Test ADA

Single-element accessibility gut-check (one door, one ramp run, one toilet compartment, etc.) against Federal 2010 ADA Standards §§ as fetched live from ada.gov or as pasted by the user. The skill bundles no values and recalls no values from training; every limit in the output is a verbatim quote with a SourceURL.

For a multi-element ADA scoping pass use the ada-tracker skill. For plain-English interpretation of a single § with no math use /explain-code with code = 2010 ADA.

Why this pattern (read first)

This command bundles nothing and recalls nothing — for every compliance topic the workflow asks "should I fetch §X from ada.gov?" then WebFetches the operative paragraph, quotes the source URL inline, and only then math-checks. Rationale: bundled standards transcriptions silently misquote when written from training-data recall (well-tracker incident, 2026-05-09); live fetch + visible source URL keeps the authoritative copy in front of the user every check.

The user MUST have a connection to the public internet during use, OR be willing to paste the relevant § text. There is no offline fallback to bundled values — by design.

Authoritative sources used

The workflow fetches from this public URL only (ask user before each fetch):

Standard	Public source
2010 ADA Standards	https://www.ada.gov/law-and-regs/design-standards/2010-stds/

If a WebFetch returns a paywall / login wall or empty body, fall back: (a) WebSearch with 2010 ADA §<section> <topic keywords> site:ada.gov; (b) ask the user to paste from their copy. arch-rag is acceptable if the user has indexed the 2010 ADA PDF locally — run /arch-rag-list to check.

Inputs the command needs

1. Space type — name the single element under test:
   • Door (clear width / maneuvering / threshold / hardware)
   • Ramp run (running slope / cross slope / landing / edge protection / handrail extension)
   • Toilet room / WC compartment (turning space / fixture clearance / grab bar)
   • Lavatory / sink (knee clearance / forward reach)
   • Parking (count / accessible vs van / slope / signage)
   • Transfer / clear floor space (forward / side / obstructed approach)
   • Drinking fountain (spout height / knee clearance)
   • Reach range (forward / side / obstructed)
   • Operable parts (height / force / one-hand operation)
   • Elevator (cab clearance / hall call height)
2. Provided dimensions — what the design has, with labels (in / ft / 1:X slope / lb force).
3. Jurisdiction — for the report only (state overlays are out-of-scope; the report flags any overlay the user must verify separately).
4. Auto-fetch? — say "fetch all without re-asking" once and the workflow WebFetches each topic without confirming each time. Otherwise the workflow confirms before every fetch.

If a value is missing after asking, mark its row Status: input missing. Never substitute a typical value.

Required citations

For each topic in scope of the user's space, the workflow fetches the corresponding 2010 ADA §. Topic-level mapping (the verbatim § number + text comes from what the workflow fetches or what the user pastes):

Topic	2010 ADA § (subject area; verify number from fetch)
Door clear width	§404 (Doors, Doorways, and Gates)
Door maneuvering clearance	§404
Door threshold	§404
Door hardware (height / operation)	§404, §309 (Operable parts)
Ramp running slope / cross slope	§405
Ramp landing	§405
Ramp handrail extension	§505
Toilet room turning space	§603, §304 (Turning space)
WC clearance / grab bars	§604
Lavatory knee clearance / reach	§606, §305, §308
Accessible parking count / van	§208, §502
Transfer / clear floor space	§305, §306
Drinking fountain spout / knee	§602
Reach range	§308
Operable parts	§309
Elevator cab / hall call	§407

Workflow

Step 1 — Confirm scope

Tell the user, all at once:

"This command checks Federal 2010 ADA Standards only. State overlays (CA Title 24 11B, ICC A117.1, NYC LL58, etc.) are NOT covered — the report flags any overlay you must verify separately. To proceed I need:

1. Space type and provided dimensions.
2. Jurisdiction (for the report only — overlays are out-of-scope).
3. Auto-fetch? — 'fetch all without re-asking' or per-topic confirm.

Continue?"

If the project is CSA B651 (Canada) or ICC A117.1 governed: stop and tell the user this command applies 2010 ADA only — refer to a separate workflow.

Step 2 — Gather geometry (ask only what is missing)

Treat each dim as missing if the user hasn't stated it; never substitute a typical value.

Step 3 — Fetch each authoritative § LIVE (one topic at a time)

For each topic in the Required citations table that applies to the user's space type:

1. Tell the user the topic + the source URL. Example:

   "Need 2010 ADA §404 (Door maneuvering) — should I WebFetch from https://www.ada.gov/law-and-regs/design-standards/2010-stds/?" (Skip the per-topic prompt if the user gave blanket "fetch all" in Step 1.)

