The Greater Minnesota Regional Parks and Trails Commission (GMRPTC) has teamed up with national accessibility expert Bill Botten to enhance the accessibility of the greater Minnesota regional facilities. A key part of this cooperation will be a series of webinar forums regarding aspects of different features commonly found in parks or as part of trails.
These sessions will be offered on a quarterly basis in 2025 for all regional and prospective regional partners, Legacy partners, and others interested in accessibility in outdoor recreation.
Online registration is required. Links to the webinars will be sent to all registered participants. Forum #1: Playground Development and Maintenance Tuesday, February 18, 2025 11:30am - 1:00pm
Meeting the minimum accessibility design standards for play and recreation areas is the first step to ensuring everyone can participate, enjoy, and experience park and play area facilities. This seminar will review the requirements for play areas in the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design Standards that apply to all newly designed or constructed play areas for children ages 2 and older. This session will address the scoping and technical requirements for accessible play components, ground-level and elevated accessible routes, play area surfaces, transfer systems, soft contained play structures, and water play components. Additionally, a discussion on the alteration of existing play areas and the requirements for routine maintenance to properly identify and address potentially hazardous conditions. In addition to an overview of the play area provisions, the presenter will address participants’ questions and share common sources of confusion with accessible play areas and play area surfaces.
Forum #2: Pedestrian Trails and Shared Use Paths Tuesday, April 15, 2025 11:30am - 1:00pm
Enjoying a hike, a bike ride, a walk, a run, or a roll along a scenic route is a healthy way to spend time. This seminar will review the differences between accessible pedestrian trails and shared use paths. This session will review the technical and scoping requirements in the Architectural Barriers Act (ABA) Accessibility Standards for newly constructed or altered pedestrian trails on federal sites and that serves as a best practice for state and local government pedestrian trail facilities. Additionally, the final scoping and technical guidelines for shared use paths which are designed primarily for use by bicyclists and pedestrians for transportation and recreation purposes will be addressed. In addition to an overview of the requirements for both pedestrian trails and shared use paths, the presenter will address participants’ questions and share common sources of confusion with these unique recreational facilities.
William "Bill" Botten, an Exercise Physiology graduate from the University of Kansas, joined the U.S. Access Board in 2000. Recently retired, he served for 22 years as an accessibility specialist, technical assistance coordinator, and the training coordinator for the federal designated agency that develops the accessibility standards under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Architectural Barriers Act (ABA). Bill specializes in accessibility issues related recreation facilities and outdoor developed areas including recreational boating and fishing facilities, pedestrian trails, picnic and camping facilities, sports facilities, and play areas.
His training experience includes hundreds of presentations over the last 30 years to local, state, and national audiences on injury prevention, disability awareness and sensitivity, and accessibility issues. He was part of a team that developed the combined guidelines for the ADA and ABA laws and was the lead staff for the development of guidelines for outdoor developed areas. Additionally, he has participate on several ASTM (an accessibility standards organization) and RESNA (Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America) committees for inclusive fitness equipment and play area surfaces.