A United Spinal Member is appointed to the nation’s highest accessibility post.
By Dominic Marinelli and Tom Scott
In November 2008, United Spinal member David M. Capozzi, was named the new executive director of the United States Access Board, the independent Federal agency created in 1973 to help enforce the accessibility of federally funded facilities and encourage accessible design practice through public outreach, technical assistance, training, published guidance, and research.
“I am honored to be your Executive Director and will work hard to meet and exceed your expectations,” Capozzi, a native of Buffalo, New York, said in remarks to the Board following its vote. “While we can be proud of all that the Board has accomplished over the years, there is much left to be done,” he continued. “I have a vision of a higher performing agency that will grow to meet the demands of our complex society, and I look forward to working with all of you to tackle some important issues in the coming years.”
Capozzi, who lives with his wife Patti and their four children (Mathew 17, and triplets Michael, Megan, and Margaret 14) in Gaithersburg, Maryland, will manage the Board’s 27 full-time staff including architects, attorneys, and compliance specialists. He will focus on improving “quality of service” that the agency can provide during an exciting period that will include the adoption of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Architectural Barriers Act Accessibility Guidelines. He will also be working diligently to streamline the rulemaking process through a joint effort with other federal agencies such as the Department of Justice, which enforces the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which oversees the activities of federal agencies.
“Coordinating accessibility requirements with other countries like the European Union, Japan, and Australia as we did during our electronic and information technology update to Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act is also a major objective,” said Capozzi.
Decades of Association
The disability community has always played an important role in the agency’s mission. Nearly half of the Board’s members are citizens with disabilities appointed by the President, as well as representatives from most federal departments. As a person living with a disability, Capozzi is personally familiar with the accessibility issues facing thousands of Americans.
During the Blizzard of 1977, the then 18-year-old Capozzi was outside of Bowling Green, Kentucky where he was involved in an automobile accident and was spinal cord injured. Lee Elias an Army Medic stationed at nearby Fort Campbell Kentucky came upon Capozzi’s burning MG convertible that was literally split in half and carried him to safety. Later that year Elias––who is the Godfather of Capozzi’s son Michael––received the Soldier’s Award for his heroism from then Secretary of the Army Harold Brown.
Capozzi was introduced to United Spinal Association, after being flown to Buffalo’s Mercy Hospital for rehabilitation. He began participating in the organization’s adaptive sports programs which had a profound impact on his life. “[United Spinal] Member Ed Ryder visited me at Mercy Hospital and encouraged me to participate in activities like wheelchair basketball and skiing,” Capozzi said. A few years later, during a skiing trip––he met Ed’s young sister-in-law Patti, who agreed to be his tetherer. David and Patti married in 1984.
Capozzi returned to the University of Buffalo and was an honors graduate and Phi Beta Kappa recipient with an undergraduate degree in Psychology. He then graduated from UB’s Law School in 1985. It was during his time at the school’s Law Clinic that he began to focus on the rights of people with disabilities by working with students to ensure that the requirements of Public Law 94-142 or the Education for All Handicapped Children’s Act was met. Enacted by Congress in 1975 and now called the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Capozzi worked to ensure that public schools provided equal access to education for children with physical and mental disabilities. He also worked to have people with psychiatric disabilities de-institutionalized.
Apprenticeship in Advocacy
Recognizing his ability, Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) hired Capozzi to work in their Advocacy program, immediately upon his graduation. He would become the National Advocacy Director in 1988. Later he moved to Easter Seals as vice president of advocacy and director of Project ACTION before joining the Access Board in 1992.
The Access Board’s creation was a direct result of the findings of the National Commission on Architectural Barriers to Rehabilitation of the Handicapped, appointed by Congress in 1965 to determine the extent of architectural barriers that prevented public access to federal facilities.
The Commission’s recommendations were a powerful driving force in the establishment of the 1968 Architectural Barriers Act, America’s first attempt to ensure access to the built environment and make federal facilities fully accessible to people with disabilities. The law was intended to set a precedent that would be adopted by state and local governments and private industry, however, a lack of compliance and adequate enforcement became major issues.
Congress realized there was a need for a central agency to govern the advancement of barrier-free design standards. The Access Board fulfilled this role, and has become a prominent source of information on accessible design, developing and maintaining design criteria for the built environment, transit vehicles, telecommunications equipment, and electronic and information technology.
Each year, the ever-evolving built environment presents the agency with new challenges, whether it is updating existing design criteria or developing new guidelines and standards to address outdoor environments, public rights-of-way, passenger vessels, and issues concerning emergency housing. United Spinal has worked with the Board on many issues through the years and was also a member of the Board during the Clinton Administration, as well as its Court Committee and Emergency Transportable Housing Committee.
Dominic Marinelli is vice president of Accessibility Services, and Tom Scott is staff editor.