2. WebFetch on confirmation. On paywall / empty body, fall back to WebSearch 2010 ADA §<section> <topic> site:ada.gov → WebFetch the first official-looking result. If still nothing, ask user to paste.
3. Extract the verbatim relevant paragraph + the source URL + a fetch timestamp. Quote 1-2 sentences back to the user so they can sanity-check.
4. Hold the citation in memory for the comparison step. Re-use within the same session — do not re-fetch.

Step 4 — Compare inline and present the result

For each topic, compare the user's geometry against the limit extracted from the fetched citation. Present as a markdown table:

Item	Required	Actual	Status	CitedSection	SourceURL	FetchedAt	Confidence	Remarks

Where:

• Required — verbatim quote (or formatted dim) from the fetched citation. Prefer verbatim.
• Actual — value the user provided.
• Status — pass / fail / input missing / out-of-scope.
• CitedSection — e.g. 2010 ADA §404.2.4.1.
• SourceURL — the URL returned by WebFetch (NOT a guessed canonical URL).
• FetchedAt — ISO timestamp of the fetch.
• Confidence — high (verbatim quote, dim clearly extracted), medium (paraphrase or value inferred), low (input missing / fetch ambiguous).
• Remarks — exception notes, scope warnings, AOR-confirms reminders.

Step 5 — Optional persistence

After the inline table, ask:

"Save this as a file? (a) markdown, (b) CSV, (c) both, (d) inline only. Path?"

If the user picks save, write directly with Write — no scripts, no templates. Default suggested path docs/ada/<element-id>-ada-check.{csv|md}, but use whatever the user names.

Step 6 — Report

After the table (and optional save), tell the user:

• Counts: total / pass / fail / input missing / out-of-scope.
• Fail rows with Required / Actual + cited § + SourceURL so the user can re-verify in 30s.
• Input-missing rows naming what to provide for a re-run.
• Out-of-scope rows naming where the user must verify separately (state overlay text, ICC A117.1, CSA B651, ABA, AOR for ambiguous fetch).
• Reminder: this is a model-code dimensional check based on the URL fetched at the timestamp shown. AOR's stamped opinion governs; AHJ confirms compliance with adopted overlays (NOT checked here).

NA AEC conventions (enforce)

• English only.
• Imperial-first: in, ft, % slope, 1:X slope, lb force. Metric only if the source uses it.
• Slope conventions per source — 1:12, 1:48, %. Do not convert to degrees.
• AHJs named specifically: DOJ (federal ADA), CA DSA / HCAI, NYC DOB, LADBS, Toronto Building, GSA, USACE. Never "the AHJ" generically.
• Floor labels: Level 3 / L3 / 3rd floor. Never 3F.
• Roles: Architect of Record (AOR), Accessibility Consultant, Code Consultant. Never "Director" as a project role.

Constraints

• Never recall ADA values from training. For every dimensional limit the workflow MUST WebFetch (or accept user paste) and quote the SourceURL. If a fetch fails and the user cannot paste, write Status: input missing with Remarks naming what to look up.
• Always confirm with the user before WebFetch, unless blanket "fetch all" was given in Step 1.
• Source URL is mandatory in every output row. A row without SourceURL is invalid.
• Comparison is inline (Claude does it). No script, no hardcoded limits, no bundled tables.
• No bundled files. This command's body is the only artifact; no references/, scripts/, or assets/.
• State overlays are out-of-scope. Do not paste / fetch CA 11B, ICC A117.1, NYC LL58 inside this command — flag in the out-of-scope report and the user runs a separate check.
• Caveat block always present. Including for trivial PASS results.

Anti-patterns

• Filling a Required cell from training-data recall instead of a WebFetch quote. Even values "everyone knows" (32" door, 1:12 ramp) MUST be confirmed live.
• Fetching without first asking the user (unless blanket OK was given).
• Auto-converting source units (1:12 → ~8.3% / ~5°) — quote the source as-is.
• Treating "no overlay text" as "federal applies, fine" for a CA project — incomplete; flag in out-of-scope.
• Re-introducing a references/ada-2010.md of transcribed ADA text — deliberately none.
• Re-introducing a check_ada.py with hardcoded clearance constants — deliberately none.
• "Looks fine" / "should be OK" hedging — verdicts are binary against quoted source: PASS / FAIL / MARGINAL.
• Running ada-tracker or /explain-code from inside this command — pointer-only.

Resources

None. This command is intentionally body-only — see "Why this pattern" above. Output files (CSV, markdown) are written directly with Write at the user's chosen path.