History of Accessible Building Design
Last updated: 09-23-2008
The accessibility movement has common roots with the civil rights movement and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. These roots lie in the structure and implementation of laws dealing with accessibility.
The first nationally recognized accessible design standard American National Standards Institute (ANSI) A117.1 Accessible and Usable Buildings and Facilities. Released in 1961, this standard was based upon research done by the University of Illinois and funded by the Easter Seals Research Foundation. It served as an important reference for private entities and local and state governments. In 1974, the standard received federal input when the Department of Housing and Urban Development joined the Secretariat of the committee in charge of the standard.
Since 1968, when the Architectural Barriers Act was passed, the federal government has taken steps to address accessibility and its enforcement in facilities designed, built, altered, or leased using certain federal funds. The timeline below details many of these steps.
(Courtesy of Bill Brack)
Milestones of Accessible Design Requirements
| 1961 | American National Standard Institute (ANSI) A117.1 Accessible and Usable Buildings and Facilities—Became the private sector model for a technical standard for accessible features. This document was most recently updated and published in 2003. |
| 1964 | Civil Rights Act—Made racial discrimination in public places illegal, required employers to provide equal employment opportunities, stated that uniform standards must prevail for establishing the right to vote |
| 1968 | Architectural Barriers Act (ABA)—Requires that facilities designed, constructed, altered, or leased with certain federal funds be accessible to persons with disabilities |
| 1973 | Rehabilitation Act—Prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in programs conducted by federal agencies, in programs receiving federal financial assistance, in federal employment, and in the employment practices of federal contractors Section 504—Each agency has its own set of section 504 regulations that apply to its programs. Agencies that provide federal financial assistance also have section 504 regulations covering entities that receive federal aid. Requirements common to these regulations include reasonable accommodation for employees with disabilities; program accessibility; effective communication with people who have hearing or vision disabilities; and accessible new construction and alterations. |
| 1984 | Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards (UFAS)—Contains accessibility scoping and technical requirements implementing the Architectural Barriers Act of 1968 |
| 1988 | Fair Housing Amendments Act (FHAA)—Requires adaptable features in certain covered multi-family dwellings with 4 or more units |
| 1990 | Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)—Prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability; establishes design requirements for the construction or alteration of facilities required to be accessible. It covers facilities in the private sector (places of public accommodation and commercial facilities) and the public sector (state and local government facilities). Title I—Access to workplace Title II—State and local government services Title III—Places of public accommodation and commercial facilities Title IV—Telecommunications: hearing or speech impairments Title V—Miscellaneous instructions to Federal agencies that enforce the law |
| 1991 | Fair Housing Accessibility Guidelines—Provides minimum technical and scoping criteria for compliance with the FHA |
| 1991 | American with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG)—Contains scoping and technical requirements for access to buildings and facilities by individuals with disabilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. As originally published in July 1991, ADAAG addressed places of public accommodation and commercial facilities in the private sector. ADAAG was updated in September of 1991 to cover transportation facilities in the private and public sectors. |
| 1998 | ADA Accessibility Guidelines—Amended to include guidelines for state and local government facilities and building elements designed for children's use |
| 2000 | ADA Accessibility Guidelines—Amended to include guidelines for play areas |
| 2002 | ADA Accessibility Guidelines—Amended to include guidelines for recreation facilities |
| 2002 | Help America Vote Act—Regulates equipment and voting booths for equal access voting areas |
| 2003 | Equal Opportunity Commission Management Directive 715—Provides a roadmap for creating effective equal employment opportunity (EEO) programs for all federal employees as required by Title VII and the Rehabilitation Act |
| 2004 | ADA and ABA Accessibility Guidelines for Buildings and Facilities—Updated and published in the Federal Register in July of 2004 |
Summary information about these regulations is available at the Department of Justice's Guide to Disability Rights Laws.
