Accessibility and Universal Design – 2027
Enchanted Hills Camp for the Blind and Visually Impaired
This on-site tour of the Enchanted Hills Camp, a 70-year-old summer camp for the blind and visually impaired, features firsthand interviews with the project architect, camp leadership, and a blind design collaborator and lessons that extend far beyond camp design to any public-facing project. Learn how tactile pathways, cane-detectable wayfinding, acoustics that support orientation, and hardware choices translate accessibility principles into everyday independence. You will also understand how tactile drawings and models enable visually impaired people to collaborate on designing facilities.
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Enchanted Hills Camp for the Blind and Visually Impaired
Neurodiversity and Autism Center
Join Dake-Wells explains how their recently completed Neurodivergent and Autism Center incorporated design strategies for creating higher education opportunities and spaces for neurodiverse students. You will learn to identify spatial elements that may be distracting, uncertain, or painful for neurodiverse individuals, and how to accommodate neurodiverse learning modes and sensitivities with a variety of scales and types.
The design incorporates seven criteria from the Autism ASPECTSS™ Design Index, the first set of evidence based design guidelines worldwide to address built environments for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
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Neurodiversity and Autism Center
Accessibility for Historic Buildings: Congregation Emanu-El
Join Mark Cavagnero Associates Architects as they take us on a tour of and explain how San Francisco’s Congregation Emanu-El’s historic set of buildings were remodeled to accommodate the disabled community. Deftly navigating both accessibility and historic preservation requirements, their design provides expanded access throughout the facility while reinforcing the historic nature of three buildings centered around a reconstructed and accessible open-air courtyard.
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Accessibility for Historic Buildings: Congregation Emanu-El
Accessibility and the Fair Housing Act: Upstream and Downstream
Most accessibility problems surface late in construction — but they're created early in design. Join two veteran accessibility experts, a former HUD Senior Advisor and a practicing architect/access specialist, as they unpack how ADA, Fair Housing, Section 504, and state accessibility codes stack together and where projects go wrong.
Through a real-world case study and a rapid-fire "top ten" of recurring field accessibility failures, you'll learn to ask the right questions from day one, know when to bring in specialized expertise, and treat accessibility as core design criteria rather than a compliance afterthought.
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Accessibility and the Fair Housing Act: Upstream and Downstream
Accessibility and Universal Design – 2025
Accessibility 2025: UC Berkeley – Equitable Campus Planning, Universal Design
This 90-minute course focuses on accessibility and Universal Design solutions at the University of California, Berkeley campus. UC Berkeley’s Campus Architect, UC Berkeley’s Manager, Physical Access Compliance at UC Berkeley, and principals from Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects and Sasaki Associates discuss how the campus developed and implemented a human-centered approach to provide equitable physical access to buildings and amenities on a hilly site.
The presenters take a series of deep dives into how they created accessible pathways and barrier-free connections while harmonizing with the historic nature of the campus. They conclude their presentation with specific recommendations for educating architects and other design professionals about designing equitable, inclusive and accessible spaces.
Accessibility 2025: UC Berkeley – Equitable Campus Planning, Universal Design
Accessibility 2025: Accessibility, Historic Preservation + Adaptive Reuse
This 60-minute course demonstrates how to address accessibility requirements in historic preservation and adaptive reuse projects. Presented by D. “Rocky" Rockefeller, AIA, of Rockefeller Partners, the course features a series of case studies, including the remodel of the historic Ford Motor Company Factor in Los Angeles into an award-winning creative office space for Warner Music Group. Rocky deftly describes how to preserve a building’s historic fabric while navigating the requirements of the State Historical Building Code and California’s stringent accessibility requirements.
Accessibility 2025: Accessibility, Historic Preservation + Adaptive Reuse
Accessibility 2025: Willie Woo Woo Wong Playground and Clubhouse Renovation
This case study of the Willie Woo Woo Wong Playground and Clubhouse renovation in San Francisco’s Chinatown illustrates how to design an accessible and inclusive facility on a steeply sloping site. Scott Davis, AIA, of Jensen Architects and Willett Moss, PLA, FAAR, FASLA, of CMG Landscape Architecture discuss Universal Design features, accessible paths of travel, exterior transfer stations, interior lifts, companion seating and access to equivalent spaces. They also discuss how the City and County of San Francisco’s accessibility requirements, which supplemented State requirements, influenced the renovation of one of San Francisco’s historic and culturally significant recreational facilities.
