A SUMMARY OF

THE AMERICANS

WITH DISABILITIES ACT

A pocket guide prepared by the

New Hampshire

Governor’s Commission on

Disability

2 ADA Pocket Guide

Governor’s Commission on Disability

Chairman and Members*

Paul Van Blarigan, Chairman

H. Dee Clanton

Barry Conway

Laura Davies

Ann Dillon

Lisa DiMartino

Nancy Druke

Ellen Keith

Paul Kelley

Mark Lemieux

Irene Lover

Mariellen MacKay

Thomas Manning

Anne Martin

Edmund Meskys

Mary Morin

Michael Racette

John Richards

Frederick Roberge

Patrick Shannon

Susan Stearns

Clyde Terry

Sandra Teti

William Finn, Services for Blind and Visually Impaired

Kenneth Merrifield, Commissioner, Department of Labor

George Copadis, Commissioner, Department of Employment Security

Jeffrey Meyers, Commissioner Department of Health and Human Services,Lisa Hinson-Hatz, Department of Education, Vocational Rehabilitation

*as of November, 2017

This pocket guide has been prepared by the New Hampshire Commission on

Disability ▪ www.nh.gov/disability

Message from Charles J. Saia

Executive Director

NH Governor’s Commission

On Disability

It’s hard to believe that the Americans with Disabilities Act, a monumental Federal law, was enacted more than a quarter century

ago. While it is true that today we are better educated about break-

ing down the barriers of access for those with a disability, it is no time

to relax our focus.

Every day, as Executive Director of a NH agency that serves people

with cross-disabilities, advises the Governor and legislative groups

regarding disability related compliance, and provides assistance with

the ADA and other disability law compliance, I see the successes and

the challenges associated with access for all.

The Americans with Disabilities Act has always been about basics:

independence, freedom of choice, control of one’s life, opportunity

and inclusion. As we go forward, let us not forget what it took to get

to this point.

And that is the simple purpose of this pocket guide.

Enjoy it as both reference…and a reminder!

4 ADA Pocket Guide

CONTENTS

Part one:

It’s been a long road...

Timeline & History

Page 5—9

Part two:

The monumental Law...

Summary of the ADA Law

Pages 11—25

Part one: Timeline & History

1868: In the Civil War’s aftermath, slavery had been abolished, but other forms of institutional prejudice against black people and other minorities remained widespread. A number of laws compelled these minorities to indentured servitude, forbid them to purchase firearms, and impeded their freedom of movement. 15 Recognizing this prob-lem, a group of Congressmen drafted a bill that granted black people the same rights and freedoms guaranteed to whites. This bill was signed into law in 1868 as the Fourteenth Amend-ment to the United States Constitution. While it did not men-tion people with disabilities, it did declare that any person born in the United States is an American citizen and subsequently entitled to the full range of freedoms enjoyed by others. This language would become highly influential when the disability rights movement began in the following century. 6

1920: As World War I neared its end, the United States began to welcome home unprecedented numbers of veterans with disabilities. Almost immediately, it became obvious that these veterans would require substantial assistance and care that only the federal government could provide. As a result, Congress passed the Smith-Fess Vocational Rehabilitation Act, which offered financial assistance for veter-ans struggling or unable to find employment. Although this bill was originally written to apply only to veterans with disabilities, it was eventually amended to apply to civilians with disabilities, too: because the law required periodical renewal, subsequent versions expanded the scope of assistance provided, eventually applying to all citizens with disabilities, regardless of military status. 5

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1964: Although the Fourteenth Amend-

ment had sought to eliminate the social barriers separating

whites from blacks, discrimination continued to be a pervasive problem in the United States. The practice of segregation was especially troublesome, and despite various efforts to end it, such as the Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Educa-tion, it would not be formally abolished until the signing of the Civil Rights Act in 1964. 9 With this law, Congress banned dis-crimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Interestingly, the Civil Rights Act is remembered not for ending segregation but for ending employment discrimination, though with good reason: the Civil Rights Act established the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the federal agency responsible for enforcing these employment laws. 17

