At least once each Congress, the General Counsel is required to inspect and report to Congress on the compliance of the legislative branch with the Congressional Accountability Act (CAA)’s requirements regarding access to public services and accommodations for individuals with disabilities. To maximize resources, each biennial inspection focuses on specific facilities or grounds. Within each facility, inspections focus on the areas that are accessible to the public, such as entrances, bathrooms, elevators, and interior routes. The results of these biennial inspections are made public in the ADA Biennial Reports.
The inspections identify barriers to access by comparing existing conditions with the 2010 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Standards for Accessible Design (the most recent standards). The Office of Congressional Workplace Rights (OCWR) believes it is important to identify all barriers to access so that these issues can be addressed when planning future projects, even though not all barriers to access are necessarily violations of the ADA (for example, when a condition is in compliance with the previous ADA standards, but not the 2010 Standards, making the condition “safe harbored” until the area is renovated or altered).
In the case of technical feasibility or historicity issues that render compliance with the standard extremely difficult or even impossible, the OCWR works with the Office of the Architect of the Capitol (AOC) and other employing offices to find other ways to address the accessibility issues. Please see the AOC’s informative blog post about incorporating accessibility into designs for historic buildings for more information.