By Susan McClannahan, Fair Housing Intake and Grant Coordinator

The Equal Rights Center has published a new video about the importance of accessible design and construction in housing. The video is designed to educate the public on the benefits and necessity of designing housing to be accessible for everyone.

Under the federal Fair Housing Act (FHA), most multifamily housing built for first occupancy after March 13, 1991, is required to comply with certain accessibility requirements. The purpose of this FHA provision is to make more housing available to people with physical disabilities. There is a significant shortage of accessible units both in Washington, DC, and nationwide. The FHA is playing an important role across the United States in increasing the number of housing units available to people with disabilities.

The Equal Rights Center has occasionally heard community members express concerns about the potential inconvenience of housing providers completing construction work to bring their properties into compliance with the accessibility requirements of the Fair Housing Act as well as the American with Disabilities Act (ADA).We get it—no one enjoys waking up to construction noise. However, the small inconvenience is nothing compared to the daily frustrations and barriers that people with disabilities experience trying to access poorly designed spaces.

We encourage everyone to check out the video below and see how accessible housing can benefit us all.

If you believe you may have experienced discrimination in housing, you can contact the Equal Rights Center. To report your experience, please call 202-234-3062 or email info@equalrightscenter.org.