1968: The year 1968 saw the passage of two

landmark laws in the realm of disability rights: the Fair Housing Act and the Architectural Barriers Act. The former was written in response to racial steering, a practice in which black people and other racial minorities were discouraged, although not legally prohibited, from purchasing or renting property in neighbor-hoods inhabited solely or primarily by whites. 11,13 The Fair Hous-ing Act outlawed housing discrimination on the basis of race, religion, or national origin, but it did not mention discrimination on the basis of disability. 4

The Architectural Barriers Act, passed a few months after the Fair Housing Act, was written in response to government studies revealing that, while Smith-Fess helped people with disabilities find employment, it did not ensure that they would be able to access their place of employment. As a result, Congress passed the Architectural Barriers Act, which requires all public buildings to be made accessible to people with disabilities. 12

1973: Five years after the passage of the Architectural Barriers Act, most public buildings in the

United States remained inaccessible to people with disabili-ties. Congress responded to the problem by drafting the Re-habilitation Act, a bill which would enforce the accessibility standards mandated by the Architectural Barriers Act by cre-ating a federal agency, the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board, for that specific purpose. 12 Per-haps more remarkably, the new law prohibited discrimina-tion on the basis of disability by the federal government, its contractors, and all agencies and programs that receive fed-eral funding. While private employment remained unmen-tioned in this bill, and while it was revised twice before President Richard Nixon agreed to sign it, the Rehabilitation Act was and remains one of the most substantial achievements in the realm of disability rights. 5, 14

1975: One of the biggest barriers to success for Americans with disabilities was in the classroom: in the 1970s, almost all students with disabilities were either kept isolated from students without disabilities or denied all access to education. 13 Just as Brown v. Board of Education sought to end racial segregation two decades prior, Congress would look to eliminate this form of segregation, as well: in the winter of 1975 President Gerald Ford signed into law the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, also known as the EAHCA or EHA. This new law declared that all students with disabilities must not only receive access to the same education as students without disabilities, but must be placed in the “least restrictive environment possible”, as well. This philosophy of creating a maximally integrated setting continues to this day. 16

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1986: Thirteen years after the signing of

the Rehabilitation Act, the Supreme Court was trying to determine if commercial airlines, as recipients of federal fund-ing, are obligated to make themselves accessible to people with disabilities. Although the Supreme Court eventually ruled that they are not, Congress overrode this decision with the Air Carrier Access Act, signed into law by President Ronald Reagan on Octo-

ber 2nd, 1986. This law not only required all commercial aircraft to be accessible to people with disabilities, but forbade airlines to discriminate on the basis of disability and, moreover, required all airlines to employ a “complaint resolution official” to respond to claims of discrimination. A formal set of standards governing accommodation was issued, but so was an exception to the law, which stated that an airline could deny access to a person with a disability if doing so prevented the other passengers from facing an unavoidable risk. 7

1988: Although the Fair Housing Act of 1968 had outlawed housing discrimination on the basis of

race, sex, religion, or national origin, among other characteris-

tics, it did not mention anything about housing discrimination on

the basis of disability. In 1988 Congress passed the Fair Housing

Amendments Act, which not only expanded the federal defini-

tion of housing discrimination to include discrimination on the

basis of disability, but prohibited housing discrimination in both

the private sector; previous laws, like the Fair Housing Act, had

focused only on the public sector. In addition, the new law

granted both HUD and the Department of Justice with expanded

powers to prosecute discriminating parties, lending the bill the

teeth that the previous version was said to lack. 2

1990: A group of lawmakers and disa-bility rights advocates, though mindful of the achievements of previous efforts, recognized the need for peo-ple with disabilities to be taken out of the shadows and brought into the forefront of American society. To reach that end, a new law, one which would guarantee people with disabilities the rights which they still had yet to secure, would need to be written. 8, 10

