New ADA Accessibility Standards on the way
The U.S. Department of Justice has adopted new accessibility standards for Title II and Title III of the ADA.
The 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design replaces the 1991 Standards, revised in 1994, for Accessible Design-commonly known as ADAAG. There will also be revisions in the Appendix B.
The newly adopted standards from the U.S. Dept. of Justice will be published in the Federal Register within a matter of weeks.
Implementation will be on the following timetable:
- Six months from the Federal Register publication date, newly constructed and altered facilities may chose to follow either the 1991 accessibility standards or the 2010 accessibility standards.
- Eighteen months after the Federal Register publication date (one year after the six month date) all newly constructed and altered facilities must comply with the 2010 accessibility standards, only.
A summary of changes to the original 1991 standards is available at www.ada.gov/regs2010/factsheets/2010_Standards_factsheet.html.
A more detailed commentary and analysis of the 2010 Standards for Accessible Design is available at www.ada.gov/regs2010/titleIII_2010/reg3_2010_appendix_b.htm.
The State ADA Coordinator’s Office will send another update bulletin as soon as the standards are published in the Federal Register and will also post this information on their website.
Tim Bromley, Senior ADA Architect, is available to respond to inquiries. Tim can be reached at [email protected] or 404.463.5647.