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KMA consultant says ADA self‑evaluation on track; public survey nears 115 responses
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Summary
Emmanuel, a consultant with KMA, told the Concord commission the ADA self‑evaluation and facility audits are on schedule: 8 of 9 buildings inspected, 12 departments responded, and roughly 115 public survey responses so far. Draft audit and digital reports will be shared by May 7.
Emmanuel, a consultant with KMA, told the Concord Commission on Disability that the town's ADA self‑evaluation and facility audits are progressing on schedule and that the public survey had produced roughly 115 responses.
"The public survey will also remain open until tomorrow," Emmanuel said, summarizing the near‑term data collection; commissioners later agreed to extend the public deadline by one week to April 17 to correct a public notice error. Emmanuel said 12 town departments had completed a departmental survey and that his team has completed 8 of the 9 planned building audits, with the remaining site visits scheduled in the coming days.
Why it matters: the audit and self‑evaluation are the basis for a transition plan that identifies barriers in town buildings, parks and digital services and recommends prioritized fixes and policy guidance. Emmanuel said the work will produce draft facility reports and a digital accessibility evaluation to be included in the commission packet ahead of the May meeting.
Emmanuel outlined the project schedule and deliverables, saying surveys and audits feed into a draft self‑evaluation and transition plan. "We are on track to get all of this done by June 24," he said, and he told commissioners he would share the full set of public survey responses on the Monday after the meeting. He also urged commissioners to review materials that will be included in the May 14 packet so they can prepare focused questions.
On facility audits, Emmanuel said the team has inspected 8 of 9 buildings and will audit the municipal light department facilities, Emerson Field, Rideout Park and White Pond in the next week; the Ripley playground inspection will happen when students are not present. He recommended auditing Thoreau Playground only for its open (phase 1) portion and cautioned against treating active construction (phase 2) as a completed facility because findings could conflict with designers and builders.
Emmanuel described the digital accessibility review of the town website's top pages (homepage, search, minutes and agendas, news flash, job opportunities) and the process used: a mix of automated tools (WAVE toolbar, Axe developer tools) and manual checks, plus testing with the JAWS screen reader. He said those draft findings will be ready to share by May 7 for packet inclusion.
Commissioners raised specific accessibility themes that emerged from survey comments — maintenance of sidewalks, accessible parking close to entrances, sensory‑friendly spaces at events, improved signage and transparent procedures for requesting alternate formats and accommodations. Emmanuel said qualitative survey responses are particularly useful: "We treasure the qualitative responses," he said, because they often reveal issues town staff had not anticipated.
The commission asked the consultant to provide the detailed survey responses in advance of the May meeting and to quantify the major themes in addition to showing simple pie charts; Emmanuel said his team can provide both percentages by theme and supporting examples from the free‑response comments.
Next steps: Emmanuel will close the public survey on April 17, share the full survey responses the following Monday, and deliver draft facility and digital reports by May 7 for the commission packet before the May 14 meeting.
