This standard exceeds minimal building code compliance through the assurance that the University guarantees that no facility user is denied or limited access to University facilities with the exception of those barriers which have been justified through the process described below. Universal access is a higher standard than program access, the least standard required by the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Universal access means designing facilities so that they can be used by everyone. Program access states that when University programs are viewed in their entirety, the programs must be readily accessible to, and usable by, people with disabilities. Program access allows some parts of a facility to be inaccessible so long as no person with a disability is denied or limited participation in, or the benefits of, the program solely on the basis of disability.
Universal access exceeds program access by covering all parts of a program.
Thus, universal access states that all components of a program must be readily accessible to, and usable by people with disabilities. Universal access does not require everything to be immediately accessible, but rather allows for future inexpensive and easy adaptations to facilities for barrier free usage. Moreover, universal access must be aesthetically pleasing and functional for people with mobility, visual, hearing, and other impairments as well as for those who have no significant disability. If the barrier cannot be justified after a campus-wide dialogue, then the barrier will be removed from the design. This practice allows the University to construct barriers to access, but only after conscious and sound justification.