How is industry doing with access?
Access guidelines for electronic products and for the built
environment are having an effect, to be sure. More products, more
homes, more buildings are becoming accessible to people with
disabilities. But how well are access guidelines actually being
followed? A new survey aims to find out what consumers think of the
access of a number of new electronic products; a survey last year
from HUD found out how well access guidelines were being followed in
HUD housing units.
Currently, the Georgia Tech Research Institute wants to know what
you, as a person with a disability, think of the accessibility
features built into products such as ATMs, cell phones, personal
digital assistants (PDAs), on-line training software, distance
learning software, voice recognition technologies, and televisions.
If you'd like to participate in their survey, go to
http://aef.gtri.gatech.edu/universal_design.html to find out more and
to sign up.
Last year, a survey found that most HUD buildings do have accessible
entrances, on accessible routes and most have common areas that
conform to HUD's "Fair Housing Accessibility Guidelines." However, it
found that fewer managed to ensure that light switches, electrical
outlets, thermostats and such were placed at accessible levels as
required by the Guidelines; ;that kitchen and bathroom access was
even less compliant with the Guidelines, and that the lowest
compliance was with reinforcing walls for grab bars.
The multi-year study by HUD, "Multifamily Building Conformance with
the Fair Housing Accessibility Guidelines," was "developed in part
because evidence from the field, complaints filed with HUD, and
private litigation suggested that some architects, contractors, and
building owners were either ignorant of, or were avoiding, the law
and were building multifamily projects that did not comply with the
Act's design and construction requirements.," say researchers in the
report. The survey included "a review of site and building plans,
on-site inspections of buildings, and tabulations of individual
building evaluations." Find the complete 207-page study, "Multifamily
Building Conformance with the Fair Housing Accessibility Guidelines"
online at
http://www.huduser.org/intercept.asp?loc=/Publications/pdf/multifamily.pdf
-- this is actually not a pdf page but a page allowing you to read
the document as either pdf or text/html.
To receive e-mails about HUD research and resources, subscribe to
the HUD User listserv at
http://listserv.huduser.org/ -- to subscribe, send an email to <
[log in to unmask]> with "subscribe" in the subject line.
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Please visit the website of The Center for An Accessible Society at
http://www.accessiblesociety.org, with more links to topics.
To stop getting this e-mail letter, send an email to
"[log in to unmask]" with the word "unsubscribe" in the
subject line.
The Center for An Accessible Society is funded by the National
Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research to focus public
attention on disability and independent living issues. The Center is
a project of Exploding Myths, Inc. a media enterprise company.
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See EASI Special October Bonus offer at http://easi.cc/clinic.htm
EASI November courses are:
Barrier-free E-learning, Accessible Internet Multimedia and Business Benefits of Accessible IT Design:
http://easi.cc/workshop.htm
EASI Home Page http://www.rit.edu/~easi
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