Bill Hecker

Bill is intimately familiar with the Federal laws requiring accessible design and program accommodations, including the ADA, Fair Housing Amendments Act, Section 504/Rehabilitation Act, Architectural Barriers Act and the Air Carrier Access Act. He tapped his knowledge of the standards linked to federal accessibility laws, including the ADAAG, UFAS and the Fair Housing Accessibility Guidelines, when he drafted, as primary author, two of the ADA books offered by Evan Terry Associates. Beginning in 1992, Bill has also taught summer workshops on accessibility as an Instructor in the Office of Executive Education at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design with Cindy Leibrock and Jim Terry, AIA.

In addition to establishing working relationships with key staff members at the US Access Board, US Department of Justice, US DOT and HUD while in preparation for writing these two ADA facility compliance manuals, he frequently contacts these agencies for the latest on accessibility requirements and interpretations. The decade of contact with these staffers led to his being selected as one of a few architectural expert witnesses for the US DOJ on ADA cases and as a member of the Public Rights-of-Way Accessibility Advisory Committee for the US Access Board.

Since 1990 when Bill began teaching and consulting on accessible design issues, he’s taught thousands on the federal disability laws, including architects, building managers, university campus architects, building inspectors, engineers and developers among others. In the process of developing consulting reports and training others on the accessible facility evaluations, he has surveyed more than a $2 billion worth of construction. His recent involvement in Honolulu’s compliance with ADA curb ramp requirements prompted Bill to author another book on ADA curb ramp design.