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An important aspect of promoting independence for people with disabilities is physical access to public buildings. In Massachusetts, the Architectural Access Board (AAB) develops and enforces regulations designed to make public buildings accessible to, functional for, and safe for use by persons with disabilities. Section 521 of the Code of Massachusetts Regulations (CMR), enforced by the AAB, is the state building code that outlines the requirements for accessibility in buildings that are open to the public. 521 CMR also establishes a process for members of the public who wish to file a complaint about a noncompliant building.
This post is a follow–up to our recent post on ramp slope requirements. This post will guide you through additional obligations for width, handrails, length and landings under the Massachusetts Architectural Access Board’s (MAAB) rules and regulations and the Americans with Disabilities Act Design Standards (ADA Design Standards).
As MOD’s Assistant Director of Community Services, I wanted to spend some time discussing automatic door openers. This is a very common topic that I get asked about. To paraphrase Shakespeare, “Are automatic door openers required or not required at entrances?”
A new, “dynamic” design featuring the image of a person with a disability actively engaged in forward motion has been proposed. Advocates for this symbol argue that the International Symbol is outdated, portraying people with disabilities as passive and dependent on wheelchairs. Although many places and institutions are already using the active symbol, no alternative to the International Symbol has been formally adopted. In May 2015, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) released an official interpretation of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways (MUTCD) on alternative designs of the accessibility symbol.
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2018