited to provide training to Amtrak related to accessibility and the Amtrak customer experience and separately, to present a training on the accessibility standards for medical diagnostic equipment for Access Israel’s 15th International Webinar on Advancing Accessibility in Health. Board staff also presented at the National Council on Independent Living (NCIL) conference on artificial intelligence and disability innovation. Access Board webinars scheduled and completed in July 2025 included a built environment webinar on accessibility and the role of the Access Board and a 508 best practices webinar on PDFs and document accessibility.

In August 2025, the Access Board completed a built environment series webinar on accessible polling places and election-supporting technology.

In September 2025, Board staff were invited to present on the ADA Accessibility Standards at the Accessibility Professionals Association Virtual Fall Conference and on shared use paths at the Pennsylvania Greenways and Trails Summit. Board staff were also invited to provide training at the National Park Service Superintendent’s meeting on the ABA and historic national cemeteries. To close out the fiscal year, Board staff were invited to provide a training at the National Indian Council on Aging (NICOA) American Indian Elders Conference on accessibility best practices for Title VI program centers and ceremonial spaces. The Access Board webinars scheduled and completed in September 2025 included a built environment webinar on the ABA and leased federal buildings and facilities and a 508 best practices webinar on global accessibility laws.

Throughout FY 2025, Board technical staff partnered and engaged with a wide array of federal agencies, including representatives from the National Park Service, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Transportation’s Office of the Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Federal Transit Administration, Federal Highway Administration, Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), Department of Justice, Department of Health and Human Services, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and Architect of the Capitol (AOC). In addition, Board staff maintained partnerships and collaborations with Amtrak, state and local departments of transportation, and codes and standards organization officials, including, but not limited to the Rehabilitation Engineering Society of North America (RESNA), International Code Council (ICC), and American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM).

Throughout FY 2025, Board staff also engaged with the Coalition of Mayor’s Offices for People with Disabilities to share Access Board resources, rulemaking updates, and to connect at the local level nationally. This coalition represents cities from across the nation including New York City, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Boston, Salt Lake City, and 15 additional cities.

These presentations and collaborations achieve Objectives 4.1 and 4.2 by providing engagements with stakeholders outside the context of Board meetings and other public agency events.

Notable Meetings

Objectives 4.1 and 4.2 were developed for alignment with several Executive Orders, including EO 13175 “Memorandum on Tribal Consultation and Strengthening Nation-to-Nation Relationships.” The agency has worked toward achieving the mission of EO 13175 by meeting with other federal agencies, such as the Administration for Community Living (ACL) and Indian Health Service (IHS) to discuss the Access Board’s services and programs and strategize ways to build and improve relationships with tribal communities and employees. In continuing to achieve Objective 4.1, during FY 2025 the Access Board sought out opportunities to connect with federal agencies focused on serving tribal nations and to establish relationships with tribal communities. Notably, in November 2025, Board staff attended the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Traditional Healing Summit both virtually and in person. A roundtable session was held between tribal leaders, ACL leadership, and Board staff to discuss accessibility needs and potential collaborative solutions.

Pursuant of EO 13175, Board staff continues to collaborate with ACL on the Older Americans Act Title VI grant program that provides nutrition and other support to elders on tribal lands. ACL staff have identified disability access to ceremonial spaces as a key quality of life issue for older tribal members. The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) passed a resolution in 2023 encouraging tribes to enhance accessibility of ceremonial spaces and naming the Access Board as a resource for technical assistance. Board technical staff continue to attend meetings to better understand the range of accessibility barriers presented in these spaces so that the Access Board can provide appropriate technical assistance upon request. These meetings include virtual and in-person observations of ceremonial spaces. The Board is also working with ACL staff toward providing technical assistance for accessibility of Title VI program offices and connections to additional resources.

In FY 2025, the Access Board convened with international representatives from the Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), a premier professional exchange program that brings together foreign leaders and American counterparts to engage on emerging issues, policy goals, and shared interests. In November 2024, Board staff met with a delegation from Indonesia, and in December, met with a delegation from the Central African Republic. Both discussions focused on the Board’s rulemaking processes, public engagement, and ways to ensure that people with disabilities have access to government facilities. In May 2025, the Board again welcomed a delegation from Oman as part of IVLP. The conversation focused on the role of the ADA, the Architectural Barriers Act, and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, and their corresponding accessibility guidelines and standards.

In March 2025, Executive Director Pavithran attended the 2025 Zero Project Conference in Vienna, Austria. Pavithran presented on the importance of Creating a Disability Confident Civil Service. He was joined by Dr. Stefan Verhaegh from the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority. Later in March, Pavithran met with students from Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind (USDB), who were visiting the nation’s capital. The Executive Director spoke with the students about their experiences with accessibility, the ADA, the disability community, and the role of the Access Board.

In April 2025, Board staff attended the 3rd Global Disability Summit (GDS) in Berlin, Germany, which was hosted by the governments of Germany and Jordan, along with the International Disability Alliance (IDA). Executive Director Pavithran presented on a panel which addressed the topic of building an accessible digital future for people with disabilities. Additionally, Board staff met with Member of German Parliament Wilfred Oellers. At the end of April, the Access Board held its annual in-person Board meeting in Washington, DC. During this meeting, the Board learned about the accessibility of the World War I Memorial from the National Park Service and visited the national headquarters of Paralyzed Veterans of American (PVA) to observe the accessibility of their facilities as well.

In June 2025, Executive Director Pavithran represented the Access Board at the inABLE Inclusive Africa Conference 2025 in Nairobi, Kenya. He delivered a keynote on Advancing Global Accessibility and participated in a panel discussion on the Global Implementation of Accessibility. Later in June, the Chair of the Access Board, Elver Ariza-Silva, spoke on the importance of the Board, the ADA, and accessible business travel at the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) Sustainability Summit 2025.

