Since March 2009, the elected Chair of the United States Access Board has been Douglas J. Anderson. The Board is an independent Federal agency that works to ensure accessibility for people with disabilities. It operates with about thirty staff and a governing board, which includes representatives from federal departments and public members appointed by the president. Originally created under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board, the Board was charged with ensuring federal agency compliance with the Architectural Barriers Act of 1968. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), the Telecommunications Act of 1996, and the 1998 Amendments to Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act each significantly expanded the Board’s mandate. It is also a key resource of information on accessible design, responsible for developing design criteria, guidelines, and standards, and providing technical assistance and training to those involved in the creation of accessible designs.
Born circa 1972, Anderson earned his B.A. from Wheaton College in 1990. In April 1992, Anderson took a position as a Research Data Analyst at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he also earned an M.B.A. in 1996. At the University of Illinois, he worked at the
Great Lakes Disability and Business Technical Assistance Center, which is part of a national network of federally funded entities that provide guidance and training on the ADA. Specifically, he assisted businesses and other clients to understand their compliance responsibilities under the ADA. He left the University of Illinois in February 1998 to take his ADA expertise to the Chicago architecture firm of
LCM, where he was hired as an Accessibility Project Manager. He has advised various clients on meeting the design requirements of the ADA and other access-related design standards. He has since been promoted to partner. Anderson has delivered many workshops and seminars on disability access. In February 2003, President Bush
appointed Anderson to the remainder of a four-year term on the Access Board; when that term expired in December 2006, Bush re-appointed Anderson to a second term, set to expire in December 2010.
- Matt Bewig
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