Agenda - 12-15-2015 - 8b - Orange County Facilities Accessibility Self-Assessment Update

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2 Progress To date, assessments have been conducted for the Southern Human Services Center, the Richard L. Whitted Human Services Center and the Robert & Pearl Seymour Center. Self- assessment teams include a disabled person or disabilities advocate, a County building inspector, and a County staff person familiar with the facility being assessed. The accessibility obstacles identified in these assessments will be prioritized by the members of the subcommittee to inform final recommendations to the Board of Commissioners. Initial progress in conducting these assessments has been deliberate as Staff has thoughtfully developed the knowledge, tools, and collaborative process to conduct these assessments in an accurate and standardized manner. During the initial assessments, improvements to the procedures and tools were identified, which will help to improve and streamline future assessments. The committee plans to further accelerate the remaining assessments by engaging the Safety Committees from each facility in conducting initial assessments so that the accessibility assessment teams will only need to verify the results. Initial Findings These initial assessments have identified several areas for improvement in County facilities. Some of these will require only minor adjustments (Low-level) to improve accessibility and others will require a greater investment. Example Findings from Initial Assessments: • Reducing door-opening pressures Low-level Marking walking surface to highlight transitions (repairs ongoing) Landscape management for facility visibility and accessibility (tree pruning, hedge maintenance, etc) • Patching damaged sidewalks • Replacing faded parking signage and striping • _ Repairing minor trip hazards Mid-level Adding wayfinding signage • Adjusting heights of restroom accessories and features • Addressing slope issues along accessible routes High-level Installing additional railings The low-level and mid-level items are those that require only minor adjustments or repairs. These are continuously addressed within AMS Corrective Maintenance repair processes, the grounds maintenance provided by the Department of Environment, Agriculture, Parks and Recreation, and AMS Building Improvement projects. The high-level items would likely be best addressed within the Capital Investment Plan (CIP). As discussed in the Space Study Update to the Board during the November 10, 2015 work session, staff is preparing these results to inform the CIP discussion in March, 2016. As assessments are completed, the results will be summarized and prioritized within a framework modeled on the ADA Transition Plan. The Transition Plan lists physical obstacles that limit the accessibility of public programs or activities to individuals with disabilities, and then describes the methods that will be used to remove these obstacles, and specifies when each step will be taken and by whom. As noted in the ADA statute, all facilities do not have to meet each accessibility component, but rather all persons with disabilities must be able to participate