In an effort to cut government spending and regulations, President Ronald Reagan’s 1982 budget proposed the elimination of Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (now the U.S. Access Board). The board’s near decade of setting standards, plus federal funding, had helped American cities begin to build curb cuts, provide bus lifts, and make other improvements to help people with disabilities access transportation and federally funded facilities.

At this time, Martin J. Weideman was regional director of the Paralyzed Veterans of America. A World War II veteran, and paralyzed from the waist down, he strongly opposed the scrapping of the Access Board. In this image, he navigates his wheelchair on a Seattle curb cut.

Caption information source: “Disabled May Lose Watchdog Powers”, by Gary Gibbs, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, February 21, 1981, page A2.
Caption information source: "About the U.S. Access Board: History of the U.S. Access Board", www.access-board.gov/about/history.html. Retrieved April 24, 2026.