Legislation, United States

Americans with Disabilities Act

The Americans with Disabilities Act was implemented in 1990 and clearly dictates that any kind of discrimination against a disabled person in the United States is against the law. The act covers every important aspect of the society, which includes miscellaneous provisions, telecommunications, public accommodation, public entities, and employment. This act has been organized in titles over several amendments to make it clear for interpretation and understanding.

[Page 576]Title I of the act prohibits employers, employment agencies, labor unions, and joint labor management committees from discriminating against persons with disabilities in any form during their business operations.

Title II involves government institutions and requires state and local governments to make their programs, services, and activities accessible to individuals with disabilities, including individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing, by providing information formats and technologies usable by deaf people.

Title III requires businesses open to the public to ensure that individuals with a disability have equal access to all that the businesses have to offer. This part of the act covers a wide range of public places, including retail stores and the wide range of service businesses such as hotels, theaters, restaurants, hospitals, banks, and private schools. And it covers both for-profit and nonprofit organizations, allowing the deaf and the hard of hearing be to be given the same services as hearing people receive.

Title IV involves communications and mandated a nationwide system of telecommunications relay services to make the telephone network accessible to people who are deaf and/or who have speech impairments.

Title V of the Americans with Disabilities Act contains provisions that are not covered in other parts of the Americans with Disabilities Act. These provisions include the following:

• 1.
  States cannot claim immunity from Americans with Disabilities Act–related legal action. Individuals with disabilities may sue any state agency for violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act, but may not recover money damages.
• 2.
  Individuals with disabilities are protected from retaliation for asserting their rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
• 3.
  Courts may award attorney’s fees to the prevailing (winning) party in an Americans with Disabilities Act lawsuit.
• 4.
  Congress is covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
• 5.
  Other federal and state laws can be stronger and provide greater protections and rights than the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The Rehabilitation Act

The rehabilitation act was passed in 1973, and the aim of this law is to enable persons with disabilities to integrate into the society, exercise freedom and independence, and find economic self-sufficiency and employment improvement. The act establishes important rights for and disabled people, and mandates that any program that receives financial assistance from the federal government be accessible by the disabled person and enforces the accessibility of any Web sites or information used by the federal government or any information technology developed by the federal government. One outcome of this law is that any video information released by the federal government must have closed captioning.

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