Projects By Topic

• Home
• Housing and Universal Design
• ADA Access and Technology
• Grassroots Advocacy and Education
• Legislation, Codes and Systems Reform

• Project Summary
  

  The Law and Policy in Action team joined with disability groups and other experts to help evaluate the accessibility and usability of the Coe College campus and its programs, services, facilities, and technology.  College officials asked us to provide an overview of the governing legal standards, suggest priorities for barrier removal, identify the features and facilities that in our opinion merit top priority or consideration, furnish photographs from our audit and illustrate the physical or design features that pose barriers, and recommend other means of making the Cedar Rapids campus more welcoming for students, faculty, staff, alumni and visitors.  The college implemented several changes in response to the report.

• Project Reports and Documents
  

  Final Report to Coe College

• Pictures & Videos
  

    

• Unauthorized "no-step path" from the student union to the pub

• 
• The main entry path to the pub...for some people.
• 
• Dining tables that are not comfortable, inviting or usable by everyone.
• • 
  • Proper Signage could direct visitors to the no-step entry and spare people the frustration of having to backtrack. Chris O'Hanlon and Keith Ruff of the Evert Conner Center for Independent Living survey the campus.
• 
• 
  Professor Len Sandler and design specialist Jordan Pettus measure the slope, width and surface of a Coe College pathway.
• 
• Independent Living Specialist Jim Whalen tries to find his way around campus using this sign (which baffles many visitors).
• 
• People who use wheelchairs or crutches could drink from this water fountain if the trash and recycling containers were placed elsewhere or moved.
• 
• Keith Ruff of the Law and Policy in Action audit team finds it difficult to open the door and finds out, too late, that the door and entry are not ADA accessible.
• 
  
• Varying the placement of forms would allow all students to reach and get the needed form without asking for assistance.
  
• Surveys & Checklists
  

   

• Drawings & Floor Plans
  

   

• Helpful Links & More
  

   

Featured Projects & Students

Clinic Releases Sustainability Checklists To Celebrate the ADA's 20th Anniversary

Universal Design & Green Home Survey Checklist: Design your
home to be both livable and
future-friendly

Checklist in English (.pdf file)
Checklist in English (.doc file)
Checklist in Spanish (.pdf file)
Checklist in Spanish (.doc file)

Conduct Your Own Universal Design Survey: Plan for your current and future housing needs.

Survey in English (.pdf file)
Survey in English (.doc file) Survey in Spanish (.pdf file)
Survey in Spanish (.doc file)