Accessibility 2025: Willie Woo Woo Wong Playground and Clubhouse Renovation
Accessibility 2025: Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Youth
This course explores design strategies behind the Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Youth in Vancouver, Washington, where designers and researchers translated DeafSpace design principles to create a welcoming, accessible and inclusive facility. Mithun partners Brendan Connolly, AIA, LEED AP and Dorothy Faris, ASLA, discuss the deaf-led design process that shaped both the interior and site design.
This case study also explores how an exposed mass timber wood structure reinforced these principles and contributed to the sustainability and inclusivity of the Center, including ADA-compliant and barrier-free design, and how the biophilic benefits of wood helped frame strategies for multisensory wayfinding in this extraordinary collection of gathering and teaching spaces.
Accessibility 2025: Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Youth
Accessibility and Universal Design – 2023
Accessibility 2023: Designing for People with Sensory Challenges - Sweetwater Spectrum
Many people on the autism spectrum share characteristics, such as the need for predictability and trouble with social interaction. Many also have with sensory sensitivities, including loud noises, sudden movements, and direct light.
Ryan Jang, AIA, LEED AP of LMSa (Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects), the Founder and the Executive Director of Sweetwater Spectrum take us on a tour this innovative facility for sixteen adult residents in Sonoma, California. The design focus focuses on maximizing residents’ individual development and independence and incorporates autism-specific strategies to promote a serene, safe and nurturing environment.
Accessibility 2023: Designing for People with Sensory Challenges - Sweetwater Spectrum
Accessibility 2023: Innovative Accessibility Solutions to Challenging Sites
In this 75-minute course, two California architects present case studies about innovative accessibility solutions to challenging sites.
Anne Cotter, AIA, LEED AP of ZGF showcases how the design team seamlessly integrated accessibility throughout the California Air Resources Board (CARB) Southern California Headquarters. The design spans a 22-foot grade difference on the site, sloping entries and courtyard, tiered outdoor seating and gentle walkways that do not require handrails.
Martha L. Bell, FAIA, LEED AP BD+C of HED then presents two case studies from recent designs at Saddleback College. The Advanced Technology and Applied Sciences Facility features winding accessible ramps integrated into outdoor gardens and special vehicular and pedestrian access points. And the 75,000 SF Gateway Building, comprised of offices and classrooms, serves as an accessible pathway from the upper to the lower campus.
Accessibility 2023: Innovative Accessibility Solutions to Challenging Sites
Accessibility 2023: Accessibility in Education and Community Facilities
In this 90-minute course, four California architects present case studies in making education facilities accessible and inclusive.
Brian Dougherty, FAIA, of Perkins Eastman highlights opportunities for diversity, equity and inclusion and how we approach accessibility. Laura Knauss, AIA of Lionakis discusses Universal Design in learning. Mark Graham, AIA from PBK Architects then discusses how current accessibility codes don’t always provide the exact guidance architects might need. Scott Gaudineer, AIA, of Flewelling & Moody presents the final case study on mental and emotional health as part of Universal Design. The course concludes with a short panel discussion.
Accessibility 2023: Accessibility in Education and Community Facilities
Accessibility 2023: Universal Design - Tom and Ruth Harkin Center at Drake University
The new 17,000 SF Tom and Ruth Harkin Center at Drake University, designed by BNIM, sets a new standard for universal and inclusive design and embodies the values of The Harkin Institute’s focus on accessible and equitable spaces.
BNIM’s Kevin Nordmeyer, AIA, LEED AP and Jason Kruse, AIA, LEED AP BD+C and The Harkin Institute’s Executive Director describe some of its most innovative features: a two-story ramp that serves as the primary path between floors; generously sized circulation spaces that support sign-language conversations and multiple wheelchair users; high-contrast and textural cues for low-vision individuals; and gender-inclusive restrooms. The presenters also describe the strong overlap between the sustainable design strategies and the occupants’ health and productivity.
