Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Enacted in 1992, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) provides civil rights protections to individuals with disabilities. These rights are similar to those provided by the Equal Rights Act (1964). The ADA guarantees equal opportunity for people with disabilities in public accommodations, employment, transportation, state and local government services, and telecommunications.
The Americans with Disabilities Act applies to government agencies and employers with 15 or more employees, protecting “qualified individuals with disabilities.” Disabilities include physical or mental impairment that limits one or more life activities. Individuals with nonchronic conditions of short duration are not covered under ADA. Those who are covered must have a substantially limiting and permanent impairment, requiring employers to provide “reasonable accommodation.”
“Qualified individuals” is defined by the act as people who meet legitimate skill, experience, education, or other requirements of an employment position and can perform “essential functions” of the position with or without reasonable accommodation. Reasonable accommodation is modification or adjustment to a job or work environment that will enable a qualified applicant or employee with a disability to participate in the application process or perform essential job functions.
The phrase “reasonable accommodation” has been the subject of considerable debate and interpretation. Critics claimed expensive adaptations to facilities for employees and customers would bankrupt small businesses. The act mandated modification of public-accommodation practices requiring provision for products and services such as assistive listening devices, note takers, written materials for people with hearing impairments, and materials in braille. The Americans with Disabilities Act requires removal of barriers to people with disabilities when removal is “readily achievable” and “easily accomplished without much difficulty or expense.” The act has influenced the design of public facilities and fostered a positive change in social attitudes toward people with disabilities.