The OTIS Director served as a member of the European delegation to the United Nations in FY 2025 for the United Nations Conference on the States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (COSP18). She participated in a sub-event on the accessibility of artificial intelligence hosted by Poland. All the Board’s international engagements help support Objectives 4.1 and 4.2.

Public Communication

The Access Board has several external communication channels to provide information on accessibility guidelines and standards, services and programs, news updates, and accessible design resources. These channels provide opportunities for underserved communities to be informed and supported in redressing inequities throughout society (Objective 4.1), and for all members of the public to understand barriers to accessibility beyond the Board’s guidelines and standards (Objective 4.2).

The Access Board provides a free e-subscription to members of the public who can sign up for one or more of the agency’s seven topic areas: News, Buildings and Sites, Health Care, Information and Communication Technology, Recreation and Outdoor Areas, Streets and Sidewalks, and Transportation. In FY 2025, the Access Board sent 92 e-bulletins to its subscribers. Additionally, the total number of subscribers and subscriptions increased in FY 2025 when compared to FY 2024, with a total of 95,017 subscribers (an increase of 11,773) and 307,964 subscriptions (an increase of 39,954). This is demonstrative of the Public Affairs Program’s focus on intentional and effective communication. At the end of FY 2023, the Public Affairs Program also developed new, modernized promotional materials, including fact sheets, infographics, and three short videos. The topics of the videos include: (1) introductory information about the agency; (2) the ABA enforcement and compliance program, and; (3) the agency’s technical services and programs. These materials were distributed to the agency’s e-subscribers, as well as other various stakeholders and audiences, throughout FY 2024 and FY 2025.

The Access Board’s website continues to serve as a crucial resource on accessibility guidelines and standards, technical assistance materials, ABA complaint methods, and news about agency activities and events. In FY 2025, the website logged around 1.3 million users and 3.6 million page views.

In FY 2025, the Access Board implemented public information strategies and tactics on its social media platforms (X, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube) to increase greater public awareness of the agency and its services, programs, events, and activities. On X, the Access Board has 2,817 followers and continues to stay engaged with its substantial network; notably, the agency published 306 posts or reposts throughout FY 2025 on the platform. On LinkedIn, the Board increased its followers by 17%, bringing the total LinkedIn followers to 5,787. On Facebook, the Board increased its followers by 35%, bringing the total Facebook followers to 1,544. The Access Board’s YouTube channel had over 41,000 views of its 52 videos (including three shorts) and over 450 new subscribers. Currently, the agency’s YouTube channel has a total of 462,538 views and about 4,858 subscribers.

Furthermore, following discussions at the July 2024 Board meeting, a Board Communication Strategy was launched that included steps to ensure that all Board Members are aware of ongoing and upcoming events, news, and resources. Board Members have been encouraged to sign up for all Board email updates and to follow the Board on its social media platforms to amplify the reach of existing communication efforts. Beginning September 2024 and continuing throughout FY 2025, the Board Member Highlights newsletter was regularly sent to all Board Members.

Stewardship Objective: Improve Agency Systems and Modernize Operations

The Access Board’s stewardship objective/goal is supported by three objectives, which are:

  • Objective 5.1: Use data and technology to enhance operations and services.
  • Objective 5.2: Use tools and internal systems to consolidate and retain agency knowledge.
  • Objective 5.3: Update agency policies, procedures, and administrative regulations.

Background

The Modernizing Government Technology Act provides a clear mandate for federal agencies to seek opportunities for improving efficiency, effectiveness, and the quality of service provided to the public. This initiative emphasizes the need for federal organizations to adopt modern, scalable technology solutions that align with the evolving needs of both internal operations and citizen engagement. In this context, the Access Board plays a crucial role by outlining specific requirements for agencies to implement centralized identity management systems that are not only secure but also capable of integrating seamlessly into a variety of applications and commonly used platforms.

The integration of these systems is vital for ensuring that agencies can securely manage user access while streamlining operations. Moreover, Office of Information Technology resources are foundational to supporting the Access Board’s broader strategic objectives, particularly in terms of enhancing the performance and functionality of agency systems. This support is integral to the Access Board’s efforts to modernize its infrastructure, making it more resilient, efficient, and adaptive to the needs of the government and the public it serves.

In line with recent and ongoing IT mandates, the Access Board’s overarching goal is to create a unified environment that fosters standardized enterprise platform solutions, consistent processes, and robust governance frameworks. These efforts aim to eliminate redundancies, reduce risks, and increase the agility of federal IT systems. Another key focus is the modernization of legacy equipment, which can hinder operational efficiency and security. By replacing outdated systems and technologies, the Access Board seeks to enhance both the security and performance of its IT infrastructure, ensuring that it remains capable of supporting the evolving needs of government operations in the digital age.

Summary of Key Accomplishments in FY 2025

IT Modernization

In FY 2025, the Access Board made significant strides toward stabilizing and advancing its IT infrastructure modernization initiatives. This progress was achieved through the successful integration of several new technologies and tools aimed at enhancing the agency’s stewardship objectives. Notable accomplishments included the achievement of Authority to Use (ATU) for the agency’s main website, completion of internal and external vulnerability threat verification and remediation of major findings, and the next phase of the single sign-on (SSO) solution with Okta as part of the agency’s broader Zero Trust strategy for Identity Management. This implementation is a critical component of ongoing efforts to improve security and streamline user access across systems. Additionally, in FY 2025, the Board successfully completed its migration to Palo Alto security devices and identified and implemented an alternative identity management solution to further strengthen its cybersecurity posture.

