Board Hosts Meeting of North American Representatives July 29, 2005
 

On July 28th the Board hosted a meeting of representatives from the U.S., Canada, and Mexico to discuss access issues in the built environment, share information, and learn more about each country’s accessibility codes and standards. The meeting and exchange of information provided an initial step in a process to improve coordination among North American countries on accessible design and solutions to access issues.

Betty Dion, Chair of the International Commission on Technology and Accessibility - Global, helped organize the full-day event, which was held in Washington, D.C. in conjunction with a bi-monthly meeting of Access Board members and a series of events celebrating the 15th anniversary of the ADA.

Board members Douglas Anderson and Denis Pratt opened the meeting and provided a briefing on the Board and its work. The event featured presentations by officials from codes and standards organizations in each country and a discussion session. There were also presentations made on international standards, research on space requirements for powered mobility devices, and the results of studies on evacuation of people with disabilities from the World Trade Center after the terrorist attack of September 11th.

Members from each country supported further efforts to coordinate their work on access codes and standards and to develop a cooperative network in order to improve accessibility in all three nations. The event helped lay the groundwork for stronger avenues of communication and greater coordination not only on design standards, but also on technological advances and research outcomes.

For further information on this event, contact Marsha Mazz of the Board at mazz@access-board.gov, (202) 272-0020 (voice), or (202) 272-0082 (TTY).

Presenters

Canada

Denis Bergeron
National Research Council of Canada

Ian Brodie
Canadian Standards Association International

Betty Dion
Betty Dion Enterprises, Ltd.

Mexico

Taide Buenfil
Direccion General de Normas

United States

Jason Averill
National Institute of Standards and Technology
World Trade Center Investigation Team

Kimberly Paarlberg, AIA
International Code Council

Robert Solomon
National Fire Protection Association

Dr. Edward Steinfeld, AIA
IDEA Center, State University of New York at Buffalo