Accessible Virginia Beach

Additional Resources

• ADA Coordinator

  Virginia Beach has maintained a full time ADA Coordinator position since approximately 1992. Virginia Beach’s current ADA Coordinator is a full-time employee for Virginia Beach’s City Manager’s Office. The City’s ADA Coordinator is Raymond Mattes, ADAcoordinator@vbgov.com.

• Accessible Documents & Content

  The City of Virginia Beach is working towards WCAG 2.1 Level AA compliance.

  The goals of the City of Virginia Beach accessibility plan per the 2024 agreement with the Department of Justice are:

  • All new content posted on this website after April 18, 2024, will meet W3C’s WCAG 2.1 Level AA compliance.
  • Content that is not considered archived and posted before April 18, 2024, will be remediated to meet W3C’s WCAG 2.1 Level AA compliance as soon as possible.

  To request City documents or content in an accessible format, please fill out the request form or call City of Virginia Beach ADA Coordinator Raymond Mattes at (757) 385-8190. All fields are required unless otherwise indicated.

• Mayor's Committee for Persons with Disabilities

  The Mayor's Committee for Persons with Disabilities is an advisory and advocacy group that helps formulate solutions to meet the needs of Virginia Beach's disabled community.

• Beach Resources

  Boardwalk Access

  Access ramps are located at every beach access point from 1st-58th streets. Ramps that lead up to the water’s edge are on 8th, 17th, 24th and 30th streets.
  

  Beach Accessible Wheelchairs

  Beach Wheelchairs are FREE to use (available on a first-come, first-served basis). To use a beach wheelchair, call a Beach Ambassador at (757) 439-9565, 7 days a week from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. *From November through April or if an attendant is unavailable, please call (757) 385-1100 to make a reservation.

  Parking for Individuals with Disabilities in the Resort Area

  There are designated spaces in the municipal parking lots and garages. On-street parking is available on Arctic Avenue, Atlantic Avenue, Rudee Loop and on Atlantic Avenue cross streets from 2nd-37th streets.
  
  Any vehicle visibly marked with a disabled parking tag or other form of identification may park at any on-street metered location for FREE for up to four hours. Parking at a metered location beyond four hours are subject to a parking violation citation.

  Public Restrooms

  Permanent public restrooms are located at 2nd, 17th, 20th, 24th, 30th and 31st streets; Croatan Beach; Little Island Park and Sandbridge Beach Facility; Lynnhaven Boat Ramp & Beach Facility.

• Parks & Recreation

  Virginia Beach Parks and Recreation offers therapeutic recreation programs for children, teens and adults with disabilities that include, but are not limited to, autism spectrum disorder, ADD/ADHD, Down syndrome, learning disability, mild to profound intellectual disability, traumatic brain injury, hard of hearing, visual or physical disability.

  Accessible Rec Amenities 

  Therapeutic recreation space is available at Kempsville Recreation Center.

  • Use of adapted equipment
  • Adaptations to program games/activities
  • Behavior management charts/individualized techniques
  • Use of visual aids
  • Partial participation

  Accessible Pool Amenities

  All recreation center pools are ADA compliant with steps, handrails, pool lift and ladder for entry.

  • Zero-depth entry pools are available at Bow Creek, Kempsville and Williams Farm.
  • An accessible pool ramp is available at Bow Creek, Princess Anne and Williams Farm.
  • Submersible water wheelchairs are available at Bow Creek, Kempsville, Princess Anne and Williams Farm.
  • Aqua-Step ADA is a removable set of stairs to help with entry and exit out of the water and is available at the competition pool at Kempsville Recreation Center.

  Accessible Outdoor Amenities

  • Kids Cove at Mount Trashmore Park is fully compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act and is barrier-free to accommodate all children. The playground also features an all-new, one-of-a-kind wheelchair swing.
  • ADA-accessible kayak launches and canoe entry are available at Lake Lawson, Stumpy Lake and Carolanne Farms. The equipment allows moving from a wheelchair into and out of a kayak or canoe by arm strength.
  • Accessible fishing locations include Stumpy Lake Natural Area, Mount Trashmore Park, Lake Lawson/Lake Smith and Little Island Park.

• Public Infrastructure

  Virginia Beach installs curb ramps or other sloped areas complying with the applicable ADA Standards at intersection having curbs or other barriers to entry from a street level pedestrian walkway, whenever a street, road, or highway is constructed or altered. In addition, the City has a link on its website for citizens to report problems including requesting ADA ramp installation or improvement. For example, in 2022, the City received eight calls for service and repaired or installed 19 curb ramps. ADA ramp installation and repairs are on-going on known or reported ramps with coordination through in-house Public Works employees.

  Virginia Beach also periodically hires a contractor to perform a Pavement Management Program Condition Assessment Report. As the pavement distress data was collected, the City also contracted for video to capture the ADA ramps along the way. There is a separate work order with the asset management consulting firm to process the ramp data from images. This work order will validate the ramp locations and review the ramp type, surface treatment, condition, and direction of ramps. The data will all be entered into Cartegraph, Public Works work management system, and serve as a source for ramp needs. An ADA ramp condition assessment/compliance report will be completed following the ADA Ramp data extraction efforts. Thereafter, a sidewalk inventory report and sidewalk condition assessment and compliance report is scheduled.

  The City of Virginia Beach has adopted a Complete Streets Policy to improve Virginia Beach's transportation system by providing safe, attractive travel options for all users that emphasize connectivity and are designed in harmony with adjacent land uses. This policy will ensure that all users are considered during the design and construction of new roadways, which include following standards and guidelines that apply to ADA Standards for Accessible Design.

• Communications/Public Meeting Access

  Public Meeting Access

  Residents who have physical, hearing or visual impairments and need assistance to attend City meetings, please call the Virginia Relay Center at 1-800-828-1120, and ask them to call the City Clerk at (757) 385-4303 at least 48 hours in advance.

  Closed Captioning for Publicly Broadcast Content

  All live meetings and any program that is replayed on City channels goes through a listening device that creates and then packages the Closed Captioning information with the video. That video and package is then sent out to Cable broadcast partners, Cox and Verizon.

  Sign Language Interpreter Services

  Virginia Beach has a contract with a company to provide 24/7 sign language interpreter services for use as needed.

  Emergency Messages

  Emergency notices on virginiabeach.gov use an ADA-compliant Content Management System (CMS) platform. A new emergency website was recently implemented for further compliance purposes. Cox Channel 46 contains a bulletin board system displaying emergent information as needed for cable subscribers.

• Information Technology

  Website Accessibility Policy

  Users who have difficulty accessing the City’s website can submit feedback through an online form or by email  to ADACoordinator@vbgov.com.
  

  Users who use assistive technology (such as a Braille reader, screen reader, or TTY) and the format of any material on this website interferes with the ability to access information, email ADACoordinator@vbgov.com or submit feedback through the online form.
  
  Users who need accessibility assistance also can call by phone through the Federal Information Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339 for TTY/Voice communication. To be able to respond in a manner most helpful, users should indicate the nature of their accessibility problem:

  • The preferred format in which to receive the material
  • The web address of the requested material
  • Contact information