About

Joseph Cooley is an accessibility professional, architect, and educator working at the intersection of the built environment, disability, and policy. He currently serves in the role of the Campus ADA Architect at Virginia Tech, where he oversees compliance, consultation, and institutional accessibility strategy across facilities, programs, and employment.

As a long practicing architect, Joseph brings a practice-informed perspective to accessibility, emphasizing how design decisions directly shape lived experience. His graduate research focuses on  ramp design and the limitations of existing standards when applied to complex real-world conditions.

Joseph is actively involved in accessibility education and professional development, working to move accessibility beyond compliance toward thoughtful, human-centered architecture. He regularly collaborates with architects, engineers, administrators, and disabled consultants, and is committed to bridging technical standards with lived expertise.