Featuring collaboration from figures such as Justin Whitlock Dart, Jr.—a polio survivor who was denied teaching certificates because of his medical record and who had traveled to Vietnam to learn about how people with disabilities are treated in other, less wealthy countries—and Patrisha Wright—a woman whose dreams of becoming a doctor ended when she became blind, but whose work as an advocate for disability rights began imme-diately thereafter—work on the bill began. This bipartisan effort sought to ensure that the bill would not only provide people with disabilities the rights they deserved, but survive legal re-view and challenge, as well. 1

Some of these challenges emerged before the bill was even sub-mitted to Congress. The United States Chamber of Commerce questioned the potentially high cost of implementing the new law, and the National Association of Evangelicals worried that certain religious liberties would be infringed upon as a result of new regulations. President Bush sought to reassure these con-cerned parties that the bill had been written with cost in mind and, more importantly, that the architects of the bill wanted to maximize, not restrict, freedom for all. 8

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In the summer of 1990,

the new bill—known as the Americans

with Disabilities ACT—passed

in both houses of Congress,

and on July 26th, President Bush

signed the Act into law, ushering in a

new and unprecedented era of

disability rights.

Part two: The Law

Findings, Purposes and Definitions ▪ pages 12—13

Title I: Employment ▪ pages 14—17

Title II: Public Services ▪ pages 18 —21

Title III: Public Accommodations and Services

Operated by Private Entities ▪ pages 22—23

Title IV: Telecommunications ▪ page 24

Title V: Miscellaneous Provisions ▪ page 24

12 ADA Pocket Guide

Findings, Purposes & Definitions

The Americans with Disabilities Act, otherwise known as the ADA, begins with an explanation of its purpose—in other words, why it exists. As the author of the law, Congress explains that “some 43,000,000 Americans have one or more physical or men-tal disabilities, and the number is increasing as the population as a whole is growing older”. Furthermore, “society has tended to isolate…individuals with disabilities”, “discrimination against individuals with disabilities persists in such critical areas as employment, housing, public accommodations, [and] education”, and “individuals who have experienced discrimination on the basis of disability have often had no legal recourse”. This discrimination results from a number of “stereotypic assumptions not truly indicative of the…ability of such individuals to participate in, and contribute to, society”. Congress declares that the nation’s proper goals regarding people with disabilities ought to be “to assure equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency for such individuals”.

1990,

ADA

Signed.

Congress declares that the nation’s proper goals regarding peo-ple with disabilities ought to be “to assure equality of oppor-tunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency for such individuals”.18

Therefore, the purpose of the ADA is “to provide a clear and comprehensive national mandate for the elimination of dis-crimination against individuals with disabilities, to provide clear, strong, consistent, enforceable standards addressing dis-crimination against individuals with disabilities,” and “to ensure that the federal government plays a central role in enforcing [these] standards”. In other words, Congress wants to ensure that, unlike previous efforts, the federal government takes ad-vantage of its own authority to bring about equality and the opportunity for full participation by people with disabilities, which was impossible in the past due to a lack of federal super-vision.18

Finally, we come to the definitions. Congress defines a disability as “a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities” of an individual; “a rec-ord of such an impairment”; or “being regarded as having such an impairment”. We should note that, in order to be a victim of disability discrimination, one need not have a disability; for legal purposes, being wrongly perceived as having a disability may be equivalent. For example, if a man is falsely believed to have a disease and his employer terminates him as a result of this, then that man has been the victim of disability discrimination even though he does not have the debilitating disease in question.18

14 ADA Pocket Guide

Title I: Employment Title I of the ADA focuses on employment. More specifically, it protects people with disabilities from employment discrimina-tion, one of the greatest challenges faced by people with disa-bilities. Congress begins by introducing the concept of a quali-fied individual with a disability, defined as a person who, “with or without reasonable accommodation, can perform the essen-tial functions of the employment position”.18

Let us assume that a person with a disability applies to be an airline pilot. If he is rejected, is this an instance of discrimina-tion? Not necessarily; it depends on why the airline declined to hire him. If he was rejected because the airline believes that people with disabilities cannot fly planes, then this is discrimi-nation. If, however, he was rejected because he does not have a valid pilot license, then this is not discrimination because the applicant is not a qualified individual; in other words, he is un-qualified for the job for reasons entirely unrelated to his disabil-ity.

