This is a report of the ACCESS (Alternative Comprehensive Community Environmental Study System), a prototype program in democratic policy making at the regional level. Presented first is a discussion of the relationship between science, technology, and regional policy and the use of visual communication for regional policy making. The second section of the report provides a summary of the project and the rationale for selection of Santa Barbara County, California as a region for study. The third section gives a presentation of the concept of the project, and the fourth section describes the design phase and the results of studies conducted in 1974. Activities and research for the future are described in section five. The appendix lists ACCESS publications, 35 references on visual perception, and the evaluators and consultants for ACCESS. (CH)