-----Original Message-----
From: I. S. MARGOLIS [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, February 17, 2000 2:45 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Fwd: ADA-LAW Digest - 16 Feb 2000 - Special issue (#2000-144)
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Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 04:33:22 -0800
From: Dave at Inclusion Daily Express <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: JFA -- DREDF Action Alert: ADAAG Revised Completely (I)
Justice For All
[log in to unmask]
DREDF Action Alert: ADAAG Revised Completely (I)
DREDF Action Alert
DISABILITY RIGHTS EDUCATION AND DEFENSE FUND (DREDF)
ALERT! ALERT! ALERT!
Access Board (ATBCB) Proposes Complete Revision of
ADA Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG)
Despite Many Improvements, SIGNIFICANT PROBLEMS REMAIN --
YOUR COMMENTS URGENTLY NEEDED To Ensure A Strong ADAAG
COMMENTS DUE MARCH 15, 2000
If You Can't Send In Comments, Please Pass This Along
to Someone Who Can !!!
Your letters are urgently needed by MARCH 15, 2000 on the
proposed revision of the Americans with Disabilities Act
Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG). Critical issues are at stake: How
extensively must employee work areas provide access to people with
disabilities? Must small theaters provide dispersed seating for
wheelchair users (rather than all in one spot)? How can the problems
of stadium-style theaters be overcome? How high should accessible
elements be allowed to be placed? How large should elevators be?
Just as important, the proposed Guidelines make many
improvements over the current ADAAG, but these improvements are sure
to be attacked by the business community. Your letters must express
the disability community's need for the increased numbers of TTY's,
automatic teller machines (ATM's) which are more accessible to people
with visual impairments, requirements for accessible lines of sight
and other improvements in assembly areas, accessible windows and
laundry facilities, several improvements in access to restrooms, and
other such features. Without our support, these improvements will not
appear in the final ADAAG.
Attached are preliminary comments from the Disability Rights
Education and Defense Fund (DREDF) to help you write your letters.
DON'T send in the DREDF comments themselves. Instead, write a letter
in your own words. Borrow ideas and arguments from the DREDF comments
as much as you wish. MENTION SPECIFIC ACCESS PROBLEMS YOU ARE AWARE
OF IN YOUR COMMUNITY, ESPECIALLY IF THEY ARE EXAMPLES OF IMPORTANT
ISSUES IN THE PROPOSAL (E.G. ACCESS OBSTACLES IN RELATIVELY NEW
BUILDINGS SUCH AS INACCESSIBLE EMPLOYEE WORK AREAS, "ACCESSIBLE"
ELEMENTS WHICH ARE STILL OUT OF REACH, OR PROBLEMS WITH THEATER OR
STADIUM SEATING SUCH AS FEW ACCESSIBLE SEATING OPTIONS OR
UNCOMFORTABLE LINES OF SIGHT).
Comments can be submitted by mail, FAX, or e-mail. The
mailing address is:
6Office of Technical and Information Services
Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (ATBCB)
1331 F Street NW., Suite 1000
Washington D.C. 20004-1111
The FAX number is (202) 272-5447. FAXed comments should be
addressed
to
the
Office of Technical and Information Services. The e-mail address for
comments
is <[log in to unmask]>. Comments sent by e-mail will be considered
only
if they include the full name and address of the sender in the text.
HOW TO GET COPIES OF THE ACCESS BOARD'S PROPOSAL:
The proposal is available electronically on the Board's Internet site
in HTML and PDF formats
(http://www.access-board.gov/ada-aba/guidenprm.htm).
A hard copy can be obtained by calling the Access Board at (202)
272-5434
and
pressing zero or holding for the operator/receptionist. Persons who
want a copy in an alternate format (cassette tape, Braille, large
print, or Ascii disk) may order one copy at no cost by calling the
Board's automated publications order line at (202) 272-5434, pressing
2 on the telephone keypad, then 1, and requesting publication S - 36
(ADA and ABA Accessibility Guidelines Notice of Proposed Rulemaking).
Persons using a TTY should call (202) 272-5449. Please record a name,
address, and telephone number, request publication S - 36, and
specify the type of format.
HOW TO GET AN ELECTRONIC COPY OF DREDF'S PRELIMINARY COMMENTS:
Go to the DREDF web site at http://www.dredf.org , under Alerts.
OTHER NOTES:
The Access Board, also known as the Architectural and Transportation
Barriers Compliance Board (ATBCB), is proposing to revise not only
the ADA Accessibility Guidelines but also guidelines for the
Architectural Barriers Act (the ABA) of 1968 which requires
facilities designed, built, altered, or leased with federal funds to
be accessible to people with disabilities. The proposal has four
parts:
1. A Preamble which explains the provisions,
2. Scoping provisions for the ADA Accessibility Guidelines (Chapters 1
and
3. Scoping provisions for the ABA (Chapters 1 and 2, but with an "F"
for
"federal" before the number of each section), and
4. Technical provisions which apply to both the ADA and ABA (Chapters
3
through 11).
============================================================
============================================================
Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF)
***IMPORTANT NOTE TO DISABILITY ADVOCATES: Do *NOT* SEND IN THE DREDF
PRELIMINARY COMMENTS THEMSELVES.*** Instead:
Write a letter in your own words. Borrow ideas and arguments from the
DREDF comments as much as you wish. MENTION SPECIFIC ACCESS PROBLEMS
IN YOUR COMMUNITY, ESPECIALLY IF THEY ARE EXAMPLES OF IMPORTANT
ISSUES IN THE PROPOSAL (E.G. ACCESS OBSTACLES IN RELATIVELY NEW
BUILDINGS SUCH AS INACCESSIBLE EMPLOYEE WORK AREAS, "ACCESSIBLE"
ELEMENTS WHICH ARE STILL OUT OF REACH, OR PROBLEMS WITH THEATER OR
STADIUM SEATING SUCH AS FEW ACCESSIBLE SEATING OPTIONS OR
UNCOMFORTABLE LINES OF SIGHT).
Preliminary Comments on the Access Board's Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking, Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines
(ADAAG) and Architectural Barriers Act Accessibility Guidelines,
Docket No. 99 - 1, published in the Federal Register on November 16,
1999
************** NOTE: THE LIST BELOW CONTAINS ONLY THE MOST
IMPORTANT POINTS. DREDF'S ENTIRE PRELIMINARY COMMENTS ARE BEING
SENT IN A SUBSEQUENT EMAIL MESSAGE. IF IT IS TOO LONG FOR YOU TO
RECEIVE, YOU CAN FIND DREDF'S ENTIRE PRELIMINARY COMMENTS
ON DREDF'S WEBSITE AT http://www.dredf.org, UNDER ALERTS.
**************
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