Agenda - 05-16-2017-12-2 - Information Item - Orange County Facilities Accessibility Self-Assessment Final Report Cover Memo

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6 "NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, on this the 25th anniversary year of the ADA, that the Board of County Commissioners of Orange County, North Carolina, celebrates the contributions that Americans with disabilities and those who are differently-abled have made to our Nation and to our County, and commits this County and all Departments therein to reach compliance with the ADA through the adherence to the spirit of the law, by the removal or reduction of physical barriers preventing full participation in community life, and by the empowering of persons with disabilities through the provision of equitable treatment, inclusion and opportunities. This proclamation launched the Facilities Accessibility Self-Assessment and its subsequent implementation planning. With the support of Asset Management Services, the County Sustainability Coordinator partnered with the County Civil Rights Specialist in the department of Housing Human Rights and Community Development to complete the self-assessment. Together, they established an Accessibility subcommittee of the Space Study Workgroup to represent County staff, building code experts, and disability support organizations that are all committed to maintaining the highest feasible level of accessibility for our County facilities. Organizers ensured that the disabled community was engaged and represented in this effort in order to conduct a high-quality assessment using national standards that leverages a blend of direct, experiential feedback and expert verification. Staff provided a report on the progress of the self-assessment on December 15th, 2015. Then, during the meeting of the Board of Orange County Commissioners on February 2nd, 2016, Commissioner Jacobs asked for staff to include an assessment of sidewalks, elevators (braille), documents, and technology in the ongoing comprehensive assessment of facilities accessibility. The accessibility of County elevators was covered in the facilities assessment and an additional comprehensive assessment was added to review the accessibility of all 5.1 miles of sidewalks on County property and the way they connect with sidewalks managed by our neighboring jurisdictions of Hillsborough, Chapel Hill and Carrboro. At the same meeting there was a related petition from Commissioner Price to assess accessibility for the hearing- and vision-impaired. Though not a comprehensive assessment, steps have been taken to assess and address the accessibility of County documents and technology for the hearing- and vision-impaired, including improvements to the County website and a major grant-funded accessibility update at the County Library's Main Branch in Hillsborough2. To assist County residents with hearing impairments, the County's telephone device for the deaf (TDD) number is listed first on the "Contact" page of the County website. This TDD line is answered by the Housing, Human Rights and Community Development Department and allows for residents and County staff to communicate through text over the telephone lines. Several other technologies are also now available for convenient text communication (Ex- email, instant messenger, etc) but the County maintains this equipment in the case that some residents may still rely on the TDD system. Several accessibility features were also integrated into the redesign of the County website to assist those with visual impairments (Ex - descriptive captions for pictures, high-contrast colors that do not rely on red and green, etc.). Given the initial findings available at the time, the BOCC authorized $319,000 in Capital Improvements Project (CIP)funding for FY2016-2017 to fund "significant accessibility improvements at the Whitted facility, the Historic Courthouse, and security access doors 2 Orange County Library Accessibility Webpage, http://www.orangecountync.gov/departments/library/accessible_library.php 5