Applying Accessibility ( to new/existing buildings)
There are three key questions to answer that determine if and how accessibility requirements are applied to a particular area:”it depends”
- Which standard applies to the situation? If the project is in the United States, then the accessibility requirements could be the 2010 ADASAD, the IBC, or a local code that is more stringent than any of these for a particular parameter or in a particular type of facility. Local codes generally override state and federal requirements, unless the local codes are less stringent.
- Is the area an employee area or not? Many employee areas, including conference rooms, lounges, and cafeterias, are also accessible to visitors and must therefore follow accessibility guidelines. In employee-only work areas, ADA requirements do not apply except if the entry is off of an accessible circulation path. Then, access and egress requirements apply, meaning that wheelchair access must be provided to get into and out of the room (but maneuvering about the room and consoles do not need to meet ADA requirements).
- Is the area a circulation path? In a building with public access to presentation rooms and corridors, it is easy to determine what is a circulation path into, out of, and between accessible spaces in the building. In these areas, the ADA would apply. Once you get inside an employee work space, such as a closed office that is clearly not for circulation, then the regulations would not apply.
Some grey areas would include conference rooms, where areas around the conference table may be considered a circulation path in and out of the room. This would only apply, however, if the conference room was used by outside visitors and not just internal employees.
Control rooms and data centers often raise questions about accessibility. For most organizations, an AV control room and a data center would be considered employee-only spaces.
This means that within the space racks, consoles, counters, and clearances would not have to adhere to the ADA. However,
if the entrance to such space is not employee-only, then the entrance and egress to the space would require accessibility.
This means that
most AV projection and control rooms that are at the back of an auditorium would require accessibility into and out of the room (see local code for minimum clear door width allowed), element controls within the room may/may not require accessibility/ subject to reasonable accommodation requests. A ramp might be required up to the doorway if it's raised above the surrounding floor, and clearances would need to be provided just inside and outside the door for wheelchair accessAn alternative to a ramp into an employee-only control room would be to provide an employee-only corridor or storage space between the control-room door and the public area.
In this case, the entrance into the buffer space would need to be accessible, but a ramp would not be required inside the buffer space for the control entrance. This may take less space than a ramp when the control room is, say, 36 inches above the surrounding floor area.
lastly, consider use of alternate methods and means (robotics?)