Reasonable Accommodation: Congress has defined reasonable accommodation as feasible steps that an employer can take to assist a person with a disability in the workplace. For example, “making existing facilities … readily accessible” by removing unnecessary architectural barriers would be a form of reasonable accommodation, as would be providing the employee with equipment that can aid him or her at work.18

Let’s say that a woman with one arm applies to be a waitress. Can she be rejected for the position because she cannot carry as many plates at one time as a person with two arms? No, be-cause she still has the ability to perform the essential functions of the job. She may take a little more time than a waitress with two arms, but to reject her outright solely because she has only one arm would be an instance of discrimination.

Now, let’s assume that the man who applied to be an airline pilot has a valid pilot license, but he became blind after he re-ceived it. Does the airline have the right to reject his applica-tion? Yes and no. Because the ability to see is required of all airline pilots, a blind man cannot fly a plane, but that doesn’t mean that he cannot work for the airline in any capacity. It is entirely possible for the man to work in the airline’s corporate office or in some other capacity in which the ability to see is not a major requirement of the job. It is the employer’s responsibil-ity to ensure that all appropriate steps are being taken to see how the disability can be accommodated and to ensure that outright discrimination does not occur.

Undue Hardship: The Chamber of Commerce was not the only organization to raise concerns about the cost of implementing the ADA. To allow financial exceptions for certain businesses, Congress introduced the concept of undue hard-ship, described as “an action requiring significant difficulty or expense”. In the simplest terms, if a business is financially inca-pable of becoming accessible to people with disabilities, includ-ing to potential employees with disabilities, then the business may be exempt from the requirements and standards estab-lished by the ADA. However, this exception is very difficult to make, and deliberately so: Congress was careful to ensure that large businesses, which are capable of making themselves ac-cessible, did not take advantage of the system.18

Undue hardship does not refer exclusively to cost. If a business cannot make itself accessible to people with disabilities without fundamentally altering the nature of its business, then it proba-bly qualifies for an exception. For example, if a position within a construction company requires its employees to stand on a lad-der, and if there is no safe way for an individual with a wheel-chair to perform the tasks involved with the job, then that busi-ness may not need to take extraordinary measures to make it-self accessible.

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Tests and Examinations: The ADA prohibits em-

ployers from conducting examinations or tests to determine if an individual has a disability, can perform the job despite having a disability, etc. The only way that an employer can conduct any such examination pertaining to job performance is if all employ-ees, even those who are not believed to have a disability, must take the same examination. For example, the physical fitness tests required of police officers would not qualify as a form of discrimination, as all applicants, regardless of disability, must pass the tests.18

Religious Entities: The ADA states that, while a reli-

gious organization is entitled to hire only those who belong to the religion said organization promotes, a religious organization does not have the right to discriminate on the basis of disability, including in matters of employment.18

Posting Notices: The ADA requires all employers to clearly display to their employees notices describing the relevant portions of the law. Employees have a right to know about how they are protected from disability discrimination, and employers are required to provide this information.18

Enforcement: As stated above, one of the greatest challenges faced by people with disabilities was how to file a for-mal complaint of disability discrimination. Very few people knew where to turn in the event that discrimination occurred or if some other conflict required resolution. In the interest of cre-ating a simpler process, Congress established the Equal Employ-ment Opportunity Commission, which would be tasked with re-sponding to claims of employment discrimination and other le-gal issues arising within the workplace. Although the Attorney General possesses the power to resolve these conflicts, too, people with disabilities were advised to look to the EEOC when-ever they desired assistance of this nature.18

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Title II: Public Services

Although much of the discussion, debate, and research relating to the ADA are centered on Title I, the other four sections are highly important and influential, as well. Title II, which pertains to public services and other forms of government activities, reduces the emphasis on employment nearly to nothing. Indeed, employment discrimination is mentioned only once, at the beginning, when Congress declares that “no qualified individual with a disability shall … be excluded from participation in or be denied the bene-fits of services, programs, or activities of a public entity, or be subjected to discrimination by any such entity”. This is all that Title II has to say about employment discrimination. The rest of the chapter is comprised of a section titled Part B, which focuses on public transportation.18

