What Is the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)?

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 is a law that provides comprehensive civil rights protections to individuals with disabilities. The ADA made it illegal to discriminate against people with disabilities in terms of employment opportunities, access to transportation, public accommodations, communications, and government activities.

The ADA prohibits private employers, state and local governments, employment agencies, and labor unions from discriminating against those who have disabilities. Under the ADA, employers are also required to make reasonable accommodations for an employee with a disability to perform their job function.

Understanding the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)

To be covered by the ADA, a person must have a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. Four major sections comprise the primary protections introduced by the ADA.

Title I of the law prohibits discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities during job application procedures, hiring, firing, the pursuit of career advancement, compensation, job training, and other aspects of employment. It holds authority over employers who have 15 or more employees.

Title II applies to state and local government entities. This part of the law further extends the protection from discrimination to qualified individuals with disabilities. It requires that these individuals have reasonable access to services, programs, and activities provided by the government.

Title III prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities regarding access to activities at public venues. This includes businesses that are generally open to the public, such as restaurants, schools, daycare facilities, movie theaters, recreation facilities, and doctors’ offices.

The law also requires newly constructed, rebuilt, or refurbished places of public accommodation to comply with ADA standards. In addition, Title III applies to commercial facilities that include privately owned, nonresidential facilities such as factories, warehouses, or office buildings.

Title IV oversees telephone and television access for individuals with hearing and speech disabilities. Common carriers, such as telephone companies, are required to establish interstate and intrastate telecommunications relay services (TRS) 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Different government agencies play a role in enforcing the ADA. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) enforces Title I. The Department of Labor enforces state and local government services under Title II and public accommodations under Title III. Title IV is enforced by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

How the Americans With Disabilities Act Increased Accessibility 

The ADA established standards for accessible design for public accommodations that include creating automatic doorways, ramps, and elevators to accommodate wheelchairs. Water fountains must be made available at heights that individuals with disabilities can reach.

Some examples of accommodations in the workplace include supplying a hearing-impaired applicant with a sign language interpreter during a job interview, modifying a work schedule to meet the needs of a person who needs treatment, or restructuring an existing facility to make it readily accessible to people with disabilities.

An employer is not required by the ADA to make reasonable accommodations if doing so presents an undue hardship for the business and requires significant expenses compared with the size of the company.

Title IV of the ADA requires telephone companies to provide telephone relay services, or similar devices, for the hearing- and speech-impaired.

The Bottom Line

The Americans with Disabilities Act was passed with the goal of ensuring Americans with disabilities are guaranteed equal opportunities to participate in mainstream life. This includes laws against the discrimination of people with disabilities in regard to employment, transportation, communication, public accommodations, and government activities. The act has done much to further the lives of individuals with disabilities.