What Happened?
Washington, DC-based United States Access Board has Retired James Raggio as General Counsel
About the Company
The Access Board is an independent federal agency that promotes equality for people with disabilities through leadership in accessible design and the development of accessibility guidelines and standards. Created in 1973 to ensure access to federally funded facilities, the Board is now a leading source of information on accessible design. The Board develops and maintains design criteria for the built environment, transit vehicles, telecommunications equipment, medical diagnostic equipment, and information technology. It also provides technical assistance and training on these requirements and on accessible design and continues to enforce accessibility standards that cover federally funded facilities. The Board is structured to function as a coordinating body among federal agencies and to directly represent the public, particularly people with disabilities. Twelve of its members are representatives from most of the federal departments. Thirteen others are members of the public appointed by the President, a majority of whom must have a disability.
About the Person
James Raggio retired in June after 25 years of service. Jim Raggio, an attorney who has specialized in civil rights for persons with disabilities, became General Counsel at the Access Board in 1989 after 9 years of service as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Maryland. A graduate of Columbia University and New York University, Jim interned with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund before joining the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia, where he was instrumental in getting the US Department of Transportation to adopt standards for a low-floor, ramped bus and to issue regulations for access to all modes of public transportation. He also developed an advocacy training program for disability organizations to implement Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Its syllabus became a national model and was subsequently replicated by the US Department of Health, Education and Welfare's Office of Civil Rights in all 50 states. Mr. Raggio has also been a consultant to the Senior Citizens Law Center and the National Consumer Law Center in Washington, DC. Mr. Raggio's work at the Access Board has focused on its rulemaking responsibilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and on its compliance and enforcement mandate under the Architectural Barriers Act of 1968. In addition, he has developed a particular expertise in access to historic facilities, authoring several publications on law and regulation in this area. He is a frequent participant in training seminars for preservation specialists in the public and private sectors.
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