TA24-J F-Pages - Flipbook - Page 40
Voices
a simple delay of a building permit to the extremes
of costly litigation. These mandatory accessibility
standards should receive a prominence in academic
curricula corresponding to their magnitude and
impact on society after graduation. Elevating and
normalizing academic exposure to these standards
is just common sense for students transitioning into
design professionals.
Bridging the Chasm
Making the case for the Accessible
Design Accreditation Initiative
by Richard Sternadori, Assoc. AIA
38 Texas Architect
1/2 2024
At the recently completed Queens Public Library at Hunters Point in New York City, three tiers
of bookshelves and study areas are only accessible via stairs.
PHOTO BY HIROKO MASUIKE, COURTESY THE NEW YORK TIMES/REDUX PICTURES
At this writing, 186 countries participate in the
United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities (CRPD), an international
treaty that codi昀椀es the rights of people with disabilities and the responsibilities of participating
governments to protect, promote, and ensure those
rights. There are also 149 countries with corresponding national laws similar to the Americans
With Disabilities Act (ADA). Imagine any of these
nations attempting to regulate the complex accessible design standards linked to those laws without
also ensuring a concomitant educational framework for teaching those standards in their universities and colleges of design. Imagine further that the
accreditation organizations who develop the protocols guiding and validating academic programs do
not necessarily require a focused curriculum that
teaches from the texts of the laws and accessibility standards governing nearly every construction
project in that society.
Stop imagining. This is the status of our systems
today. The chasm between a professional’s absolute
responsibility to know and apply accessibility regulations and higher education’s ability to modify the
extent to which students are exposed to accessibility
standards demonstrates the need for a deeper harmonization of e昀昀orts. The Department of Justice’s
2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design, the
International Code Council’s International Building Code, and the International Code Council/
American National Standards Institute A117.1
Standard for Accessible and Usable Buildings
and Facilities are an essential aspect to design and
project success. A design, building, facility, site, or
element that does not meet these accessibility standards may result in legal enforcement ranging from
The Accessible Design Accreditation
Initiative
The Accessible Design Accreditation Initiative
(ADAI) is a program of guidance that was introduced in October 2023 to the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB), the Council
for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA), the
National Council of Architectural Registration
Boards (NCARB), and the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) toward
meaningful deliberation of the idea.
The goal of the ADAI is to improve the lives
of people with disabilities by advancing accessible
design curriculum models for college and university
programs o昀昀ering architecture and interior design
degrees. The most effective way to do this is by
establishing educational outcomes that focus on
accessible design foundations and working with
the school accreditation organizations to ensure
students are introduced to the regulations and
codes that establish accessible design minimum
standards. A separate objective is course content
regarding the environment in which disabilities and
access function in society.
Currently, these accreditation agencies validate
school curricula, and each has distinct procedures
and metrics for assessing architectural or interior
design programs and granting their respective
endorsements. In response, schools must tailor
their corresponding programs, learning objectives, strategies, and faculty skills to maintain their
accreditations. As a result, the depth and scope
of a student’s exposure to accessible design standards is unpredictable when compared to the very
consistent application of those standards in professional practice. As students graduate into their
professional careers, the concentration of their
knowledge of accessible design becomes evident
and meaningful for them, their 昀椀rms, clients, and
people with disabilities.
The ADAI is simple in principle but presents challenges in implementation to the accreditation agencies
and schools. Because each of these separate — yet
connected — industries have developed their own
protocols and responses, there is no single curriculum
or class that would meet all the di昀昀erent accreditation
or school requirements or resources. Consequently,
the ADAI incorporates a draft Best Practices Guide
(BPG) document to assist the accreditation agencies
and schools by o昀昀ering a framework upon which standards and curricula may be advanced.
