The Americans with Disabilities Act - An Overview

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is the most comprehensive federal civil-rights statute protecting the rights of people with disabilities. It affects access to employment; state and local government programs and services; access to places of public accommodation such as businesses, transportation, and non-profit service providers; and telecommunications. This page provides information on the structure of the ADA and identifies enforcing agencies, introduces language and information associated with the definition of disability, and explains the historical context of the disability rights movement and related Federal laws, culminating with the passage of the ADA.

General Definition of Disability

The ADA has a three-part definition of "disability." This definition, based on the definition under the Rehabilitation Act, reflects the specific types of discrimination experienced by people with disabilities. Accordingly, it is not the same as the definition of disability in other laws, such as state workers' compensation laws or other federal or state laws that provide benefits for people with disabilities and disabled veterans.

The ADA sets the national standard for defining a disability. That is, the ADA defines a person with a disability as a) a person with a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activity, or b) a person with a record of such a physical or mental impairment, or c) a person who is regarded as having such impairment. Examples of a major life activity, as set forth in the first prong of the ADA definition, include activities such as caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning, or working.

Titles of the Americans with Disabilities Act

There are 5 titles of the ADA :

• Title I covers employment.
• Title II Part A covers public entities: state and local government.
• Title II Part B covers public transportation provided by public entities.
• Title III covers private entities: public accommodations, commercial facilities, examinations and courses related to licensing or certification, and transportation provided to the public by private entities.
• Title IV covers telecommunications.
• Title V contains miscellaneous provisions.

 Title I - Employment

Title I covers obligations of employers. It became effective July 26, 1992 for employers with 25 or more employees and July 26, 1994 for employers with 15 or more employees, and is enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The ADA prohibits discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities in public and private sector employment. This includes a requirement that those employers covered under the Act make reasonable accommodations to the known physical or mental limitations of qualified applicants and employees, unless providing such accommodations would impose an undue hardship on the employer. Reasonable accommodation may include, but is not limited to:

• Making existing facilities used by employees readily accessible to and usable by persons with disabilities.
• Job restructuring, modifying work schedules, reassignment to a vacant position;
• Acquiring or modifying equipment or devices, adjusting modifying examinations, training materials, or policies, and providing qualified readers or interpreters.

An employer is not required to lower quality or production standards to make an accommodation, nor is an employer obligated to provide personal use items such as glasses or hearing aids.

Title II Part A - State and Local Governments

Title II Part A applies to all state and local governments. It became effective January 26, 1992 , and is enforced by the Department of Justice and designated federal agencies. The ADA expands on the requirement of Section 504 that state and local government programs that receive federal financial assistance provide equal opportunity to individuals with disabilities to participate and benefit. The ADA extends the requirement to public programs that are not recipients of federal financial assistance and, therefore, not covered by Section 504.

Title II Part B - Public Transportation

Title II Part B applies to public transportation, and is enforced by the Department of Transportation. The ADA seeks to ensure that individuals with disabilities have access to a full range of public and private transportation. If transportation were to remain inaccessible to many individuals with disabilities, the ADA 's goal of real social integration would be impossible to achieve.

Title III - Private Entities

Title III covers public accommodations, commercial facilities, private entities that offer examinations or courses related to licensing or certification, and transportation provided to the public by private entities. Places of public accommodation include over five million private establishments, such as restaurants, hotels, theaters, convention centers, retail stores, shopping centers, dry cleaners, laundromats, pharmacies, doctors' offices, hospitals, museums, libraries, parks, zoos, amusement parks, private schools, day care centers, health spas, and bowling alleys. Commercial facilities are nonresidential facilities, including office buildings, factories, and warehouses, whose operations affect commerce. Private clubs and entities controlled by religious organizations are not covered, except to the extent that the facilities of the private club are made available to customers or patrons of a place of public accommodation. The title became generally effective January 26, 1992 , and is enforced by the Department of Justice.

Title IV - Telecommunications

Title IV establishes a national telecommunications relay service, which was required to be established by July 26, 1993 , and mandates that public service announcements provided or funded in whole or in part by any federal agency be closed captioned. This title is enforced by the Federal Communications Commission. The ADA addresses the need to make telephone communications services accessible to individuals who have impaired hearing or speech. The ADA requires that all common carriers provide nationwide TRS, or Telecommunications Relay Services. Relay Services are operator systems that relay conversations between people who use TDDs (Telecommunication Devices for the Deaf) or nonvoice terminal devices and those who use the general voice telephone network.

Title V - Miscellaneous Provisions

Title V contains provisions applying to all titles of the ADA . Among other requirements it:

• requires several federal agencies to develop technical assistance plans for covered entities,
• requires a report on wilderness areas and individuals with disabilities,
• covers Congress and the agencies of the legislative branch,
• encourages the use of alternative dispute resolution (ADR).

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