Accessibility 2023: Universal Design - Tom and Ruth Harkin Center at Drake University
Accessibility and Universal Design – 2021
Accessibility 2021: Accessible Hotels and Restaurants
In this 75-minute course, learn how to design attractive and functional hotel spaces that welcome people with disabilities. Karen L. Braitmayer, FAIA, recipient of the AIA 2019 Whitney M. Young Jr. Award and frequent business and leisure traveler, shares inspiring examples of hotels and restaurants that strive to serve us all, along with a handful of eye-opening inaccessible design features to avoid. Karen concisely summarizes her findings in a list of Top Five Compliance Issues for People with Disabilities.
With a wry sense of humor, Karen blends her skills as an architect and accessibility consultant with her experience as a lifelong wheelchair user as she educates fellow design professionals.
Accessibility 2021: Accessible Hotels and Restaurants
Accessibility 2021: The Trouble with Accessibility
In this 75-minute course, Peter Slatin explores how the current push for inclusion and diversity both enhances and misdirects the design process and how changing visions of accessibility and disability influence the built environment.
Peter starts with an inspiring case study of how the widely-acclaimed historical renovation of the Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice resulted in more inclusive designs for all occupants and visitors. With his guide dog by his side, Peter cites how long-held social misconceptions and assumptions about disability inform design and why the Americans with Disabilities Act, while being a force for positive change, has also had counterproductive consequences. Peter also explores how the design community’s response to sustainable design can serve as a model for making more buildings universally accessible.
Accessibility 2021: The Trouble with Accessibility
Accessibility 2021: Urban Accessibility & Inclusiveness
In this 75-minute course, Karen Tamley, Commissioner for the City of Chicago's Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities, discusses how Chicago is becoming one of the most accessible and inclusive cities in the nation, serving the diverse needs of more than 600,000 individuals with disabilities. Karen highlights Chicago's multi-faceted approach and innovative programs to broaden accessibility to open more housing, services and resources to the disabled community
After discussing urban accessibility from the perspectives of Universal Design, Karen poignantly issues a call to action to architects: Your designs can either cement poverty and isolation, impose indignities and inequities--or you can design for inclusion, for freedom, for equity.
Accessibility 2021: Urban Accessibility & Inclusiveness
Accessibility 2021: Building an Inclusive Community Engagement Process
In this 75-minute panel discussion, three accessibility experts focus on how design professionals can facilitate an inclusive community-engagement process that leads to buildings and public spaces that better serve the needs of the disabled community. The panelists discuss how to engage the disability community, how to help agencies prioritize their building expenditures and how to create inclusive spaces based on a diverse set of disability needs and perspectives. Interspersed with personal examples of how the ADA has affected each panelist’s life, this provocative discussion sheds light on why the disability community often states "Nothing About Us Without Us."
Accessibility 2021: Building an Inclusive Community Engagement Process
Accessibility and Universal Design – 2019
Accessibility 2019: Accessibility and Historic Buildings - San Francisco War Memorial Veterans Building
In this 90-minute course, Steven Winkel, FAIA, PE, CASp, walks us through the historic San Francisco War Memorial Veterans Building and the inspiring Herbst Theatre. He provides guidance on how to both preserve a building's historic fabric and navigate between the requirements of the State Historical Building Code and the California Existing Building Code.
Viewers will gain a better understanding of the amount of latitude they have in applying elements of the State Historical Code, even in buildings listed only in a smaller community’s register of local landmarks.
This course complies with California licensure requirements for accessibility (SB 1608 and California Business and Professions Code Section 5600.05) and provides essential information about accessibility requirements applicable in most states.
