Americans With Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines

The City of Waukesha has adopted the State of Wisconsin Commercial Code, Chapter 69. This chapter has incorporated (with amendments) the Federal guidelines for ADAAG.

Contrary to popular belief, ADAAG does not refer only to those people confined to wheelchairs. The concern of ADAAG is with the accessibility of buildings to those who are blind, elderly, deaf or handicapped in any way.

All new buildings, additions to existing buildings and alterations to existing buildings must be constructed within ADA Guidelines. The State of Wisconsin recognizes that it is sometimes infeasible to in-corporate all ADA requirements into an alteration. To know more about infeasibility, Click Here

The State of Wisconsin also recognizes that bringing an alteration into complete ADA compliance might incur disproportionate costs relative to the entire cost of the alteration. To know more about disproportionality, Click Here

ADA requirements are not really complicated if you keep in mind several ideas:

Primary Function of the building or space. What is the primary purpose of the building or room that will be used?

The Path of Travel to the Primary Function. How does a handicapped person get to the building or room?

The use of the Primary Function by the handicapped

  • Will a handicapped person be able to use the building or room?
  • Can they open doors easily?
  • Are counters too high for wheelchairs?
  • Do toilet rooms have space for a wheelchair to turn around?
  • Are directions posted in Braille?

When you design a new building, or alter an existing building, begin with the idea of a handicapped person arriving at the building location. Then design for how they will get into the building. Last, design for the handicapped use of the building.

The location of the building on the lot. When a handicapped person arrives at a building's location where can they park? Are the parking spaces clearly marked for handicapped? Are the parking spaces big enough to accommodate the discharge of a wheelchair?

Once they have parked (or arrived at the location by bus, etc) how do they get into the building (path of travel)? Is a ramp provided for those in wheelchairs? Are there wall projections a blind person would walk into? Can the elderly use the door hardware available?

Inside the building, how do they get to where they want to go?

Arriving at their destination, how will they use the primary function of that location? Are counters low enough for people in wheelchairs? In case of fire are there warning devices for the deaf? Are telephones provided for the deaf? Are braille signs provided at toilet rooms?

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