The Board’s modernization efforts also extended to mobile devices, including the upgrading of all cell phone devices and transferring security to a singular platform of Microsoft Intune. This step was part of a broader initiative to safeguard all agency devices. As a key element of the FY 2025 modernization efforts, all agency computers were updated to ensure conformation with cybersecurity standards and secure operating systems. Moreover, the agency’s devices are now managed through Microsoft O365 systems, which allow for remote control over computers—enabling tasks like imaging, locking, wiping, and updating software and hardware to address cybersecurity vulnerabilities. The Access Board has made considerable progress in modernizing its mobile device management capabilities; this advancement is crucial to the Board’s overall security strategy, as it ensures that mobile devices are secure, up-to-date, and compliant with agency policies. The goal is to protect the network and sensitive data from unauthorized access, further reinforcing the Board’s cybersecurity infrastructure. Key initiatives, including Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), full Personal Identity Verification (PIV) implementation, and the adoption of Zero Trust architecture, are well underway, moving the agency closer to completion.

In addition to these efforts, the Access Board migrated all its cybersecurity policies to NIST 800-53 Rev 5, aligning with the latest industry standards. The cybersecurity team continues to review the Plan of Action & Milestones (POA&M) to effectively track and manage risks, ensuring comprehensive oversight. Another key initiative in FY 2025 is the ongoing work of migration of local data center servers to the Azure Cloud. This shift will result in a significant reduction in costs associated with maintaining physical data centers while enhancing flexibility, scalability, accessibility, security, and deployment speed.

The transition of Continuous Diagnostic Monitoring (CDM) to the Azure platform has also proven invaluable in strengthening the Access Board’s cybersecurity efforts. CDM has enhanced several key areas, including asset management, risk management, vulnerability management, and tracking of Agency-Wide Adaptive Risk Enumeration (AWARE) scores and FISMA metrics. With these improvements, the Access Board is now better equipped to track Binding Operational Directives and Emergency Directives in real-time, while staying ahead of emerging cybersecurity threats. All these efforts support Objectives 5.1 and 5.2.

Updated Policies

To support Objective 5.3, the Access Board made significant progress in FY 2025 by developing many new IT and cybersecurity policies all the while updating many outdated existing ones. During FY 2026, additional policies will be created and implemented to accommodate the various federal mandates and other OIT initiatives.

In FY 2025, the Access Board finalized the new procedures for providing Personal Assistance Services (PAS), in compliance with 29 C.F.R. §1614.203(d)(5), a regulation that enforces Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 501, as amended by 29 U.S.C. § 791). These procedures are designed to ensure that the Access Board meets its legal obligations while providing necessary assistance to its employees. Also in 2025, the Access Board issued a revised Privacy by Design policy. This updated policy outlines the agency’s requirements for embedding privacy considerations into the planning and execution of ongoing project initiatives. It aims to ensure that privacy is prioritized throughout the lifecycle of projects and technologies developed at the Access Board.

In accordance with the Presidential Memorandum “Restoring Accountability for Career Senior Executives,” the Access Board has updated its senior executive service and senior professional performance management policies. This memorandum aims to ensure that the executive management of the government of the United States is responsive to the needs, policies, and goals of the nation and is of the highest quality.

Finally, the Access Board has been actively working to enhance its privacy program. This includes collaborating closely with OIT to strengthen protocols for addressing privacy incidents and data breaches. In FY 2025, several key policies and procedures were implemented, including a Breach Response Policy, Training and Awareness Policy, and a Breach Response Procedure. These documents were introduced to provide clear guidance on how to manage privacy breaches and raise awareness within the agency. While these policies are already in place, they are undergoing regular reviews and updates to maintain alignment with evolving best practices and ensure their continued effectiveness.

Independent Auditor’s Report
and
Financial Statements

For the Fiscal Year Ended
*September 30, 2025

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Prepared by
Brown & Company CPAs and Management Consultants, PLLC
December 3, 2025

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Independent Auditor’s Report

United States Access Board
Washington, D.C.

In our audit of the fiscal year 2025 financial statements of the U.S. Access Board (USAB), we found

  • USAB’s financial statements as of and for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2025 are presented fairly, in all material respects, in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles;
  • no material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting based on the limited procedures3, we performed; and
  • no reportable noncompliance for fiscal year 2025 with provisions of applicable laws, regulations, contracts, and grant agreements we tested.

The following sections discuss in more detail (1) our report on the financial statements, which includes a section on required supplementary information (RSI)4 and a section on other information included with the financial statements5; (2) our report on internal control over financial reporting; and (3) our report on compliance with laws, regulations, contracts, and grant agreements.

Report on the Financial Statements

Opinion

In accordance with U.S. generally accepted government auditing standards we have audited USAB’s financial statements. USAB’s financial statements comprise the balance sheets as of September 30, 2025, the related statement of net cost, changes in net position, and budgetary resources for the fiscal year then ended; and the related notes to the financial statements. In our opinion, USAB’s financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, USAB’s financial position as of September 30, 2025, and its net costs of operations, changes in net position, and budgetary resources for the fiscal years then ended in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.

Basis for Opinion

We conducted our audits in accordance with U.S. generally accepted government auditing standards. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s Responsibilities for the Audit of the Financial Statements section of our report. We are required to be independent of USAB and to meet our other ethical responsibilities, in accordance with the relevant ethical requirements relating to our audit. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our audit opinion.