Actions Applicable to Public Transpor-tation Provided by Public Entities Con-sidered Discriminatory: Earlier, we talked about how airlines were required to become accessible through the Air Carrier Access Act. However, at no point did we say anything about public transportation, even though it has the potential to affect many more people than air travel. Congress explains that “it shall be considered discrimination [for public transportation providers] to purchase or lease a new bus, a new rapid rail vehi-cle, a new light rail vehicle, or any other vehicle to be used on such system, if … [the] vehicle is not readily accessible to and usa-ble by individuals with disabilities”. From this point forward, any public transportation vehicles cannot be purchased unless they are accessible. As for those which have already been purchased, they have a new deadline: any time that they are remanufactured or repaired to last for at least another five years, they must be-come accessible, too. 18

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Exceptions for Historic Vehicles: Congress

made an exception for historic vehicles. If a historic vehicle can-not be made accessible without significantly altering the historic character of the vehicle, then the vehicle does not need to be made accessible. This is similar to several of the exceptions set forth in Title I, as Congress recognizes that there are certain situ-ations in which, unfortunately, accessibility is impossible or un-realistic.18

Facilities and Stations: Public transportation ve-

hicles are not the only focus of Title II; indeed, the facilities and stations in which those vehicles are based are a topic of interest, too. Congress declares that “it shall be considered discrimination for a public entity to construct a new facility to be used in the provision of … public transportation services unless such facility is readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities”. What is to be done for facilities that already exist? Congress explains that, whenever alterations to an existing facility are made, such alterations must be made accessible. Undoubtedly, you noticed how similar this is to the rules regarding new public transportation vehicles: those that already exist do not need to be made accessible overnight, but as soon as they are altered, accessibility becomes mandatory. There is a transition at work here, a phasing out of the old, outdated model in favor of one that is not only newer but, more importantly, accessible.18

Extension for Extraordinarily Expen-sive Structural Changes: Of course, Congress knows that attempting to make an entire station accessible overnight is unrealistic. To that end, Congress declares that sta-tions and facilities that cannot be made accessible to individuals with disabilities may qualify for an extension of nearly thirty years, provided that at least two-thirds of the work involved is completed by the year 2010. With this guide being written in the year 2017, it is safe to say that, although virtually every such facility is accessible today, the extensions permitted by Congress are rapidly coming to a close.18

Trains: Congress issued a number of standards regarding the accessibility of trains, declaring that at least one car per train must be completely accessible, as must any single level passenger coach. However, bi-level cars are not required to be made accessible; what this means is that the upper level is not required to be made accessible, as long as there is accessible space elsewhere on the train. As we explained with the example of the ladder, while universal access is always the ultimate goal, sometimes accessibility is not as realistic as we would like it to be.18

Conformance of Accessibility Stand-ards: Compliance with the laws established by Title II are enforced by the Department of Transportation, to whom any violations of this chapter should be reported.18

22 ADA Pocket Guide

Title III: Public Accommodations and Services Operated by Private

Entities Title III is a bit trickier to categorize than either of the first two chapters. Unlike Title I, which focused solely on employment within the private sector, and Title II, which focused almost pri-marily on public transportation, Title III has a much broader scope, encompassing both the private and the public sectors. With that being said, Title III is also much shorter than either of its precursors, as most of its rules are uniform, despite applying to so many different features of society. Congress starts this chapter by defining a commercial facility as one “intended for nonresidential use” and whose “operations affect commerce”. According to this definition, then, a commercial facility could be a private business entity or a governmental operation.18

