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How Does AIMFREE Fit with the U.S. Access Board Guidelines?

As a result of the strong need to increase accessibility of fitness and recreation facilities for people with disabilities, the U. S. Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (known as the U. S. Access Board), an independent federal agency whose primary mission is to promote accessibility for individuals with disabilities, has approved guidelines in 2002 for fitness and recreation facilities. The chapter includes guidelines for amusement rides, boating facilities, fishing piers and platforms, golf courses and miniature golf, sports facilities (i.e., fitness centers), and swimming pools. While guidelines are a good starting point for addressing environmental barriers to participation, they only focus on one dimension of a facility’s accessibility — the built environment. There are a host of other factors that affect successful participation that must be evaluated collectively to determine a facility’s accessibility. The AIMFREE instruments have integrated the Access Board guidelines for assessing the built environment with six other factors that should be used to collectively assess accessibility at the intersection of the person and the environment. They are:

1. Equipment
2. Information
3. Programs
4. Policies
5. Professional Behavior
6. Professional Support and Training

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This fact sheet was last updated on 05-14-2007.