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Civil Rights Compliance Office

Transition Plans

The University of Washington seeks to create environments that are welcoming and accessible to all. In addition, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) provides that public entities having responsibility for, or authority over, facilities, streets, roads, sidewalks, and other areas meant for public use should develop a transition plan to lead their efforts in meeting accessibility standards.

In 2019, the University prioritized work to re-establish comprehensive transition plans for its built environments, including the following:

  1. Assess the current external environment from site arrivals to campus buildings.
  2. Generate a plan to remove structural barriers associated with the assessed features.
  3. Monitor and manage reported barriers to access.

Through this process, the University evaluated its facilities and programs within the public rights-of-way, public outdoor spaces, and building entrances accessible to the public, to determine access barriers for individuals with disabilities. The campus transition plans below describe the current state of each campus and will guide future planning and implementation of accessibility improvements.

These documents summarize the surveys and assessments conducted in 2019-2020. They include information about an assessment of pedestrian facilities and a survey of stakeholders. They also identify strategies for the removal of barriers and how the University will address requests for accommodations in these environments.

In 2021, the University began implementing recommendations outlined within each plan below. Summaries will be published annually until 2031, at which point the cadence will shift to biennial publishing.

Campus annual summaries

Campus transition plans

Key recommendations for all campuses

  1. Update campus accessible wayfinding.
  2. Clarify and enforce accessibility requirements for construction zones.
  3. Maintain barrier reporting process; review Updated Barrier to Access Reporting Tool.
  4. Create performance measures and processes to track barrier removal.
  5. Develop guidelines for implementing ADA standards; review Updated University of Washington Accessibility Guidelines.

Stakeholder engagement

We heard you: Here are the summaries of the 2019 stakeholder engagement completed for the self-assessment.