Accessibility Updates
"New ADAAG" News
News from the Department of Justice indicates that the long awaited Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for the revised ADA Standards for Accessible Design based on the 2004 U.S. Access Board’s ADAAG is still several months away—at least. DBTAC—New England ADA Center has learned that the proposed rule has yet to be submitted to the Office for Budget and Management (OBM)—a critical step in the regulatory process. Once OBM receives the document, it can take up to ninety days to review all of the information. After OBM reviews and releases it, the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking will be issued. The earliest possible date for this to occur would not be until early 2008.
Course on Play Areas
An interactive web-based course on the U.S Access Board’s accessibility guidelines for play areas is available on the Board’s website.
To access the course, go to: access-board.gov and click on "play areas"
Federal Fair Housing Act - New Safe Harbors Announced
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued a report on the 2006 International Building Code and 2003 ANSI A117.1 Standard as safe harbors for compliance with the Fair Housing Act’s accessibility requirements.
For more information or to access the reports, go to: www.fairhousingfirst.org
Disability Group Sues State Over Emergency Plans
This spring, the MA Disability Policy Consortium, a nonprofit group representing people with disabilities, filed a lawsuit in Superior Court against the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency over the Agency’s unwillingness to make emergency management information available to the public.
To read more, go to: www.dpcma.org and click on "emergency preparedness"
