Janis Kent, FAIA, CASp, Architect
Certified Access Specialist & Subject Matter Expert
Janis Kent, FAIA, CASp is a licensed California Architect, and has been involved in the world of Accessibility since the mid-1980’s. She is designated a Subject Matter Expert (SME) by the California Division of the State Architect, a Certified Access Specialist, and participates in developing the state CASp exams. In addition to having managed a variety of architectural projects, she has surveyed numerous facilities for accessibility compliance and provided quality control for facilities throughout the country.
Additionally, Ms Kent has been asked to speak on Accessibility at a variety of venues from the Dwell conventions in Los Angeles, to Design DC in Washington, to National AIA Conventions in Chicago, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Orlando, NYC, and to the Nevada State Board of Architecture, Interior & Residential Design. She has been invited to speak at a number of business associations including BOMA-LA, CSI, ICC, CA Hotel & Lodging Association, Southern CA Association of Non-Profit Housing (SCANPH), CA Public Parking Association (CPPA) as well as a number of AIA Chapters, to name a few. Her book, ‘ADA in Details – Interpreting the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design’ is a compilation of architectural details on Accessibility used by architects, designers, plan checkers/inspectors, and facility managers, published in 2017 by Wiley.
As Founding President of the Certified Access Specialist Institute (CASI), she steered the organization to serve those involved with Access in the built environment both in private practice as well as public sector. She has served on the Cerritos College Architectural Advisory committee and the AIA Long Beach/South Bay chapter board . Janis received her M.Arch from the University of California, Los Angeles and is currently the principal of Stepping Thru Accessibility in Long Beach, California.