CONWAY — The Selectboard took stock of the town’s compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) on Monday night, clearing a step toward making the town’s services, programs, activities, buildings and outdoor facilities more accessible.
“We are planning to do our best to make Conway accessible for everyone,” Town Administrator Véronique Blanchard said in a phone interview on Tuesday.
Using a $24,321 grant from the Massachusetts Office on Disability, the town hired the Institute for Human Centered Design to complete an “ADA self-evaluation.”
“Under the ADA, it’s required that towns such as Conway do not discriminate against people with disabilities in their programs, services and activities, and so state and local governments need to take steps in order to examine their programs and establish a plan for compliance with the law,” Meghan Dufresne, an architecture designer with the Institute for Human Centered Design, said on Monday night to preface the institute’s report. “The ultimate goal is that all residents, regardless of ability, feel that they know about and can fully participate in all the town of Conway has to offer.”
According to Dufresne, the town has met several obligations, including designating an ADA coordinator and establishing a grievance procedure for town employees and residents.
As part of the evaluation, town employees responded to a questionnaire addressing these and other ADA guidelines, such as Conway’s non-discrimination policy. Although a few employees said they were aware of the policy, others said they were unsure it existed, leading Dufresne to recommend that municipal staff be educated on the policy and where to locate it.
The institute also weighed in on the accessibility of the town website for viewers with blindness or low vision. She pointed out that the text on the website lacks a “clear and consistent heading hierarchy” to direct users, consistent keyboard navigation for users without mouses, clear visual focus indicators for highlighted text or buttons, and clear content bordering.
The evaluation measured the compliance of municipal buildings and outdoor facilities with the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design and 521 CMR, the state’s specialized building code for accessibility. Dufresne mentioned several red flags at Town Hall at 5 Academy Hill Road, including the lack of an accessible parking space for vans, the threshold at the main entrance stretching higher than permitted, the lack of handrails on certain stairways, the lack of a tactile exit sign with raised characters and braille, the curb ramp without a complete slope or noticeable warning strip, and minor bathroom issues.
Over the phone on Tuesday, Blanchard stressed that many of Conway’s municipal buildings were built before ADA regulations were put in place, leading to concerns like the steep staircase inside the Town Office at 32 Main St.
While looking through the ADA report, Selectboard Chair Christopher Waldo described the Town Office as the “heavy hitter” in the evaluation.
According to Dufresne, every municipal building is not required to be accessible, but programs, services and activities must be held in an accessible location, leaving the town with three options: relocate programs to an accessible room in the building, relocate programs to a separate accessible facility or renovate the facility to comply with the ADA.
Down the road at the ballpark, Dufresne said there must be accessible routes connecting all areas of activity, such as a path connecting the parking lot to the playground and ballfield. Under ADA standards, the wood chips under the playground are not considered an accessible surface. Instead of wood chips, she recommends “poured-in-place rubber” between the play structures. She added that the bicycle racks also lack an accessible route and the portable toilet is not compliant with ADA standards.
Outside the ballfield, she mentioned concerning steep slopes and tread obstacles at the Fournier Interpretive Trail.
After Waldo thanked Dufresne for a “very detailed report,” the Selectboard members decided to send her a list of questions before settling on next steps.
“That definitely needs to be gone over with a fine-tooth comb,” Selectboard member Elaine Campbell said.
