The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 is a comprehensive civil rights law that was enacted by Congress to end discrimination against people with disabilities. Title II of the ADA requires the City of Seattle to provide people with disabilities an equal opportunity to access City services, programs, and activities.
SDOT ADA Program
The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) ADA Program coordinates efforts and initiatives to not only comply with ADA requirements but improve accessibility and inclusion for in the public right-of-way. The program also develops infrastructure projects based on requests and priorities from the disability community as well as department priorities and prioritization efforts, based on available funding and resources.
We focus on three areas: Customer Experience, Planning and Projects, and Engineering Design, Construction, and Inspections.
Customer Experience
The public can make direct requests for accessible infrastructure improvements, such as curb ramps and accessible pedestrian signals (APS). We also collaborate with a Pedestrian Access Advisory Committee to gather feedback on our work and evaluate features like sidewalks and accessible parking.
Planning and Projects
Under Title II of the ADA, the City of Seattle is required to perform self-evaluations of citywide services, policies, and practices, identify any barriers to access, and develop a Transition Plan to remediate these barriers. In addition to the citywide Transition Plan, SDOT has our own Transition Plan meant for pedestrian facilities in the public right-of-way as well as SDOT-owned buildings which identifies physical changes necessary to ensure our facilities meet state and federal ADA accessibility standards.
Engineering Design, Construction, and Inspections
The ADA Program, led by the ADA Coordinator, serves as a group of subject matter experts for the department, consulting the various internal and external partners on ADA compliance and accessible design elements. We work at all levels of project development, from ADA requirements at the concept and scoping phases, through the formal design process, and to construction and inspection of accessible infrastructure features such as curb ramps. The ADA Program also leads training efforts to assure SDOT and its partners are complying with Federal, State, and City ADA requirements, standards, and best practice guidance.