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ADA and accessibility in architect school

helenaff's picture

Hi everyone, here's what my friend Rachel, a second year architecture student at the University of Arkansas, had to share about her exposure to ADA compliance and accessibility features in her classes!

 

"We started talking about ADA stuff this year in my studio classes. We don’t get into a lot of specifics, but we have to make sure that every floor is accessible by elevator and that our ramps have the correct slope (1:12). The architects in practice who I’ve talked to have talked a lot about ADA compliance, so I know it comes up pretty much every day in professional practice. There’s one professor in the interior design department who is very passionate about accessibility, so I know that is a big component in her classes. I think she had some of her students go around the school in wheelchairs once to get a feel for what it’s like to navigate all of that. At least I assume that’s why the interior design students were rolling around in wheelchairs"