GAO said that in visits to nine facilities auditors found keypad and badge readers too high to be usable by employees in wheelchairs, and doorways too narrow for them to pass through. Image: Sergio Delle Vedove/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffHighly secure areas in federal buildings often present additional barriers to employees with disabilities, the GAO has said noting that requirements for providing reasonable accommodations for them in the federal workplace apply to those areas.
It said that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence—which sets policy for the design, construction and management of buildings or areas within them for storing, using, discussing and processing highly classified information—and some individual agencies have taken some steps to make such “sensitive compartmented information facilities” more accessible, such as by adding automated door openers.
“However, additional barriers remain, including: inaccessible entry doors and interior workspaces; challenges with electronic door locks and intrusion detection systems; and absence of tactile signage,” a report said.
GAO said that in visits to nine facilities auditors found issues with entryways such as doors that require a high level of force to pen; keypad and badge readers and spin locks too high to be usable by employees in wheelchairs; and doorways too narrow for them to pass through. Inside such areas GAO found issues such as boxes and chairs blocking passageways and equipment that can be operated only from a standing position.
It said that while the ODNI has not set minimum specifications for accessibility to such areas, and “without such guidance, agencies could miss opportunities to strengthen the federal workforce by enhancing accessibility for employees with disabilities.”
It similarly said that while that agency and some individual agencies have enhanced access to assistive technologies and medical devices within such areas, issues remain with access to them, as well.
Due to a lack of common standards, “employees may miss opportunities to participate in multiagency meetings outside of their home agency or be unable to access career advancement opportunities, such as joint duty assignments” in other agencies, it said.
The report said the ODNI did not provide formal comments on its recommendations that it identify minimum specifications for common accessibility concerns, address accessibility in inspections and include consistent procedures for agencies to evaluate assistive technologies or medical devices.
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