Northborough DEIB committee presses town on voting and playground accessibility, outlines ADA updates

The Town of Northborough Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Committee met remotely to review ADA-related documents and raise multiple accessibility concerns, including the town’s decision to consolidate polling into a single location and playground features that may block mobility devices.

Diane Wackl, the assistant town administrator and the committee’s ADA coordinator, said the town’s ADA self-evaluation and transition plan are complete and that she will review the documents to identify outstanding recommendations. "I have to get familiar with this, with the plan, the self evaluation," Wackl said, adding she will look for educational opportunities to prepare for the role.

A committee member warned that centralizing polling into one precinct could create significant barriers for voters with disabilities. Using illustrative numbers — roughly 11,000 registered voters, an estimated 20% with disabilities and a hypothetical 75% turnout — the speaker said the accessible parking turnover needed to serve all voters during the polling window would be extremely tight, describing a required turnover of about "every 4 minutes and 43 seconds." The speaker emphasized these were back-of-the-envelope estimates and asked staff to confirm counts rather than treat the math as definitive.

Staff said the building inspector will count accessible parking spaces and recommend temporary additional spaces if needed. Committee members also noted the Select Board recently moved the polling location from Milliken Middle School to the senior center; some members said they preferred the school because of its larger parking and police support.

Separately, a member described a redesigned playground near the town center whose decorative archways over a paved accessibility track are too narrow or low for many adult and motorized wheelchairs. The speaker said community members had considered filing formal complaints in the past and urged the committee to seek a local, community-based fix.

Committee members offered detailed recommendations to improve draft ADA documents. For the grievance procedure, suggestions included offering plain-language versions, providing multiple submission routes (including online forms), expanding communication-access options (augmentative communication devices, ASL interpretation and other assistive technologies), adding a clear non-retaliation statement, providing examples of third-party filers (parents, guardians, advocates), and specifying confidentiality and records-handling practices.

On the reasonable-accommodation policy, a member with subject-matter experience urged updates to reflect the 2008 ADA amendments and post-2010 standards, including revised definitions (disability, qualified individual, reasonable accommodation, undue hardship), an explicit interactive-process procedure, guidance on medical documentation, service animal rules and auxiliary aids, template request forms and processes for emergency accommodations.

Members also pressed for stronger digital-accessibility practices: referencing WCAG standards for town materials, offering alternative formats (large print, braille, high-contrast versions and QR codes), and adding relay/TDY contact information for deaf residents. They noted that public notices should reference the grievance procedure and provide contact information for the ADA coordinator.

The committee asked staff to circulate the original DEIB committee report and the committee charge for members to review ahead of the next meeting, with the goal of identifying which prior recommendations remain outstanding and where to focus new work.

Next steps: staff will count accessible parking at the proposed polling site, Wackl will review ADA documents and identify training resources, and the committee agreed to revisit the grievance procedure, reasonable accommodation policy and ADA nondiscrimination notice at a future meeting.