1980 National Center for a Barrier Free Environment
At its annual conference in San Antonio, Texas, IDSA honored this organization, the first federally-funded national non-profit organization with the mission to promote awareness and knowledge about accessibility for the disabled.

In 1973, shortly after IDSA relocated its national office to the Washington, DC area, a Government Affairs Committee was organized under the leadership of Phil Stevens, FIDSA, with a number of sub-committees concerned with product safety, visual pollution, consumer affairs, etc. One of these sub-committees was Barrier-Free Design, chaired by Richard Hollerith, Jr., FIDSA, who was IDSA's official representative to the Center, and a long time champion of design for the handicapped.

Although the National center for a Barrier-Free Environment was disbanded in the mid 1980s, it pioneered government actions that led to the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1992, and to the fostering of Universal Design.

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