DSB Perspectives Presentation: Beyond the Accessibility Code: Changing Realities as an Impetus for Inclusive Design

Registration begins November 1, 2026

• Presenter: Valerie Fletcher, Executive Director, Institute for Human Centered Design - www.HumanCenteredDesign.org
• Credit: A certificate for 1 AIA HSW credit will be provided to all participants by the AIA. Provide your AIA number if available at registration but not required to receive a certificate.

Disability in America looked very different in 1990, when the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed. Many of the original leaders in the disability rights movement had residual paralysis from the polio epidemic. Others were injured during the long war in Vietnam.

Today, the most common reasons for disability among adults include a broad spectrum of brain-based conditions, including mental health conditions, neurodiversity, brain injury, intellectual limitations, and the cognitive impacts of dementia and neurological conditions. This shift is not surprising. Mental and cognitive disabilities have been the dominant pattern of disability among children for many years.

Mobility remains the second most common reason for disability. Among people with mobility limitations, far more have people have difficulty walking than use wheelchairs.

The population is also aging. Among people age 65 and older, 40% have one or more physical, sensory, or brain-based disabilities. In 1990, 12.6% of Americans were age 65 or older. Today, that figure is 18%, and it is projected to reach 23%, or 83 million people, by 2050.

What does this changing pattern mean for accessibility and inclusive design?

Accessibility standards, regulations, and state accessibility codes remain the non-negotiable baseline. They are a valuable and reliable floor. But they are not the ceiling. Design can do more than remove barriers. It can reduce limitations, support equitable experiences, and help people use, enjoy, and participate fully in the places we design. The World Health Organization defines disability as contextual: the disabling effects of a functional limitation occur at the intersection of the person and the environment. Because people create those environments, people can also make them differently.