Responsibilities of Management for the Financial Statements Management is responsible for:
  • the preparation and fair presentation of these financial statements in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles;
  • preparing, measuring, and presenting the RSI in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles;
  • preparing and presenting other information included in USAB’s agency financial report, and ensuring the consistency of that information with the audited financial statements and the RSI; and
  • designing, implementing, and maintaining effective internal control relevant to the preparation and fair presentation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.
Auditor’s Responsibilities for the Audit of the Financial Statements

Our objectives are to (1) obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and (2) issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance but is not absolute assurance and therefore is not a guarantee that an audit of the financial statements conducted in accordance with U.S. generally accepted government auditing standards will always detect a material misstatement or a material weakness when it exists. The risk of not detecting a material misstatement resulting from fraud is higher than for one resulting from error, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal control. Misstatements, including omissions, are considered to be material if there is a substantial likelihood that, individually or in the aggregate, they would influence the judgment made by a reasonable user based on the financial statements.

In performing an audit in accordance with U.S. generally accepted government auditing standards, we:

  • Exercise professional judgment and maintain professional skepticism throughout the audit.
  • Identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error, and design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks. Such procedures include examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements.
  • Obtain an understanding of internal control relevant to our audit of the financial statements in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of USAB’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, no such opinion is expressed.
  • Evaluate the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of significant accounting estimates made by management, as well as evaluate the overall presentation of the financial statements.
  • Perform other procedures we consider necessary in the circumstances.

We are required to communicate with those charged with governance regarding, among other matters, the planned scope and timing of the audit, significant audit findings, and certain internal control–related matters that we identified during the financial statement audit.

Required Supplementary Information

U.S. generally accepted accounting principles issued by the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB) require that the RSI be presented to supplement the financial statements. Such information is the responsibility of management and, although not a part of the financial statements, is required under standards issued by FASAB, which considers it to be an essential part of financial reporting for placing the financial statements in appropriate operational, economic, or historical context.

We have applied certain limited procedures to the RSI in accordance with U.S. generally accepted government auditing standards. These procedures consisted of (1) inquiring of management about the methods used to prepare the RSI and (2) comparing the RSI for consistency with management’s responses to our inquiries, the financial statements, and other knowledge we obtained during the audit of the financial statements, in order to report omissions or material departures from FASAB guidelines, if any, identified by these limited procedures. We did not audit and we do not express an opinion or provide any assurance on the RSI because the limited procedures we applied do not provide sufficient evidence to express an opinion or provide any assurance.

Other Information

USAB’s other information contains a wide range of information, some of which is not directly related to the financial statements. This information is presented for purposes of additional analysis and is not a required part of the financial statements or the RSI. Management is responsible for the other information included in USAB’s agency financial report. The other information comprises the following sections: a detailed statement of management assurances and other information as applicable. Other information does not include the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information, and we do not express an opinion or any form of assurance thereon.

In connection with our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information and consider whether a material inconsistency exists between the other information and the financial statements, or the other information otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If, based on the work performed, we conclude that an uncorrected material misstatement of the other information exists, we are required to describe it in our report.

Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting

In connection with our audits of USAB’s financial statements, we considered USAB’s internal control over financial reporting, consistent with our auditor’s responsibilities discussed below.

Results of Our Consideration of Internal Control over Financial Reporting

Our consideration of internal control was for the limited purpose described below, and was not designed to identify all deficiencies in internal control that might be material weaknesses or significant deficiencies6 or to express an opinion on the effectiveness of USAB’s internal control over financial reporting. Given these limitations, during our 2025 audit, we did not identify any deficiencies in internal control over financial reporting that we consider to be material weaknesses. However, material weaknesses or significant deficiencies may exist that have not been identified.

Basis for Results of Our Consideration of Internal Control over Financial Reporting

We performed our procedures related to USAB’s internal control over financial reporting in accordance with U.S. generally accepted government auditing standards and Office of Management and Budget audit guidance.

Responsibilities of Management for Internal Control over Financial Reporting

USAB management is responsible for designing, implementing, and maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting relevant to the preparation and fair presentation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

Auditor’s Responsibilities for the Consideration of Internal Control over Financial Reporting

In planning and performing our audit of USAB’s financial statements as of and for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2025, in accordance with U.S. generally accepted government auditing standards, we considered USAB’s internal control relevant to the financial statement audit in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of USAB’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we do not express an opinion on USAB’s internal control over financial reporting. We are required to report all deficiencies that are considered to be significant deficiencies or material weaknesses. We did not consider all internal controls relevant to operating objectives, such as those controls relevant to preparing performance information and ensuring efficient operations.

Definition and Inherent Limitations of Internal Control over Financial Reporting

An entity’s internal control over financial reporting is a process effected by those charged with governance, management, and other personnel. The objectives of internal control over financial reporting are to prove reasonable assurance that:

  • transactions are properly recorded, processed, and summarized to permit the preparation of financial statements in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, and assets are safeguarded against loss from unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition, and
  • transactions are executed in accordance with provisions of applicable laws, including those governing the use of budget authority, regulations, contracts, and grant agreements, noncompliance with which could have a material effect on the financial statements.
  • Evaluate the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of significant accounting estimates made by management, as well as evaluate the overall presentation of the financial statements.
  • Perform other procedures we consider necessary in the circumstances.

Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent, or detect and correct, misstatements due to fraud or error.

Intended Purpose of Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting

The purpose of this report is solely to describe the scope of our consideration of USAB’s internal control over financial reporting and the results of our procedures, and not to provide an opinion on the effectiveness of USAB’s internal control over financial reporting. This report is an integral part of an audit performed in accordance with U.S. generally accepted government auditing standards in considering internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, this report on internal control over financial reporting is not suitable for any other purpose.

Report on Compliance with Laws, Regulations, Contracts, and Grant Agreements

In connection with our audits of USAB’s financial statements, we tested compliance with selected provisions of applicable laws, regulations, contracts, and grant agreements consistent with our auditor’s responsibilities discussed below.

