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SUBJECTS › LEGAL › Americans with Disabilities Act
Updated 10/09

Americans with Disabilities Act

Contents

Introduction

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed July 26, 1990 as Public Law 101-336 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 12101 et seq ) and became effective on January 26, 1992. The ADA is landmark federal legislation that opens up services and employment opportunities to the 43 million Americans with disabilities. The law was written to strike a balance between the reasonable accommodation of citizens' needs and the capacity of private and public entities to respond. It is not an affirmative action law but is intended to eliminate illegal discrimination and level the playing field for disabled individuals.

The law is comprised of five titles that prohibit discrimination against disabled persons within the United States. Titles I and II are the primary sections that affect local governments.

Title I prohibits employers, including cities and towns, from discriminating against qualified job applicants and workers who are or who become disabled. The law covers all aspects of employment including the application process and hiring, training, compensation, advancement, and any other employment term, condition, or privilege.

Title II prohibits state and local governments from discriminating against disabled persons in their programs and activities. Title II also sets forth the applicable structural accessibility requirements for public entities.

Title III prohibits private enterprises who provide public accommodations and services (e.g., hotels, restaurants, and transit systems) from denying goods, services and programs to people based on their disabilities. Title III also sets forth the applicable structural accessibility requirements for private entities.

Title IV makes available telecommunications devices and services for the hearing and speech impaired. These regulations spell out certain mandatory minimum standards telephone companies must maintain to be in compliance with the ADA.

Title V includes some miscellaneous provisions that relate to the construction and application of the ADA, including alternative dispute resolution.

This site is intended to provide local officials with documents and information to help clarify understanding and implementation of the law.

Documents

 

  • Reference Sources
  • ADA Best Practices Tool Kit for State and Local Governments - The Tool Kit is designed to teach state and local government officials how to identify and fix problems that prevent people with disabilities from gaining equal access to state and local government programs, services, and activities. It will also teach state and local officials how to conduct accessibility surveys of their buildings and facilities to identify and remove architectural barriers to access.
  • Americans with Disabilities Document Center - Job Accomodation Network
  • ADA Information Center
  • ADA Standards of Accessible Design
  • Americans With Disabilities Act - Text of the federal statutes that comprise the ADA.
  • Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability in State and Local Government Services - U.S. Department of Justice final rule implementing Subtitle A of Title II of the ADA, Pub. L. 101-336, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability by public entities.
  • Sidewalks must be accessible under the ADA - A three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled in the case Barden v. City of Sacramento in 2001 that sidewalks installed and maintained by local governments must be accessible to persons with disabilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). (The Ninth Circuit serves the state of Washington.) Under the decision, the city of Sacramento, California was advised that not only must it provide curb ramps at intersections on newly-constructed or remodeled roadways and walkways, it must have a program which will assure the accessibility of all its sidewalks between curb ramps. The ruling means that governments will be obligated to remove barriers from their sidewalks, such as benches, wires, cracks, breaks, and sign posts, if their presence poses a barrier to the accessibility of the sidewalk to, for example, persons using wheelchairs or those with sight impairments. The decision is based upon the court's holding that the operation of sidewalks is a municipal "service, program, or activity" under the ADA and that maintaining a public sidewalk is a "normal function of a governmental entity." The city appealed the decision to the United States Supreme Court which in June 2003 rejected the appeal without comment. Prior to the Courts action, however, the city agreed to settle the lawsuit. Under the terms of the settlement agreement, Sacramento will assign twenty percent of its transportation funds for the next 30 years to improve sidewalks, crosswalks and curb ramps. The settlement also calls for the city to pay attorneys' fees and $10,000 to each of the eight named plaintiffs.
  • Selected MRSC Library Holdings - American with Disabilities Act (ADA) [Note: Clicking on this link will take you to a list of documents available on loan through the MRSC library.]
  • The Access Board - A federal agency devoted to accessible design; newsletter, resources, rules.
  • ADA Information Serivces - Prepared by the Department of Justice
  • Questions and Answers, Americans with Disabilities Act - Department of Justice, Equal Employment Opportunities Commission
  • ADA Document Portal - U. S. Department of Education; resource/link to over 7,000 ADA doocuments
  • ADA Technical Assistance Program - Resource for information on the Americans with Disabilities Act, accessible information technology, and more.
  • Matrix prepared by the International Code Council comparing ADA accessibility guidelines with  the 2006 International Building Code
  • ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (S. 3406), effective January 1, 2009
  • ADA Amendments Act of 2008, Summary and Resources, prepared by the Southeast DBTAC
  • ADAAA Highlights - A helpful article outlining the 2008 amendments to the ADA and their implication for Washington employers.  Published in the October 2008 AWC Personnel News and written by Kristin Anger, Summit Law Group.
  • Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0, addresses barriers to accessing the Web experienced by people
    with visual, auditory, physical, cognitive and neurological disabilities, and by older individuals.

Links