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Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)
Public Law 336 of the 101st Congress, was enacted July 26, 1990. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits discrimination and ensures equal opportunity for persons with disabilities in employment, state and local government services, public accommodations, commercial facilities, and transportation. It also mandates the establishment of TDD/telephone relay services.
The ADA is a groundbreaking civil rights law modeled directly on the 1964 Civil Rights Act and significantly extended the provisions of previous equal rights legislation such as Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1978 which focused only on non-discrimination in federal grants and programs. For the first time, it required equal consideration to disabilities that were brain-based to those that were physically based. It articulated rights to equal opportunity for people who met its definition of disability and a set of responsibilities for a wide array of other entities. Legal obligations are met via voluntary compliance. Failure to comply with the provisions of the ADA is most commonly addressed via complaints.
In This Section
Related Links
- U.S. Department of Justice ADA Home Page
800-514-0301 (voice)
800-514-0383 (TTY) - Disability & Business Technical Assistance Centers (DBTACS)
10 Regional Centers to support voluntary compliance with the ADA
800-949-4232 (V/TTY) - U.S. Access Board: A Federal Agency Committed to Accessible Design
202-272-0800 or toll free at 800-872-2253 (voice)
202-272-0082 or toll free at 800-993-2822 (TTY) - U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration
- U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission
800-669-4000 (voice)
800-669-6820 (TTY) - Checklist for Existing Facilities (version 2.1)
This checklist will help you identify accessibility problems and solutions in existing facilities in order to meet your obligations under the ADA. Developed under a grant from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research.