Accessibility 2019: Accessibility and Historic Buildings - San Francisco War Memorial Veterans Building
Accessibility 2019: Design Beyond ADA & Compliance
In this 60-minute course, Peter Slatin, AIA, draws on his experience navigating as a blind person around New York City and discusses how our environment needs to respond to a growing number of people with a variety of disabilities and impairments: vision, hearing, mobility, awareness and memory. Peter also discusses the Elements of Service he created, which consists of Observe, Ask, Listen, Respond and Follow Through, and reminds us that compliance should be the floor, not the ceiling, for addressing accessibility in design.
With his guide dog by his side, Peter addresses some social misconceptions. “It’s important to remember that a person with a disability, for the most part, isn’t feeling afflicted. They are dealing with their challenges, they do it every day.”
This course complies with California licensure requirements for accessibility (SB 1608 and California Business and Professions Code Section 5600.05) and provides essential information about accessibility requirements applicable in most states.
Accessibility 2019: Design Beyond ADA & Compliance
Accessibility 2019: Accessibility for Persons with Visual Impairments - The New San Francisco LightHouse for the Blind
In this 75-minute course, Gilda Puente-Peters, CASp sheds light on designing accessible spaces for persons with vision impairments. After illustrating how visually-impaired people experience environments and demonstrating how people with canes avoid objects, Gilda presents a case study of the San Francisco LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired, designed by Mark Cavagnero Associates with consultation from blind architect Chris Downey
This course complies with California licensure requirements for accessibility (SB 1608 and California Business and Professions Code Section 5600.05) and provides essential information about accessibility requirements applicable in most states.
Accessibility 2019: Accessibility for Persons with Visual Impairments - The New San Francisco LightHouse for the Blind
Accessibility 2019: Persuading Clients - Where Life Safety & Accessibility Overlap
In this 75-minute course, Dawn Anderson, AIA, CSI, describes how best to educate clients about accessibility requirements and to gain their strong support for creating an expressive design, art and aesthetic that is based on accessibility, inclusion and equality.
This course is interspersed with diagrams from Chapter 11B of the California Building Code.
Accessibility 2019: Persuading Clients - Where Life Safety & Accessibility Overlap
Accessibility and Universal Design – 2017
Accessibility 2017: Accessibility in the Public Realm -- Spend a Day in My Wheelchair
In this 60-minute course, Letrice Sherrillo, AIA, a recent wheelchair user, takes us through downtown San Francisco as she navigates hospitality, retail and public spaces. Viewers will gain a better understanding about how accessible spaces in the public realm often fall short of servicing the requirements of people with different levels of abilities.
As Letrice suggests, “Rent a wheelchair for just one day and your perspective will change, the way you design, not only for accessible design to meet ADA codes, but for overall Universal Design.”
This course complies with California licensure requirements for accessibility (SB 1608 and California Business and Professions Code Section 5600.05),the Texas BOE requirement related to barrier-free design, and provides essential information about accessibility requirements applicable in most states.
Accessibility 2017: Accessibility in the Public Realm -- Spend a Day in My Wheelchair
Accessibility 2017: Observations From an Accessibility Inspector
In this 90-minute course, Stephen Dolim brings his extensive experience as an architect and accessibility inspector to enlighten us about the most common and frequently misunderstood accessibility violations. After viewing this course, design professionals will better understand how they and building owners can apply an accessibility quality assurance process to eliminate most common oversights and improve accessible design outcomes.
This course complies with California licensure requirements for accessibility (SB 1608 and California Business and Professions Code Section 5600.05),the Texas BOE requirement related to barrier-free design, and provides essential information about accessibility requirements applicable in most states.
Accessibility 2017: Observations From an Accessibility Inspector
Accessibility 2017: Universal Design in Single-Family Homes
This course complies with California licensure requirements for accessibility (SB 1608 and California Business and Professions Code Section 5600.05),the Texas BOE requirement related to barrier-free design, and provides essential information about accessibility requirements applicable in most states.
Accessibility 2017: Universal Design in Single-Family Homes
Accessibility 2017: Universal Design in Multi-Family Homes
This course complies with California licensure requirements for accessibility (SB 1608 and California Business and Professions Code Section 5600.05),the Texas BOE requirement related to barrier-free design, and provides essential information about accessibility requirements applicable in most states.
