David Abel reports in the Boston Globe that thousands of pedestrian ramps, walkways and government buildings around Boston, including polling places and schools, remain inaccessible to people with disabilities twenty years after the Americans with Disabilities Act became the law of the land.

Advocates say the city and state have often failed to comply with the law, and succeeded in persuading the city’s Architectural Access Board to levy the largest fines in its history . Officials acknowledge that they have been lax in implementing needed changes, but insist that they are now making progress.

“It has been embarrassing that such a world-class city like Boston isn’t more inclusive or hasn’t served as a model for other cities,” said Valerie Fletcher, executive director of the Institute for Human Centered Design in Boston, which has helped organize a celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act today. on Boston Common.

(With video)

This entry was posted on Monday, July 26th, 2010 at 9:41 am and is filed under accessibility, ADA, NOT2BEMISSED. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.