Access Board News

As President, George H.W. Bush enacted the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, a landmark law that bans discrimination on the basis of disability and treats accessibility for people with disabilities as a civil right. He considered the ADA one of his proudest achievements as President and made its implementation a priority of his administration. The ADA serves as one of the most enduring legacies of his presidency and his long career in public service. Read the full text of . . .

The Access Board was created in part to enforce the first federal law to address accessibility, the Architectural Barriers Act (ABA) of 1968. This law requires access . . .

On September 6, the Access Board held a day-long public forum on accessibility of assembly areas. The event brought together experts on the subject and various stakeholders to advise the Board on how to explain and clarify requirements in the ADA Standards in a technical guide it plans to develop on the subject. Accessibility consultants, people with disabilities, architects and designers, engineers, and facility operators participated in the meeting. Attendees included representatives from the Hearing Loss Association of America and . . .

On November 13, the U.S. Access Board held a day-long workshop comparing how building accessibility is addressed in Australia and the U.S. It featured . . .

The Access Board released a final rule that updates accessibility requirements for information and communication technology (ICT) in the federal sector covered by Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. The rule jointly updates and reorganizes the Section 508 standards and Section 255 guidelines in response to market trends and innovations, such as the convergence of technologies. The refresh also harmonizes these requirements with other guidelines and standards both in the U.S. and abroad, including standards issued by . . .