The first  section, "Disability and the Environment " includes background material on the relationship of disability and environmental design. The second section,  "Federal Laws and Regulations for Public Housing" includes a review of existing Federal accessibility laws and how they apply to public housing facilities. This second section also includes information on the Voluntary Compliance Agreement, or VCA, between the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development and the New York City Housing Authority. The VCA provides alternative approaches to compliance specific to NYCHA. 

The rest of the sections are in a different format. They are intended to simulate the review and inspection of actual facilities using the Modified UFAS Checklist.  This Checklist was designed to review designs and construction for compliance with UFAS and the VCA. 

On the right side of each page of the sections based on the Checklist, you will find a series of examples in graphic form of typical conditions in housing facilities.  These examples may be in compliance or not.  For each example,  there are one or more questions taken from the Checklist. The reader should review the illustration, and evaluate compliance with each question.  Three answers are possible for each question:  Yes, No and NA or "not applicable."   By clicking on the appropriate button, the reader can test his or her knowledge of the Checklist and how to use it. Note that "Yes" or "No" are not always the correct answer. There are many questions where "NA" is the correct answer.  It is just as important to recognize when "NA" is correct as to recognize when "Yes" or "No" is correct.

The correctness of the answer often depends on how the example is evaluated, e.g. what measurements are selected and how they are interpreted. We have included both correct and incorrect measurements in the examples. We have also incorporated common incorrect  interpretations.

The answers are provided in pop up windows that become visible when the selected button is clicked.  The answers provide feedback on why the answer is correct or incorrect and, when it is not so obvious, explanatory information related to the selection of measurements and interpretations.  Be sure to close each pop up window before moving on to the next question.

Usually, it will only be necessary to check the answers for either Yes or No, particularly if you get the correct answer.  But, for many questions, it is useful to at least check the NA answer in addition to discover under what conditions an answer of "NA" would be appropriate.

Note that some of the answers to the examples are very obvious and some are very obscure. This reflects the nature of conditions in the field. Sometimes it is very easy to interpret compliance and, in other cases, it is much more difficult. Sometimes, even experts must make a judgment call. We have included explanatory information and hints wherever possible.

On the left hand side of each page additional information, interpretations and examples are provided to aid in understanding the material.  Use this material to understand the subtleties and complexities of ADA compliance. 

So, while completing this program, please identify and write up discussion questions for those Follow Up sessions.  These questions should be submitted to your supervisor who will transmit them to the authors for incorporation in the Follow Up sessions. 

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