Civil Rights

Disability Policy Consortium of Massachusetts

Civil Rights, Disability, Health Care

MEMA Shelter Lawsuit

State House Accessibility

Federal Stimulus Funding and the

Architectural Access Board

Redefining the Role of Government as it Affects the Lives of People with Disabilities

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The Disability Policy Consortium filed a Title II complaint under the Americans with Disabilities Act with the U.S. Justice Department's Office of Civil Rights on May 20, 2010.

John Pirone addresses celebrants; Senate PReisdent Murrayr, Speaker DiMasi & Gov. PAtrick look on

Governor & Legislative Leaders Host Accessibility Celebration

September 29, 2008

Governor Deval Patrick, Senate President Therese Murray and House Speaker Salvatore E. DiMasi join the Disability Policy Consortium, Attorney General Martha Coakely, legislators and disability advocates to celebrate Commonwealth efforts to make the State House accessible for people with disabilities.

Now working in his second year, Carl Richardson, State House ADA Coordinator, has made significant progress towards making the State House and the many activities that take place under the Dome truly accessible for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing, people with vision impairments and those with mobility limitations.

Communication access for deaf and hard of hearing individuals is now accommodated through links on the Legislative web site, facilitation by the SH ADA Coordinator, and active participation of the Mass. Commission for the Deaf & Hard of Hearing.

Power-assisted doors make access to the House Gallery possible and other doors are checked weekly to make sure they are functioning correctly. Similar action is taken weekly with the power lifts.

Cane detectable stanchions are now in place for security and crowd flow, Braille documents are available through the SH ADA Coordinator, signage has been improved, Braille added where necessary, and infra-red hearing devices are now in place and being maintained.

The formal program beginning at 3 PM at the Grand Staircase will be preceded by tours of the State House with interpreters and hands-on experiences for blind visitors.

Wheel chair on broken sidewalk

StreetScapes: 2007 and continuing

The goal of Streetscapes was to ensure that curb cuts and sidewalks, throughout the city of Boston, are accessible to, functional for and safe for use by residents of and visitors.

The underlying goal of the StreetScapes Project was be to get the City of Boston "to the table".
StreetScapes used the Rules and Regulations of the Massachusetts Architectural Access Board which appears in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Regulations as 521CRM as a tool to enforce accessibility compliance.

The project reviewed 185 key locations across Boston's neighborhoods. The sites were places such as transit hubs, shopping centers or locations with public buildings commonly used by many people.
The DPC filed 523 complaints with the AAB against the City of Boston between June and November 2007.

To date,

the Mayor appointed a new Disability Commission
the City Public Works Department commissioned it's own study of ramps and found that 93% were out of compliance and almost 1400 missing
the City allocated $15 million over 5 years to replace ramps
the City PWD revamped contracting procedure to include replacing ramps whenever resurfacing work was done to be compliant with the ADA

State House Accessibility Review and Evaluation

February 15, 2005

The SHARE report was created in response to an increasing number of people with disabilities who were using the State House as a forum for issues that are important for their independence and well being. A chorus of people identifying accessibility issues has followed each event. The DPC launched the State House Accessibility Review and Evaluation in September 2004.

“Initially, our goal was to do a review of access issues that do not comply with the ADA,” explains Jini Fairley, lead author of the report. “But we also found safety issues that impact everyone, such as marble stairs and ramps that are extremely slippery when wet, and no evacuation drills in case of an emergency. We believed we would be remiss if we did not highlight these problems in the report as well.”

The report also found improper signage, ramps that were either too steep to navigate a wheelchair or obstructed by parked cars, handicapped accessible entrances at the opposite end of the building from vehicle drop-off areas, improper door handles and inaccessible restrooms, to name a few. The study also went beyond analyzing the physical elements of the State House (brick and mortar) to include other areas that impact accessibility such as Customer Service, Maintenance, and Accessibility of Websites and Public Documents. “People with disabilities want to exercise their civic duties,” adds Fairley, “By allowing barriers to exist at the State House, both physically and attitudinally, these individuals’ rights are limited.”