CELEBRATING THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE ADA

Designing Transportation Facilities

McCormick Taylor designers consider a wide range of requirements when designing pedestrian facilities that comply with ADA requirements and effectively protect users; however, there are a few key elements our engineers commonly incorporate.

 

Sidewalks must span at least five feet in width without obstruction to provide adequate space for navigating and passing.  Detectable warning surfaces (DWS) are features built into sidewalks or ramps to alert visually impaired individuals to the presence of a hazard or before an approaching street crossing. ADA-compliant designs also reduce steep slopes and provide level landing areas, something that can be difficult when working in close, confined spaces. Ramps at intersections are angled perpendicular to the roadway, when possible, to provide a straight line crossing to the other side of the street which assists pedestrians who are without sight or have limited vision. Similarly, accessible pedestrian systems (APS) use push buttons with audible features to provide WALK and DON’T WALK intervals at signalized intersections.

 

Check out an example of this work in practice for a project that improves safety measures for kids walking to school.

 

Digital Content & Tools

With an emphasis on accessibility, we’ve helped our clients make common online documents, websites, and applications more compatible. Making products accessible helps to accommodate people with disabilities using screen readers, speech to text technology, or braille displayers and makes them easier to navigate. These features allow the audience to utilize document properties for contact information and document styles to seamlessly jump from one part of a document to another, hear descriptions from picture and image tags to help understand the images on the pages, and have equal access to information that most of us take for granted. These efforts help everyone have a cohesive online experience regardless of how they process information.

 

Learn how this website redesign incorporated several web ADA-compliant features.

Offices

McCormick Taylor strives to uphold these same standards for their office locations. ADA-compliant features like adjustable height furniture and effective access means are important parts of office improvements to ensure everyone who visits feels comfortable. Mental well-being is also a top priority - efforts to increase the flow of natural light into workspaces and encourage staff to recharge in wellness rooms - are simple but important measures to prioritize employee mental health.

 

These features are part of a larger process of incorporating accommodation and accessibility into all McCormick Taylor offices as we undergo strategic improvements to optimize our hybrid work environment.

 

A recent remodeling of our Baltimore office is just one example.

 

ADA logo credit: ADA National Network (adata.org) 1-800-949-4232