This is a sponsored event by the Harvard Graduate School of Design Executive Education.

It has been 30 years since the passage of the ADA; its standards and requirements have been refined by new design standards, Department of Justice regulations, Federal investigations and settlements, and court case decisions. Is your knowledge up to date? Has your access competency advanced? This interactive online program will focus on accessibility standards, guidelines, and requirements under the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, model codes, and various state laws, including what the future of accessibility will look like in a post-COVID world.

Participants in this program will discuss with the instructors how to apply requirements and guidelines to the tens of millions of buildings, facilities, programs, and services they cover. With an aging population that represents a huge market for accessible facilities and programs, interest in compliance with the ADA and other access standards is continuing to grow throughout the country. Instructors will discuss what they learned from the courts as they define how to apply the guidelines and laws. Participants will discuss how to interpret and apply both the old and new requirements so that they can respond appropriately to users, clients, attorneys, and the courts as needed.

With the ADA obligations and interpretations as the structural framework for the class, requirements and standards are introduced, compared, and explained. This highly interactive program will look in detail at trending issues and explore best practices and universal design concepts that improve usability for everyone. This approach will mix presentations and group exercises to analyze and discuss how to apply some of the new requirements.