Congress defines public accommodations, as well, describing them as, in effect, any location of public interest. The definition is long and incomplete, encompassing restaurants, stores, parks, museums, schools, terminals, and almost anything else that people can think of when imagining a location, open to the pub-lic, in which people might choose to spend their time. Less im-portant than the definition of a public accommodation, howev-er, is the rule that “no individual shall be discriminated against on the basis of disability in the full and equal enjoyment of the goods [and] services” provided by a place of public accommoda-tion. In other words, no place of public accommodation can re-fuse access or service to a person with a disability. Although Ti-tle I may have had the greatest role in granting people with disabilities self-sufficiency, Title III may have been the most instrumental in bringing people with disabilities into the foreground of American society.18

New Construction and Alterations: Title III re-

quires all places of public accommodation whose construction begins after the signing of the ADA to be made accessible to peo-ple with disabilities. In addition, any alterations to existing build-ings must be made accessible for individuals with a disability. The theme of replacing the inaccessible structures of old with newer, accessible structures takes prominence. In addition, a place of public accommodation that is at least three stories tall must have an elevator installed, although in the years following the signing of the ADA, elevators have become increasingly common in two-story buildings, as well. It may not be amiss for us to note that, although there is not as much information on accessibility requirements for architecture in Title III as we might expect, this is because the ADA did not eliminate any of the standards established by the Architectural Barriers Act of 1968.18

Study: Title III of the ADA established a study for the purpose of determining “the access needs of individuals with disabilities to over-the-road buses and over-the-road bus services” as well as “the most cost-effective methods” for providing such access.18

Exemptions for Private Clubs and Religious Organizations: Congress explains that private clubs and establishments as well as religious organizations shall not be held to the standards and laws described in Title III. Because such fa-cilities are not open to the public, they are not to be considered places of public accommodation, and so, they do not need to be made accessible. This is an interesting and controversial exemp-tion, one which many organizations have voluntarily done away with over time; as accessibility becomes increasingly common, inaccessible buildings have become increasingly rare.18

Enforcement: Title III is enforced by the US Dept. of Jus-

tice, with the Attorney General taking a particular interest in claims of disability discrimination in places of public accommoda-tion.18

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Title IV: Telecommunications

Title IV covers the accessibility standards governing various forms of telecommunications. This is a very brief chapter which may be summarized as follows: all carriers and providers of telecommunications must make their equipment accessible to people with disabilities whenever such access is requested. For example, devices such as touch-tone telephones and other equipment to assist individuals who are deaf must be provided, without any surcharge to the consumer, when such devices are requested and needed. This is to be enforced by the Federal Communications Commission, which will receive any complaints regarding a lack of proper access.18

Title V: Miscellaneous Provisions

Unsurprisingly, the fifth and final chapter of the Americans with Disabilities Act focuses on that which the previous chap-ters did not cover. It begins with an explanation that insurance companies are not to be prohibited in assessing the risk of cov-ering an individual with a disability, although this provision was abolished by the Affordable Care Act of 2010. Elsewhere, Title V explains that states that discriminate on the basis of disabil-ity are not immune from prosecution in federal court, as may have been claimed under the 11th Amendment to the United States Constitution. Title V also protects those who file com-plaints under the ADA from retaliation, coercion, and intimida-tion, particularly in the case of a complaint filed against one’s employer. Title V concludes with an explanation that federal wilderness areas cannot be held to all of the accessibility standards established here and with an emphasis on the bene-fit of resolving conflicts without taking the matter to court.18

1998: Congress would amend the Rehabilitation Act in 1998 to in-clude a new chapter regarding internet accessibility. This amendment, signed into law by President Bill Clinton under the formal title of Section 508, requires that all electronic or online material acquired or produced by the federal government must be made accessible to people with disabili-ties. Section 508, though not as well-known as the original Reha-bilitation Act, was an unprece-dented legislative effort nonethe-less: never before had any law been written to determine the ac-cessibility of the internet. Howev-er, as the original Rehabilitation Act referred solely to federal enti-ties and left private sector em-ployment unchecked, so does Section 508 refer solely to federal web pages and other forms of federal internet content; there is no equivalent law pertaining to private internet publications.18

26 ADA Pocket Guide

End Notes

[1] Davis, Lennard J. Enabling Acts: The Hidden Story of How the Americans

with Disabilities Act Gave the Largest US Minority its Rights. Beacon Press.