Results of Our Tests for Compliance with Laws, Regulations, Contracts, and Grant Agreements

Our tests for compliance with selected provisions of applicable laws, regulations, contracts, and grant agreements disclosed no instances of noncompliance for fiscal year 2025 that would be reportable under U.S. generally accepted government auditing standards. However, the objective of our tests was not to provide an opinion on compliance with laws, regulations, contracts, and grant agreements applicable to USAB. Accordingly, we do not express such an opinion.

Basis for Results of Our Tests for Compliance with Laws, Regulations, Contracts, and Grant Agreements

We performed our tests of compliance in accordance with U.S. generally accepted government auditing standards.

Responsibilities of Management for Compliance with Laws, Regulations, Contracts, and Grant Agreements

USAB management is responsible for complying with laws, regulations, contracts, and grant agreements applicable to USAB.

Auditor’s Responsibilities for Tests of Compliance with Laws, Regulations, Contracts, and Grant Agreements

Our responsibility is to test compliance with selected provisions of laws, regulations, contracts, and grant agreements applicable to USAB that have a direct effect on the determination of material amounts and disclosures in USAB’s financial statements, and to perform certain other limited procedures. Accordingly, we did not test compliance with all provisions of laws, regulations, contracts, and grant agreements applicable to USAB. We caution that noncompliance may occur and not be detected by these tests.

Intended Purpose of Report on Compliance with Laws, Regulations, Contracts, and Grant Agreements

The purpose of this report is solely to describe the scope of our testing of compliance with selected provisions of applicable laws, regulations, contracts, and grant agreements, and the results of that testing, and not to provide an opinion on compliance. This report is an integral part of an audit performed in accordance with U.S. generally accepted government auditing standards in considering compliance. Accordingly, this report on compliance with laws, regulations, contracts, and grant agreements is not suitable for any other purpose.

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December 3, 2025

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Financial Statements and Notes

United States Access Board

Balance Sheet

As of September 30, 2025
(In Dollars)

Assets: 2025
Intragovernmental Assets:  
  Fund Balance with Treasury (Note 2) $ 6,442,173
  Advances and Prepayments 139,275
Total Intragovernmental Assets 6,581,448
Other than Intragovernmental Assets:  
  Property, Plant, and Equipment, Net (Note 3) 149,909
Total Other than Intragovernmental Assets 149,909
Total Assets $ 6,731,357
Liabilities: 2025
Intragovernmental Liabilities:  
  Accounts Payable $ 6,623
      Accounts Payable 6,623
  Other Liabilities (Note 5) 537,391
      Other Liabilities (Without Reciprocals) 7,298
      Other Current Liabilities - Benefit Contributions Payable 26,114
      Other Liabilities - Reimbursable Activities 503,979
Total Intragovernmental Liabilities 544,014
Other than Intragovernmental Liabilities:  
  Accounts Payable 158,836
  Federal Employee Salary, Leave, and Benefits Payable 455,857
  Pension, Post-Employment, and Veterans Benefits Payable 6,272
  Other Liabilities (Note 5) (1,828)
Total Other than Intragovernmental Liabilities 619,137
Total Liabilities $ 1,163,151
Net Position: 2025
Unexpended Appropriations:  
  Funds from Other than Dedicated Collections $ 6,265,251
Cumulative Results of Operations:  
  Funds from Other than Dedicated Collections (697,045)
Total Cumulative Results of Operations (Consolidated) (697,045)
Total Net Position $ 5,568,206
Total Liabilities and Net Position $ 6,731,357

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

United States Access Board

Statement of Net Cost

For The Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2025
(In Dollars)

Gross Program Costs: 2025
  Gross Costs $ 9,561,222
Net Cost of Operations $ 9,561,222

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

United States Access Board

Statement of Changes in Net Position

For The Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2025
(In Dollars)

Consolidated — Total: 2025
Unexpended Appropriations:  
  Beginning Balance $ 5,584,174
  Appropriations Received $ 9,955,000
  Other Adjustments (230,765)
  Appropriations Used (9,043,158)
  Net Change in Unexpended Appropriations $ 681,077
Total Unexpended Appropriations $ 6,265,251
Cumulative Results of Operations:  
  Beginning Balance ($ 669,699)
  Appropriations Used $ 9,043,158
  Imputed Financing (Note 7) $ 490,718
  Net Cost of Operations (9,561,222)
Net Change in Cumulative Results of Operations (27,346)
Total Cumulative Results of Operations ($ 697,045)
Net Position $ 5,568,206

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

United States Access Board

Statement of Budgetary Resources

For The Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2025
(In Dollars)

Budgetary Resources: 2025
  Unobligated Balance From Prior Year Budget Authority, Net $ 3,495,796
  Appropriations $ 9,955,000
Total Budgetary Resources $ 13,450,796
Status of Budgetary Resources:  
  New Obligations and Upward Adjustments (Total) $ 9,965,499
  Unobligated Balance, End of Year  
       Apportioned, Unexpired Accounts $ 100,867
    Expired, Unobligated Balance, End of Year $ 3,384,430
Unobligated Balance, End of Year (Total) $ 3,485,297
Total Budgetary Resources $ 13,450,796
Outlays, Net and Disbursements, Net:  
Agency Outlays, Net $ 9,090,636

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

Notes to the Financial Statements

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NOTE 1. SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

A. Reporting Entity

The Access Board is an independent Federal agency that promotes equality for people with disabilities through leadership in accessible design and the development of accessibility guidelines and standards.

Created in 1973 under section 502 of the Rehabilitation Act to ensure access to federally funded facilities, the Board now is a leading source of information on accessible design. The Board develops and maintains design criteria for the built environment, transit, vehicles, telecommunications equipment, medical diagnostic equipment and information technology. It also provides technical assistance and training on these requirements and on accessible design and continues to enforce accessibility standards that cover federally funded facilities.

