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Home > Design Guidance > Design Objectives > Accessible > Provide Equal Access

Provide Equal Access

by the WBDG Accessible Committee

Last updated: 04-21-2011

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Overview

For Americans with disabilities, access means simply being able to use, enjoy, and participate in the many aspects of society, including work, commerce, and leisure activities. While removing architectural barriers may allow people with disabilities to circulate within and around a facility, other factors, such as transportation, affect their ability to fully participate in activities. Designers and other suppliers of services and goods need to provide equal access for all without undermining the needs of people with disabilities.

What is "Equal Access"?

Providing equal access means ensuring all individuals can make use of transportation, buildings and facilities, programs and services, employment opportunities, and technology. It also means offering all users the same provisions for privacy, security, and safety.

Design professionals can promote equal access by incorporating and integrating accessible features throughout a building's program.

Photo of Post Office at Reagan National Airport before renovationsPhoto of Post Office at Reagan National Airport after renovations

The renovated Post Office at Ronald Reagan National Airport provides equal access to the intake windows, Arlington, VA.
Note the accessible window on the far right.
Photos before and after the renovation by: Eric Taylor on behalf of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority

Why Provide "Equal Access"?

Providing equal access removes discrimination and protects human rights. An accessible built environment provides the opportunity for all people to fully participate in and contribute to their families, communities, and society. Equal access offers individuals the occasion to improve the quality of life and standard of living for themselves, their families, and other people in the world. Finally, providing equal access is required, to varying degrees, in order to meet applicable building codes, accessibility standards, and accessibility guidelines.

How Do We Achieve "Equal Access"?

Equal access must be an integral part of the life-cycle process:

Accessible features should blend seamlessly with the design. All stakeholders on the project should work together from the start to coordinate and optimize the design of the site and the building. A building and its site should be designed as an integrated whole, rather than as a collection of isolated systems (see also WBDG Functional—Ensure Appropriate Product/Systems Integration).

Design and construction decisions impact accessibility. Single building elements or systems should not be added, deleted, or modified anytime in the life of the building until they are coordinated and evaluated with the other elements and systems in the whole building package and with all parties involved.

Keep in mind that "equal access" applies to programs, services, benefits, transportation, fixtures, furnishings, equipment, employment opportunities, and technology. The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in aspects of all programs conducted by Federal agencies, in programs receiving Federal financial assistance, in Federal employment, in the employment practices of Federal contractors, and in Federal procurement practices.

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Relevant Codes and Standards

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Major Resources

WBDG

Design Objectives

Aesthetics, Cost-Effective, Functional / Operational, Historic Preservation, Productive, Secure / Safe, Sustainable

Products and Systems

Fenestration Systems—Exterior Doors

The major resource for guidance on accessible design is the U.S. Access Board (Access Board). The Access Board is an independent federal agency devoted to accessibility for people with disabilities. Key responsibilities of the Board include developing and maintaining accessibility requirements for the built environment, transit vehicles, telecommunications equipment, and electronic and information technology; providing technical assistance and training on these guidelines and standards; and enforcing accessibility standards for federally funded facilities. For additional resources, see the Access Board's Links Page.

Organizations

Federal Agencies

Publications

  • The 1995 Accessible Building Product Guide by John P.S. Salmen and Julie Quarve-Peterson. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1995.
  • Access by Design by George A. Covington and Bruce Hannah. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1996.
  • The Accessibility Checklist—User's Guide by Susan Goltsman, ASLA, Timothy A. Gilbert, ASLA and Wohlford, Steven D. Berkeley, CA: MIG Communications, 1992.
  • The Accessible Housing Design File by Barrier Free Environments, Inc. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2010.
  • The ADA Answer Book by Building Owners and Managers Association International (BOMA). 1992.
  • Mechanical Lift Analysis (Accessibility Method for Accommodation of Physically Disabled People in the U.S. Courthouse Courtrooms)
  • The Principles of Universal Design, Version 2.0 by The Center for Universal Design. North Carolina State University: 01 Apr 1997.
  • Universal Design Handbook by Wolfgang F.E. Preiser and Elaine Ostroff. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2001.

Others

Special thanks to Lex Frieden for his inspiring words in the speech "Toward a Barrier Free World for All," April 5, 2001.

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