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ADA anniversary focus on accessibility
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Posted on Jul 25 2004
The CNMI, together with the rest of the American family, will be celebrating today the 14th anniversary of the passage of the American with Disabilities Act.
On this day in 1990, President George H.W. Bush signed into law the ADA, guaranteeing equal opportunity for people with disabilities in public accommodations, commercial facilities, employment, transportation, state and local government services and telecommunications.
As part of the activities lined up for this week, the CNMI Council on Developmental Disabilities will be kicking off an Accessibility Guidelines for Persons with Disabilities Training event today, from 8:45am to around 5pm.
For the first time in history of the CNMI, Paul Beatty, an accessibility specialist from the U.S. Architectural & Transportation Barriers Compliance Board—better known as the US Access Board in Washington, D.C.—will be conducting the ADA Accessibility Guidelines & Uniform Accessibility Standards 101.
CDD executive director Thomas L. Camacho will be co-presenting and will cover the interplay between Parking Standards under ADAAG and Persons with Disabilities Parking Access Act of 1993.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, Beatty will present a more detailed ADAAG and answer technical questions from the audience.
The U.S. Access Board is charged with enforcing the Architectural Barriers Compliance Act of 1968 and developed the Uniform Accessibility Standards for federally owned or leased buildings and facilities such as the American Memorial Park under the National Park Service, the U.S. Post Office, the Federal Aviation Administration under the Department of Transportation, and federally funded buildings and facilities built in the CNMI such as the Community Development Block grant projects.
At least 60 individuals have signed up for this one-of-a-kind training, Camacho said.
On Friday, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission director Tim Riera from Honolulu will be conducting a three-hour workshop on the ADA: Small Businesses & Persons with Disabilities at the World Resort-Saipan, from