The Access Board’s reporting entity is comprised of General Funds and General Miscellaneous Receipts. General Funds are accounts used to record financial transactions arising under congressional appropriations or other authorizations to spend general revenues.

General Fund miscellaneous receipts are accounts established for receipts of non-recurring activity, such as fines, penalties, fees and other miscellaneous receipts for services and benefits.

The Access Board has rights and ownership of all assets reported in these financial statements, and does not possess any non-entity.

B. Basis of Presentation

The financial statements have been prepared to report the financial position and results of operations of the Access Board. The Balance Sheet presents the financial position of the agency. The Statement of Net Cost presents the agency’s operating results; the Statement of Changes in Net Position displays the changes in the agency’s equity accounts. The Statement of Budgetary Resources presents the sources, status, and uses of the agency’s resources and follows the rules for the Budget of the United States Government.

The statements are a requirement of the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990, the Government Management Reform Act of 1994 and the Accountability of Tax Dollars Act of 2002. They have been prepared from, and are fully supported by, the books and records of the Access Board in accordance with the hierarchy of accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, standards issued by the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB), Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-136, Financial Reporting Requirements, as amended, and the Access Board’s accounting policies which are summarized in this note. These statements, with the exception of the Statement of Budgetary Resources, are different from financial management reports, which are also prepared pursuant to OMB directives that are used to monitor and control the Access Board’s use of budgetary resources. The financial statements and associated notes are presented on a comparative basis. Unless specified otherwise, all amounts are presented in dollars.

C. Basis of Accounting

Transactions are recorded on both an accrual accounting basis and a budgetary basis. Under the accrual method, revenues are recognized when earned, and expenses are recognized when a liability is incurred, without regard to receipt or payment of cash. Budgetary accounting facilitates the control and monitoring of federal funds as well as the compliance with legal requirements on the use of those funds.

D. Fund Balance with Treasury

Fund Balance with Treasury is an asset of a reporting entity and a liability of the General Fund. It is the aggregate amount of the Access Board’s funds with Treasury in expenditure and receipt accounts. Appropriated funds recorded in expenditure accounts are available to pay current liabilities and finance authorized purchases.

The Access Board does not maintain bank accounts of its own, has no disbursing authority, and does not maintain cash held outside of Treasury. Funds are disbursed for the agency on demand.

E. Property, Equipment, and Software

Property, equipment and software represent furniture, fixtures, equipment, and information technology hardware and software which are recorded at original acquisition cost and are depreciated or amortized using the straight-line method over their estimated useful lives. Major alterations and renovations are capitalized, while maintenance and repair costs are expensed as incurred. The Access Board’s capitalization threshold is $50,000 for individual purchases and $500,000 for bulk purchases. Property, equipment, and software acquisitions that do not meet the capitalization criteria are expensed upon receipt. Applicable standard governmental guidelines regulate the disposal and convertibility of agency property, equipment, and software. The useful life classifications for capitalized assets are as follows:

Description Useful Life (years)
Leasehold Improvements 9
Office Furniture 5
Computer Equipment 3
Office Equipment 5
Software 5
F. Advances and Prepaid Charges

Advance payments are generally prohibited by law. There are some exceptions, such as reimbursable agreements, subscriptions and payments to contractors and employees. Payments made in advance of the receipt of goods and services are recorded as advances or prepaid charges at the time of prepayment and recognized as expenses when the related goods and services are received.

G. Liabilities

Liabilities represent the amount of funds likely to be paid by the Access Board as a result of transactions or events that have already occurred.

The Access Board reports its liabilities under two categories, Intragovernmental and Other than Intragovernmental. Intragovernmental liabilities represent funds owed to another government agency. Liabilities other than intragovernmental represent funds owed to any entity or person that is not a federal agency, including private sector firms and federal employees. Each of these categories may include liabilities that are covered by budgetary resources and liabilities not covered by budgetary resources.

Liabilities covered by budgetary resources are liabilities funded by a current appropriation or other funding source. These consist of accounts payable and accrued payroll and benefits. Accounts payable represent amounts owed to another entity for goods ordered and received and for services rendered except for employees. Accrued payroll and benefits represent payroll costs earned by employees during the fiscal year which are not paid until the next fiscal year.

Liabilities not covered by budgetary resources are liabilities that are not funded by any current appropriation or other funding source. These liabilities consist of accrued annual leave, deferred rent, and actuarial FECA. Deferred rent is the difference at year-end between the sum of monthly cash disbursements paid to date for rent and the sum of the average monthly rent calculated based on the term of the lease.

H. Annual, Sick, and Other Leave

Annual leave is accrued as it is earned, and the accrual is reduced as leave is taken. The balance in the accrued leave account is adjusted to reflect current pay rates. Liabilities associated with other types of vested leave, including compensatory, restored leave, and sick leave in certain circumstances, are accrued at year-end, based on latest pay rates and unused hours of leave. Funding will be obtained from future financing sources to the extent that current or prior year appropriations are not available to fund annual and other types of vested leave earned but not taken. Nonvested leave is expensed when used. Any liability for sick leave that is accrued but not taken by a Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS)-covered employee is transferred to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) upon the retirement of that individual. Credit is given for sick leave balances in the computation of annuities upon the retirement of Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS)-covered employees.

I. Accrued and Actuarial Workers’ Compensation

The Federal Employees’ Compensation Act (FECA) administered by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) addresses all claims brought by the Access Board’s employees for on-the-job injuries. The DOL bills each agency annually as its claims are paid, but payment of these bills is deferred for two years to allow for funding through the budget process. Similarly, employees that the Access Board terminates without cause may receive unemployment compensation benefits under the unemployment insurance program also administered by the DOL, which bills each agency quarterly for paid claims. Future appropriations will be used for the reimbursement to DOL. The liability consists of (1) the net present value of estimated future payments calculated by the DOL and (2) the unreimbursed cost paid by DOL for compensation to recipients under the FECA.

