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GSA enhances accessibility at Kansas City office

2300 Main hallway showing small glass enclosed conference and huddle rooms with digital display devices lower to the ground.
GSA recently updated its regional office at 2300 Main in Kansas City, Missouri, to ensure its compliance with the Architectural Barriers Act accessibility standards, including lowering conference room digital displays from 60 inches to 48 inches to make them easier to reach from a wheelchair.

October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month, a time to commemorate the many and varied contributions of people with disabilities to America’s workplaces and economy.

In the spirit of supporting disability employment, GSA recently updated its regional office at 2300 Main in Kansas City, Missouri, to ensure its compliance with the Architectural Barriers Act accessibility standards. Improvements include:

  • Lowering conference room digital displays from 60 inches to 48 inches to make them easier to reach from a wheelchair.
  • Installing cabinets under wall-mounted televisions to protect individuals with limited vision.
  • Installing pull-out drawers in kitchen and break room cabinetry to put more items within reach from a wheelchair.
  • Creating additional open shelving at an accessible height in supply areas.

“Federally funded space — including federal buildings, courthouses, and space leased by the government — falls under ABA Standards for space designed in 2006 or later. The Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA, applies to privately funded space,” said Planning Architect Denise Ryerkerk, who was the Region 6 ABAAS Program Manager at the time of this project. “While most of the technical requirements between ABAAS and ADA are the same, they are not the same standards.”

In general, ABA standards provide for greater accessibility, as it requires more of a workspace to be accessible than the ADA standards.

“Prior to ABAAS, federally funded space fell under the Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards, which was enacted several years prior to the ADA,” Ryerkerk added. “Bottom line is that the federal government has been a leader in accessibility for decades.”

Project Manager Greg Hoffman and Lease Contracting Officer Kory Hochler delivered the project. Architect Brian Ball has now taken over duties as GSA’s ABAAS program manager for Region 6.

More information on accessibility standards can be found at access-board.gov. 

See the White House Proclamation on National Disability Employment Awareness Month and Executive Order on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in the Federal Workforce for more information on disability employment.

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Last updated: Oct 5, 2021
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