Accessibility Management News
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Move over Jurassic World! It's not every day that you get to hang out with a tyrannosaurus named Sue! Skulski Consulting LLC was recently on hand to work with the amazing ADA/504 Team at the Field Museum in Chicago. Jolynn Willink, Field Museum ADA/504 Coordinator, and Jennifer Skulski pose here with world-famous Sue, the T-Rex, before she moved to her new exhibit home. Sue's move made room for
Máximo, the titanosaur, the biggest dinosaur that scientists have discovered to date.
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Our Favorite TED Talks on Disability, Accessibility and Inclusion
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CONFESSION: We LOVE a good TED Talk. Even better…..we LOVE LOVE LOVE a good TED Talk on disability rights and inclusion of people with disabilities. So….we thought we would share
some of our favorites her
e
>
It’s incredibly important for people with disabilities and advocates for inclusion to understand the history of the disability rights movement in order to know where we’ve been and recognize the challenges that still exist. Judith E. “Judy” Heumann is a pioneer in the American
disability rights
movement. There’s even a page dedicated to her career in
Wikipedia
! Here she tells her story about trying to get a teaching license, the impact of the disability rights movement, and the global issue of civil rights for people with disabilities. If there is only one TED Talk on this list that you can watch, THIS IS THE ONE!
[Image, below: video link to Ted Talk featuring Judith Heumann]
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7 Ways to Celebrate the ADA
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The Americans with Disabilities Act is turning 28 on July 26.
How are you going to celebrate?
As we age, we don’t celebrate birthdays and anniversaries as frequently as when we were kids. We tend to only pop open the champagne and celebrate the big ones, those divisible by 5 or 10. That’s okay. Everyone has their own style and preference for celebrating milestones. But as an ADA community of individuals, advocates and practitioners, it is important that we acknowledge its anniversary. The ADA is, after all, the single greatest piece of legislation guaranteeing civil rights and inclusion of people with disabilities. It is important that we take the time to celebrate the opportunities the ADA has created, evaluate the current status of disability in our country, and look to setting new goals for building healthy, inclusive communities. July 26, the anniversary of the ADA, presents the perfect opportunity to celebrate the milestones while expanding awareness of disability, accessibility, and inclusion.
Here are 7 ways you can celebrate the ADA and create greater awareness in your community. Read more >
[Image, above: Ceremonial signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The caption, as written by the White House Historical Association, "In this photograph taken on July 26, 1990, President George H. W. Bush signs the Americans with the Disabilities Act during a ceremony in the Rose Garden. Sitting beside him from left to right are Evan Kemp, Chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and Justin Dart, Chairman of the President’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities. Standing behind him from left to right are Reverend Harold Wilke and Swift Parrino, Chairperson, National Council on Disability."]
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Exemplar Universal Design Scenic Viewing Area Affected by Hawaii Volcano & Earthquakes
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One of the most awe-inspiring examples of universal design, the crater overlook at
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is now closed to the public. The photo above, shared by the NPS on social media, shows how the overlook surface and sitting area has been affected by the series of earthquakes and volcanic ash since Kilauea Volcano began erupting in May. This overlook provided a breathtaking view of the crater outside the Jaggar Museum. For years, this scenic viewing area has served as a premiere example of universal design. Instead of chest-high guard railing, the overlook was set back with a knee-wall that serves as bench seating for tourists' photos. The design demonstrated how safety could be balanced for visitor use with the lowered barrier that provides unobstructed views for children, people seated in wheelchairs and standing adults.
[Image, above: National Park Service staff points to foundation crack in the ground surface stone overlook at the crater rim. The overlook and waysides are covered by corrosive ash. The NPS employee is wearing a protective mask over his mouth and nose.]
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Botten Named Access Board Coordinator of Training & Technical Assistance
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Bill Botten, a long-time Accessibility Specialist at the Access Board, has been appointed Training and Technical Assistance Coordinator. In this dual role, he will oversee both the agency's
training program
and its provision of technical guidance to the public. Botten has served as an Accessibility Specialist at the Board for 18 years and was active in the development of new guidelines and guidance documents for outdoor developed areas and for recreation facilities. He has trained extensively in these and other areas and is a top-rated and highly-requested presenter.
[Image, right: Bill Botten]
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Judge signs off on accessibility rules at Red Rocks
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Denver 9News: The rules dictates that people who use wheelchairs and other mobility devices get access to the first four rows of the theater during shows. The tickets are non-transferable.
[Image, right: View from top row of amphitheater downward toward stage.]
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Architecture Prof: Why are there so few disabled architects and architecture students?
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This week Richard Duncan, Executive Director at the
RL Mace Universal Design Institute, paid tribute to the
accomplishments of one of the founding fathers of Universal Design, Ron Mace, 20 years after his passing. Duncan writes of Mace, "He coined and passionately promoted the concept of universal design, a design philosophy that challenged convention and provided a design foundation for a more usable world." Ironically, a new report "Inclusion in Architecture" does not include any data on disability within the profession. In a though-provoking article,
David Gissen, Professor of Architecture at the California College of the Arts, writes "In recent years, academic architecture panels, journals, and symposia have brought disability perspectives to architecture. These are important contributions. However, in many of these venues, no architects with permanent and severe disabilities were present to represent this particular form of identity. As this article demonstrates, the structural limitations to a career as an architect with disabilities run deep, and the limitations to academic leadership in this area run deeper."
[Image, right: Ron Mace]
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Accessibility Management: Why Do You Do What You Do?
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There’s an old saying that you can teach a man
how to sail, but you cannot teach him
why. The
why he must feel in his heart and soul.
We can all learn about the accessibility standards and
how to make environments accessible. But do we feel it in our heart and soul?
[Image, right: Man seated in wheelchair fishing along the waterfront.]
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What IS Accessibility Management?
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Accessibility management is the practice and process of implementing federal, state, and local disability legislation to ensure people with disabilities will have the equal opportunity to participate and benefit in all of your programs, services and activities. Whenever possible, accessibility management promotes the concept of going above and beyond minimum compliance with accessibility regulations and standards, striving to achieve universal design best practices that meet the unique needs of the widest spectrum of users.
Read more >
[Image, right: Business meeting with individuals seated around a table, while one man stands to make a presentation.]
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