Boston, Massachusetts. 2015.

[2] Friedman, Samantha and Michael H. Schill. “The Fair Housing Amend-

ments Act of 1988: The First Decade”. Cityscape: A Journal of Policy Devel-

opment and Research. Volume 4, Number 3, 1999. Retrieved from: https://

www.huduser.gov/periodicals/cityscpe/vol4num3/schill.pdf

[3] Payne, Shannon. “Public Law 94-142”. The University of Notre-Dame.

Accessed February 22, 2017. Retrieved from: https://www3.nd.edu/

~rbarger/www7/pl94-142.html

[4] Ruffin II, Herbert G. “The California Fair Housing Act/The Rumford Act”.

Blackpast.org. 2007. Retrieved from: http://www.blackpast.org/aaw/

california-fair-housing-act-rumford-act-1963-1968

[5] Steffan, D. “How Regulation Came to Be: The Rehabilitation Act of

1973”. Daily Kos. Dec 12, 2010. Retrieved from: http://www.dailykos.com/

story/2010/12/12/928271/-

[6] “14th Amendment”. Cornell University Law School. Accessed February

22, 2017. Retrieved from: https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/

amendmentxiv

[7] “Air Carrier Access Act”. DisabilityTravel.com. Accessed February 22,

2017. Retrieved from: http://www.disabilitytravel.com/airlines/

air_carrier_act_details.htm

[8] “Americans with Disabilities Act, 1990”. National Public Radio. Accessed

February 22, 2017. Retrieved from: http://www.npr.org/programs/

disability/ba_shows.dir/revoluti.dir/highlights/ada.html

[9] “Civil Rights Act of 1964”. National Park Service. Accessed February 22,2017. Retrieved from: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/civilrights/1964-civil-rights-act.htm

[10] “Discrimination on the Basis of Disability”. United States Depart-

ment of Health and Human Services. Accessed February 22, 2017. Re-

trieved from: http://www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/for-individuals/disability/

[11] “Fair Housing Act”. Encyclopedia Britannica. November 23, 2015.

Retrieved from:https://www.britannica.com/topic/Fair-Housing-Act

[12] “History of the Access Board”. United States Access Board. Ac-

cessed February 22, 2017. Retrieved from: https://www.access-

board.gov/the-board/board-history

[13] “Housing”. Civilrights.org. Accessed February 22, 2017. Retrieved

from: http://www.civilrights.org/resources/civilrights101/housing.html

[14] “Overview of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973”. Web AIM. August 26,

2013. Retrieved from:

http://webaim.org/articles/laws/usa/rehab#s508

[15] “Reconstruction and its Aftermath”. Library of Congress. February

14, 2003. Retrieved from:

https://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aaohtml/exhibit/aopart5.html

[16] “Thirty-Five Years of Progress in Educating Children with Disabili-

ties Through IDEA”. U.S. Department of Education. November 22, 2010.

Retrieved from:

http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osers/idea35/history/index_pg

10.html

[17] “Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964”. Equal Employment Oppor-

tunity Commission. Accessed February 22, 2017. Retrieved from:

https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/statutes/titlevii.cfm

[18] Title 42: The Public Health and Welfare, Chapter 126: Equal Oppor-tunity for Individuals with Disabilities. July 26, 1990. Updated Septem-ber 25, 2008. Retrieved from: https://www.ada.gov/pubs/adastatute08.htm

Photo credits: Cover, Service dog, NEADS.org.; p. 17, GCD News-

letter, February 2017; Campaign to Change Direction, p. 19.

28 ADA Pocket Guide

The ADA put into law the concept that all Americans

living with disabilities deserve to participate in our

society free from discrimination.

That was over 25 years ago.

Since then, there have been struggles and successes

and we have discovered something wonderful along

the way…

We all benefit, as a society, when there is

Access for All.

nh.gov/disability

603.271.2773

112017