GSA Final Rule Adopts New Accessibility Guidelines for Government Buildings

In an effort the agency says is designed to enable people with disabilities to more easily access federal government buildings, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) has announced a final rule to adopt the new accessibility guidelines issued by the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board.

The guidelines establish that pedestrian facilities in the public right-of-way dedicated to transportation are readily accessible to and usable by people with disabilities, according to a GSA statement.

Adopting these guidelines creates “a uniform federal standard that aims to ensure all new and modified pedestrian facilities, such as sidewalks and crosswalks, are accessible and meet the Architectural Barriers Act of 1968, as amended,” according to the GSA.

The implementation of the guidelines is “another way for GSA to formalize its commitment to accessibility for people with disabilities,” the agency said, noting that the new standards require enhanced accessibility features, including pedestrian signals and alternate access routes. The GSA also offered several examples of how the new rule will benefit the public, and people with disabilities in particular, at new and modified pedestrian facilities, such as:

• Shortening travel distances from on-street parking to building entrances, making it easier to access government buildings while increasing efficiency for those using street parking.
• Increasing sidewalk sizes and widths makes it easier for people to pass on the sidewalk, reducing accidental collisions and better accommodating mobility aids such as walkers, rollators, and both manual and electric wheelchairs.
• Regulating the ground slope at passenger loading zones prevents them from being too steep for people with mobility disabilities to climb.
• Better audio and tactile warning systems, including audio signal warnings, truncated domes and detectable warning pavers, increases pedestrian safety by alerting them to an imminent street crossing or to when they have the right-of-way to cross the street.

“Government works best when it works for everyone, and one of the ways we do that is by ensuring all members of the community have equitable access to the government, its services and its facilities, said GSA Deputy Administrator Katy Kale, in a statement.

Federal buildings are often “the primary way members of the public interact with their government,” GSA Public Buildings Service Commissioner Elliot Doomes added, in a statement.

“By promoting physical accessibility, this policy will continue to make human-centered design central to our work, while also providing employees and visitors with disabilities the opportunity to take part in all the programs, services and activities in our buildings.”