Nationwide Incapacity Management Alliance (NDLA) Urges Nationwide Park Service to Meet Incapacity Mandates

WASHINGTON, July 1, 2021 / PRNewswire / – Today, the National Disability Leadership Alliance (NDLA) and allied organizations are calling on the National Park Service (NPS) to adopt the recommendations of the recent Dr. Cheryl Fogle-Hatch on accessibility at the FDR memorial in Washington, DC. NDLA sets a deadline of May 2, 2022, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the inauguration of the FDR monument.

Dr. Cheryl Fogle-Hatch outlined concerns about the accessibility of the FDR Memorial in Washington, DC.

NDLA is a coalition of leading national disability organizations led by people with disabilities and supported by grassroots constituencies living with disabilities in all 50 states and the United States District of Columbia. Affiliates have come together because the disabled community has waited too long for equal access and federal agencies have failed to meet their federal accessibility obligations. The 1973 Rehabilitation Act prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities through any program or activity that receives federal funding.

It has been 24 years since the 1997 Washington Post reported accessibility concerns in the article titled Braille Letters from the FDR Memorial Present a Significant Problem for the Blind. Dr. Fogle-Hatch further outlines the shortcomings, ranging from the same imprecise Braille to the safety concerns with removable supports around the wells.

The NDLA’s call to action is reminiscent of the resolutions of Congress – S. Res. 86 and H. Res. 183 calls for improvements in accessibility by Senator Tammy Duckworth and congressmen Eleanor Holmes Norton. Their resolution calls on the National Park Service to “improve legal access to the memorial for people with disabilities, including through the placement of tactile Braille on signs and posters.”

“The FDR Memorial, by honoring a great president, is a reminder that there are no heights that Americans with disabilities cannot reach,” Norton said in a statement. “Our parks and memorials should be open to all Americans.”

The following NDLA organizations have signed the letter: American Association of People with Disabilities, American Council of the Blind, Association of Programs for Rural Independent Living,

Autistic Self Advocacy Network, Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network, Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund, Little People of America, National Association of the Deaf, National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery, National Council Independent Living, National Federation of the Blind, Not Dead Yet , Paralyzed Veterans of America, Topeka Independent Living Resources Center, and United Spinal.

Contact:
Kelly Douglas
910-824-4624
[email protected]

SOURCE National Disability Leadership Alliance