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U.S. Access Board Resolves 85 Architectural Barriers Act Complaints Through Corrective Action in Fiscal Year 2024

October 18, 2024

The U.S. Access Board is the sole Federal agency responsible for enforcing the Architectural Barriers Act of 1968 (ABA), which it accomplishes by investigating complaints filed by the public. The ABA requires buildings or facilities designed, built, altered, or leased by the Federal Government, as well as certain nongovernment buildings constructed with funds from a federal grant or loan, to be accessible to and usable by people with disabilities.

During Fiscal Year (FY) 2024, the Board received 341 new ABA complaints (a nearly 70% increase over last year) and closed 265 (a nearly 60% increase). Approximately one-third of closures – 85 complaints – were resolved after the Access Board found that ABA-covered facilities did not meet accessibility standards and required federal agencies (or other facility owners or leaseholders) to complete mandatory corrective action to remove accessibility barriers.

The majority of the corrective actions completed in FY 2024 addressed fundamental issues affecting access to facilities for people with disabilities, such as the operation of power-assisted or manual doors, inaccessible entrances, or insufficient or non-compliant accessible spaces in customer and employee parking lots.

The 85 ABA complaints closed in Fiscal Year 2024 following completed corrective action related to facilities across 37 States and the District of Columbia, and can be broken down into four broad categories by facility type: 

Defense-related and Veterans Facilities: The Access Board successfully resolved 17 ABA complaints relating to facilities of the Department of Defense or the Department of Veterans Affairs, including:

  • VA Community Based Outpatient Clinic (Sarasota, Florida): installation of accessible parking spaces and improvements to exterior accessible routes;
  • VA Medical Center (Biloxi, Mississippi): installation of a van accessible parking space in the lot serving the Emergency Department;
  • VA Community Based Outpatient Clinic (Franklin, North Carolina): installation of accessible employee parking spaces;
  • Hill Air Force Base (Hill AFB, Utah): installation of two entrance ramps, four power-assisted door openers, and a van accessible parking space at Building 590;
  • Joint Base Pearl Harbor – Hickam (Pearl Harbor, Hawaii): installation of accessible parking spaces in a building serving Naval Surface Group Middle Pacific (COMNAVSURFGRU MIDPAC);
  • Puget Sound Naval Shipyard (Bremerton, Washington): installation of a power-assisted interior door in Building 435;
  • Tinker Air Force Base (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma): installation of accessible parking spaces;
  • Schriever Space Force Base (Colorado Springs, Colorado): repair of elevators in Buildings 300, 301, and 400; 
  • Fort Knox Middle High School, a facility of the Department of Defense Educational Activity (Fort Knox, Kentucky): repair of the building’s elevator; and
  • Naval Air Station Fallon (Fallon, Nevada): installation of accessible parking spaces.

Post Offices and other USPS facilities: The Access Board successfully resolved 59 ABA complaints relating to U.S. Postal Service facilities, including:

  • United States Post Office (Waltham, Massachusetts): installation of a new entrance ramp to replace the existing non-compliant ramp, and a new, compliant van accessible parking space;
  • United States Post Office (Iowa City, Iowa): major improvements to accessible parking and accessible route to the entrance;
  • United States Post Office (Woodstown, New Jersey): replacement of the exterior platform lift; and
  • USPS Processing and Distribution Center (Los Angeles, California): installation of accessible spaces in employee parking lots.

General Services Administration Facilities: The Access Board successfully resolved 7 ABA complaints relating to the facilities owned or leased by the General Services Administration, including:

  • Federal Building and United States Courthouse (Sioux City, Iowa): installation of a compliant employee entrance (including entrance ramp, power-assisted entrance door), van accessible parking space, and accessible single-user toilet room);
  • Thomas P. O’Neill Federal Building (Boston, Massachusetts): repair of power-assisted entrance doors; and
  • Raul Castro Land Port of Entry (Douglas, Arizona): installation of required accessible parking spaces in the employee parking lot. 

Other ABA-Covered Facilities: The Access Board successfully resolved the following 2 ABA complaints relating to other ABA-covered facilities:

  • United States Penitentiary Leavenworth, a facility of the Bureau of Prisons (Leavenworth, Kansas): installation of a new inclined, exterior platform lift to afford wheelchair/scooter access to visitors at the main entrance; and 
  • Building 2714, a facility of the Department of Energy (Oak Ridge, Tennessee): installation of accessible parking spaces and improvements to exterior accessible routes and ramps.

The Access Board provides various accessible complaint filing options, but recommends that filers use the Online ABA Complaint Form for faster processing. Complaints must include the name of the facility, its location (city and state), and a brief description of the access barriers or issues. Complaints can be filed by any person or organization, and may even be filed anonymously. When complaint filers provide identifying information, the Board keeps that information confidential.

Throughout its 50-year history, the Access Board has successfully resolved thousands of ABA complaints by leveraging its amicable and collaborative working relationships with other federal agencies. This approach ensures that agencies understand both their legal obligations under the ABA and how best to quickly bring their buildings and facilities into compliance with ABA accessibility standards. Where the Board identifies violations of the standards, it has a nearly 100% success rate in getting agencies to voluntarily remove the architectural barriers giving rise to ABA complaints, thereby avoiding formal complaint adjudication proceedings.

Learn more about the ABA on our website and how it is ensuring a more accessible federal government.