U.S. Access Board Plans of Action
On January 26, 2021, President Biden issued a Memorandum on Tribal Consultation and Strengthening Nation-to-Nation Relationships. The Memorandum directs federal agencies to ensure that “Tribal sovereignty and self-governance, commitment to fulfilling Federal trust and treaty responsibilities to Tribal Nations, and regular, meaningful, and robust consultation with Tribal Nations are the cornerstones of Federal Indian policy.”
The Access Board’s October 22, 2021 Progress Report included the following completed actions:
- Reached out to inter-tribal organizations and created contact list of Tribal officials and community leaders.
- Created distribution list. The Access Board contacted each of the 145 officials and leaders and provided information about the Board’s mission and services and inquired about the best method to reach Tribal community members. Additionally, the Access Board inquired about Tribal members’ inclusion on the Board’s information distribution list. Twelve individuals accepted this invitation. The Access Board has emailed these twelve individuals with information on upcoming agency events, such as its virtual public event “Designing for Inclusion: Architectural Trends and Social Justice” on November 10.
- Distributed Access Board Information Sheet. In our initial contact with the 145 Tribal officials, we provided a one-page information sheet about the Access Board for leaders to circulate to their communities and networks. The information sheet describes the agency’s technical services and programs, as well as the agency’s Architectural Barriers Act (ABA) complaint process for any accessibility barriers encountered in federal facilities.
- Contacted other federal agencies. The Access Board has contacted federal agencies to initiate collaboration on achieving greater accessibility of ABA-covered buildings and facilities that are either on Tribal lands or that primarily serve American Indians and Alaska Natives.
- Presented to organizations. Board staff have presented at Inter-Tribal leadership meetings and participated in Tribal stakeholder meetings.