J. Retirement Plans

The Access Board employees participate in either the CSRS or the FERS. The employees who participate in CSRS are beneficiaries of the Access Board’s matching contribution, equal to seven percent of pay, distributed to their annuity account in the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund.

Prior to December 31, 1983, all employees were covered under the CSRS program. From January 1, 1984 through December 31, 1986, employees had the option of remaining under CSRS or joining FERS and Social Security. Employees hired as of January 1, 1987 are automatically covered by the FERS program. Both CSRS and FERS employees may participate in the federal Thrift Savings Plan (TSP). FERS employees receive an automatic agency contribution equal to one percent of pay and the Access Board matches any employee contribution up to an additional four percent of pay. For FERS participants, the Access Board also contributes the employer’s matching share of Social Security.

FERS employees and certain CSRS reinstatement employees are eligible to participate in the Social Security program after retirement. In these instances, the Access Board remits the employer’s share of the required contribution.

The Access Board recognizes the imputed cost of pension and other retirement benefits during the employees’ active years of service. OPM actuaries determine pension cost factors by calculating the value of pension benefits expected to be paid in the future and communicate these factors to the Access Board for current period expense reporting. OPM also provides information regarding the full cost of health and life insurance benefits. The Access Board recognized the offsetting revenue as imputed financing sources to the extent these expenses will be paid by OPM.

The Access Board does not report on its financial statements information pertaining to the retirement plans covering its employees. Reporting amounts such as plan assets, accumulated plan benefits, and related unfunded liabilities, if any, is the responsibility of the OPM, as the administrator.

K. Other Post-Employment Benefits

The Access Board’s employees eligible to participate in the Federal Employees’ Health Benefits Plan (FEHBP) and the Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance Program (FEGLIP) may continue to participate in these programs after their retirement. The OPM has provided the Access Board with certain cost factors that estimate the true cost of providing the post-retirement benefit to current employees. The Access Board recognizes a current cost for these and Other Retirement Benefits (ORB) at the time the employee’s services are rendered. The ORB expense is financed by OPM, and offset by the Access Board through the recognition of an imputed financing source.

L. Use of Estimates

The preparation of the accompanying financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles requires management to make certain estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues, and expenses. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

M. Classified Activities

Accounting standards require all reporting entities to disclose that accounting standards allow certain presentations and disclosures to be modified, if needed, to prevent the disclosure of classified information.

NOTE 2. FUND BALANCE WITH TREASURY

Fund Balance with Treasury account balances as of September 30, 2025 were as follows:

Status of Fund Balance With Treasury: 2025
  Unobligated Balance $ 3,485,297
  Obligated Balance Not Yet Disbursed $ 2,956,876
Total Fund Balance With Treasury $ 6,442,173

No discrepancies exist between the Fund Balance reflected on the Balance Sheet and the balances in the Treasury accounts.

Unobligated balances may include amounts that are not available for current use and are restricted to future use.

The obligated balance not yet disbursed includes accounts payable, accrued expenses, and undelivered orders that have reduced unexpended appropriations but have not yet decreased the fund balance on hand.

NOTE 3. PROPERTY, PLANT, AND EQUIPMENT, NET

Schedule of General Property, Plant, and Equipment, Net as of September 30, 2025:

2025
Major Class		 Acquisition
Cost		 Accumulated
Depreciation
and
Amortization		 Net Book
Value
Buildings $ 656,425 $ 580,923 $ 75,502
Furniture and Equipment 249,999 175,592 74,407
Total $ 906,424 $ 756,515 $ 149,909

NOTE 4. LIABILITIES NOT COVERED BY BUDGETARY RESOURCES

The liabilities for the Access Board as of September 30, 2025 include liabilities not covered by budgetary resources. Congressional action is needed before budgetary resources can be provided. Although future appropriations to fund these liabilities are likely and anticipated, it is not certain that appropriations will be enacted to fund these liabilities.

The deferred lease liability amount represents the difference at year end between the sum of monthly cash disbursements paid to date for base rent and the sum of the average monthly rent calculated based on the term of the lease. This was due to a new lease agreement entered into that had rent abatement provisions.

  2025
  Intragovernmental-FECA $ 1,530
  Unfunded Leave 335,171
  Actuarial FECA 6,272
  Deferred Lease Liabilities 503,979
      Total Liabilities Not Covered by Budgetary Resources $ 846,952
      Total Liabilities Covered by Budgetary Resources 316,199
Total Liabilities $ 1,163,151

FECA and the Unemployment Insurance liabilities represent the unfunded liability for actual workers compensation claims and unemployment benefits paid on the Access Board’s behalf and payable to the DOL.

Unfunded leave represents a liability for earned leave and is reduced when leave is taken. The balance in the accrued annual leave account is reviewed quarterly and adjusted as needed to accurately reflect the liability at current pay rates and leave balances. Accrued annual leave is paid from future funding sources and, accordingly, is reflected as a liability not covered by budgetary resources. Sick and other leave is expensed as taken.

