Questions and Answers on the ADA and ABA Accessibility Standards


Thursday, April 6, 2023
2:30 PM - 4:00 PM Eastern Time Zone

Description

This webinar will review and clarify common questions on the ADA and ABA Accessibility Standards in new construction and alterations. More specifically, Access Board staff will address misinterpretations and confusion on requirements for accessible showers, curb ramps, elevator exceptions, signs, and assembly seating.

Session participants are encouraged to share their own questions in advance of and during the session. There will be open dialogue during the webinar. The following is a sampling of anticipated questions that will be addressed.

• Can clear floor/ground space or turning space overlap other space requirements?

• Can tactile characters and visual characters be provided separately on different signs?

• Do the ADA and ABA Standards permit ramps to be portable after construction as an adaptation?

Accessibility: Video remote interpreting and real-time captioning will be provided.

Continuing Education Recognition Available

Certificate Credit hours
ACTCP 1.5
AIA HSW CES 1.5
California Architects Board 1.5
Certificate of Attendance 1.5
ICC 1.5
LA CES 1.5

Speakers:

Sarah Presley, Accessibility Specialist, US Access Board

Scott Windley, TA Coordinator and Senior Accessibility Specialist, Office of Technical and Information Services, U.S. Access Board

Questions for presenters:

1 Are accessible spaces required at "park and ride" parking lots? Specifically parking lots that do not have amenities (no transit pick up, bus depot, etc). If required, can you site a source?
2 Could you please help me understand the applicability of these two standards in multifamily housing dwelling units? ADA 233.2 and ABA F233.2 have slightly different wording regarding their applicability to HUD projects. HUD itself states UFAS is the applicable standard (or one of the other standards in its Deeming Notice).
3 How can we better publicize the need for audio accessibility for new buildings and buildings undergoing renovations? There is so much attention to the requirements for physical disability and wheelchair users, but not enough attention is being paid to the needs of users of hearing devices who need assistive listening systems once they enter a place of assembly or even on guided tours. Some things, such as induction loops can be installed during the construction period for new buildings.
4 There is great confusion on the specifics of when detectable warning devices are required at curb ramps and when they are not, particularly for parking areas. Please clarify.
5 The PROWAG standards have been in draft since 2011. Engineers, contractors, and city staffs have been trying to comply with these standards for twelve years. When will the final rules be published?
6 Fire and Building codes are changing to require the stairway identification sign inside the stairwell be mounted at a minimum of 60" to the bottom, rather than 60" to center. The codes then require the top line of copy to be 1.5" cap height (Stair name) and 1" cap height (roof access or no roof access or "FIRE DEPT. ROOF ACCESS"). With that mounting height, the top lines of copy are above 70". Increasing the size of the copy required to meet ADA makes a sign that is much greater in size than the standard 18" x 12". What are the requirements for meeting ADA visual copy in this situation? (Example code for reference is: 2017 DC Building Code Section 1023.9.2.1.1)
7 Sliding barn doors are becoming more common in outpatient healthcare environments, and there is often insufficient space on the latch side of the door for ADA signage. Will the code be updated with how to handle installation of signs on sliding doors?
8 Live in NYC. public institutions such public school and public library are inaccessible, no elevator/ramp for people with disabilities. What is the ADA law-, fed, state, city? Also, many new stores and restatants opening with ground floor business but no ramp from outside sidewalk, often next door to other places which have included ramps? What is the law?
9 For temporary construction and maintenance activities when the original improved pathway will be blocked or reduced to less than 48" in width, and no curb ramp exists, may a driveway be used as a ramp as part of the alternative path for pedestrians to be guided around the work site?
10 For temporary construction and maintenance activities, where pedestrians are being channeled via hand trailing and cane detectable barriers, what kind of audible device is required or recommended?
11 Is an establishment required to have an elevator for rooftop seating access if the main seating and activity is on the main level?
12 Do curb cuts have to line up on both sides of the street if connecting a parking lot to a rehab facility?
13 Please provide alternatives to comply with section 309 Operable Parts, within a new elevator which car size is either 54" by 68" or 54" by 80" as per table 407.4.1.
14 Please provide clarification on detection surface warning pads located full length at shopping center entrances (Walmart, Target) when only required at "public Sidewalks"
15 If you are replacing a non ADA compliant gangway over water or ramp over land in-place and in-kind is it an alteration requiring compliance or or maintenance not requiring compliance
16 If one replaces one non ada compliant floating dock in-place and in-kind is it an alteration requiring compliance or or maintenance not requiring compliance. Is there a different answer in there is a whole line of floating docks?
17 For a non federal governmental facility that has multiple docking facility's that are not the same in terms of what they offer - do all of the entrances to and their respective structures have to comply with ADA when there are modifications on the respect docking facilities? or just some?
18 Are hotel guest rooms that are not required to provide mobility features required to be on an accessible route?
19 In hotel guest rooms that are not required to provide mobility features, is one leaf of a double door required to provide the 32-inch clear width?
20 W hen a Condo complex (managed by an HOA), was built BEFORE the ADA was passed, is it EXEMPT from compliance with EXISTING, ADA legislation/legal requirements and standards? If NOT, is there anything that disabled Condo Owners and Renters with disabilities can do, to ensure safe and accessible living, in our homes and in the Common areas of the Condo complex; including accessible parking?
21 Where the paved pedestrian route from a public sidewalk to an accessible building entrance is very wide, say 30 feet, will the Section 206.2.1 requirement for an accessible route be satisfied if compliant cross slopes are provided only along a 36-inch portion of the 30-foot width?
22 1009.2.7 Operation (Pool lifts) says, "The lift shall be capable of unassisted operation from both the deck and water levels." Can you please clarify what this means- "unassisted operation" by the person using the lift? (I would imagine so, but I have never seen a lift that is operable by a user in the water)
23 608.7 Thresholds After the 1-2 ratio rise to the top of the threshold can you level off for 1-3" then go back down at a 1-2 ratio creating an interior curb then drafting to the drain or should the draft to the drain start at the top of the initial 1-2 ratio. This question is specifically about Fiberglass and acrylic ADA showers. If needed I can provide detailed drawings.

Session Questions

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