Agency Details:

Designing Accessible Communities

"Designing Accessible Communities" was formed in 2006. The organization's MISSION is to promote, facilitate, and support the use of policies, accessible design, and use of accessible manufactured products to ensure that all individuals, regardless of disability or age, are able to live within and participate fully in all aspects of their community and our society.

Our efforts will not only assure compliance with existing accessibility codes and regulations but encourage the use of Universal Design. The intent of Universal Design is to simplify life for everyone by making products, communications, and the built environment more usable by as many people as possible at little or no extra cost. Universal Design benefits people of all ages and abilities.

Description:
This organization provides education, information and technical advice to the general public and licensed design and construction professionals as well as to building officials.

Designing Accessible Communities promotes this philosophy by working with public and private entities to ensure that buildings and facilities are accessible. The organization will utilize education, technical assistance, regulatory training and code development, professional consulting and publications to reach its goals. By providing creative design concepts, we will encourage property owners, business owners, architects, contractors, building officials, and manufacturers to incorporate accessibility and Universal Design.

Our efforts will not only assure compliance with existing accessibility codes and regulations but encourage the use of Universal Design. The intent of Universal Design is to simplify life for everyone by making products, communications, and the built environment more usable by as many people as possible at little or no extra cost. Universal Design benefits people of all ages and abilities.

Designing Accessible Communities is represented on four state advisory committees related to physical access/egress for persons with disabilities and one national access code committee.

History:
Designing Accessible Communities was formed in 2006 and has received its 501c3 status approval from the IRS.

After retiring from the City of San Francisco as the Deputy Director of the San Francisco Mayor's Office on Disability, I wanted to make my knowledge about disability access in the built environment available to design and construction professionals, building code officials and people with disabilities. I believe that doing this work under the auspices of a non-profit organization is one of the most effective ways of accomplishing that goal.

Contact people:

Richard Skaff, Executive Director, (phone), (email) Kevin Jensen, Board President, (phone), (email) HolLynn D'Lil, Member, Board Of Directors, (phone), (email)

Main office number: (415) 388-7206
TDD number: 711 - California Relay
Office fax number: (415) 388-7206

Address:

P.O. Box 2579 Mill Valley, CA 94942

Web Site: http://www.designingaccessiblecommunities.org

Last updated on March 21, 2009