NOTE 5. OTHER LIABILITIES

Other liabilities account balances as of September 30, 2025 were as follows:

2025
  Current Non Current Total
Intragovernmental Other Liabilities
  Employer Contributions and Payroll Taxes Payable (without reciprocals) $ 7,298 - $ 7,298
  Employer Contributions and Payroll Taxes Payable 24,584 - 24,584
  Unfunded FECA Liability 1,530 - 1,530
  Other Liabilities Without Related Budgetary Obligations 503,979 - 503,979
Total Intragovernmental Other Liabilities $537,391 - $537,391
Other than Intragovernmental Other Liabilities
  Other Liabilities w/Related Budgetary Obligations $ (1,828) $ - $ (1,828)
Total Other than Intragovernmental Other Liabilities $ (1,828) $ - $ (1,828)
Total Other Liabilities $535,563 $ - $535,563

NOTE 6. LEASES

The Access Board occupies office space under a lease agreement that is accounted for as an operating lease. The lease term begins on January 1, 2022 and expires on December 31, 2036. Lease payments are increased annually based on the adjustments for operating cost and real estate tax escalations. The total operating lease expense for fiscal year 2025 was $714,757.

Below is a schedule of future payments for the term of the lease.

Fiscal Year Office
Space		 Total
Federal
2026 $ 744,516 $ 744,516
2027 765,199 765,199
2028 778,774 778,774
2029 788,946 788,946
2030 799,424 799,424
2031-2035 4,221,092 4,221,092
2036-2040 1,089,652 1,089,652
Total $ 9,187,603 $ 9,187,603

The operating lease amount does not include estimated payments for leases with annual renewal options.

NOTE 7. INTER-ENTITY COSTS

The Access Board recognizes certain inter-entity costs for goods and services that are received from other federal entities at no cost or at a cost less than the full cost. Certain costs of the providing entity that are not fully reimbursed are recognized as imputed cost and are offset by imputed revenue. Such imputed costs and revenues relate to employee benefits and claims to be settled by the Treasury Judgement Fund. The Access Board recognizes as inter-entity costs the amount of accrued pension and post-retirement benefit expenses for current employees.

The assets and liabilities associated with such benefits are the responsibility of the administering agency, OPM. For the fiscal year ended September 30, 2025, inter-entity costs were as follows:

  2025
Office of Personnel Management $ 490,718
Total Imputed Financing Sources $ 490,718

NOTE 8. UNDELIVERED ORDERS AT THE END OF THE PERIOD

Budgetary resources obligated for undelivered orders as of September 30, 2025 were as follows:

2025
  Intragovernmental Other than
Intragovernmental		 Total
Paid Undelivered Orders $ 139,275 $ - $ 139,275
Unpaid Undelivered Orders 841,201 1,799,475 2,640,676
Total Undelivered Orders $ 980,476 $ 1,799,475 $ 2,779,951

NOTE 9. EXPLANATION OF DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE STATEMENT OF BUDGETARY RESOURSES AND THE BUDGET OF THE U.S. GOVERNMENT

The President’s Budget that will include fiscal year 2025 actual budgetary execution information has not yet been published. The President’s Budget is scheduled for publication in February 2026 and can be found at the OMB website: https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/. The fiscal year 2026 Budget of the United States Government, with the “Actual” column completed for 2024, has been reconciled to the Statement of Budgetary Resources and there were no material differences.

(In Millions)

  Total
Budgetary
Resources		 New Obligations
& Upward
Adjustments
(Total)		 Net
Outlays
Combined Statement of Budgetary Resources $ 12 $ 9 $ 9
Unobligated Balance Not Available (2) - -
Difference Due to Rounding - - 1
Budget of the U.S. Government $ 10 $ 9 $ 10

NOTE 10. RECONCILIATION OF NET OPERATING COST & NET BUDGETARY OUTLAYS

The reconciliation of net outlays, presented on a budgetary basis, and the net cost, presented on an accrual basis, provides an explanation of the relationship between budgetary and financial accounting information.

The reconciliation of Net Cost to Net Outlays as of September 30, 2025:

  Intragovern
mental		 Other than
Intragovern
mental		 Total
Net Operating Cost (Revenue) Reported on Statement of Net Cost $ 3,359,404 $ 6,201,818 $ 9,561,222
Components of Net Operating Cost Not Part of the Budgetary Outlays
  Property, Plant, and Equipment Depreciation Expense - (70,133) (70,133)
Increase/(Decrease) in Assets Not Affecting Budgetary Outlays:
  Advances and Prepayments 3,005 - 3,005
(Increase)/Decrease in Liabilities Not Affecting Budgetary Outlays:
  Accounts Payable 2,105 74,635 76,740
  Federal Employee Salary, Leave, and Benefits Payable - (20,726) (20,726)
  Pension, Other Post-Employment, and Veterans Benefits Payable - (6,272) (6,272)
  Other Liabilities 37,518 - 37,518
Financing Sources:
  Imputed Cost (490,718) - (490,718)
Total Components of Net Operating Cost Not Part of the Budgetary Outlays $(448,090) $(22,496) $(470,586)
Total Net Outlays (Calculated Total) $2,911,314 $6,179,322 $9,090,636
Budgetary Agency Outlays, Net $9,090,636

End Notes

  1. Section 510 of the Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C. 794f, directs the Access Board to issue “standards” for the accessibility of medical diagnostic equipment, but neither requires agencies to adopt such standards, nor makes the standards enforceable once issued. ↩

  2. GSA’s ABA Accessibility Standards apply not only to facilities owned by GSA or in which GSA-related activities occur, but to any ABA-covered facility not subject to the standards issued by USPS, DoD, or HUD. ↩

  3. A material weakness is a deficiency, or combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the entity’s financial statements will not be prevented, or detected and corrected, on a timely basis. A deficiency in internal control exists when the design or operation of a control does not allow management or employees, in the normal course of performing their assigned functions, to prevent, or detect and correct, misstatements on a timely basis. ↩

  4. The RSI consists of “Management’s Discussion and Analysis” and the “Statement of Budgetary Resources”, which are included with the financial statements. ↩

  5. Other information consists of information included with the financial statements, other than the RSI and the auditor’s report. ↩