Hands–On Approach to the Americans with Disabilities Act

Abstract

ISSUE: Teaching, research, and practice were pursued for students and professionals who wanted to learn more about the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). APPLICATION: A commonsense, hands–on approach is advocated. GOAL: An interior design program initiated the ADA workshop for program enrichment to stimulate firsthand understanding of the law. DESCRIPTION: Beginning with a three–day public workshop, professionals and students came together in an ADA field experience to identify barriers and prioritize the removal of architectural and communication barriers in specified places. The workshop began with a pretest, was followed by a design charrette format, and concluded with a post–test. Participants, armed with a systematic checklist, videocamera, and an ADA expert, to spent from 3–6 hours evaluating sites and preparing their reports. CONCLUSION: Workshop participants showed a 25% improvement based on test scores in overall understanding and application of ADA Accessibility Guidelines. This workshop led to increased program visibility, extension programming, community leadership, and professional opportunities for students.

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