The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) addresses the need for civil rights protection for individuals with disabilities. Signed into law in 1990 by President George Bush, the ADA prohibits discrimination in the following areas: employment, state and local government, public accommodations and commercial facilities, and telecommunications. Not only does the ADA seek to end discrimination, the law proposes to help bring the disabled population into the economic and social mainstream of life in America.
Research indicates that discrimination against disabled persons is widespread in the United States. According to testimony from the disabled community received during hearings prior to the passage of the ADA: "Discrimination occurs in every facet of our lives. There is not a disabled American alive today who has not experienced some form of discrimination" (U.S. Congress, 1990, p. 114). Prior to passage of the ADA, anti-discrimnation legislation prohibiting discrimination against persons with disabilities was enacted in a piecemeal fashion.
The ADA marked the first comprehensive approach to disabled policy. The employment section of the law (Title I) bars employers from discriminating against qualified individuals with handicaps. Further, employers must provide reasonable accommodations for such individuals unless undue hardship would result from providing such accommodations.
The state and local government section of the ADA (Title II) prohibits agencies at this level from engaging in discriminatory practices in hiring, the award of contracts, or the provision of services. Public transit agencies that serve the general public are required to provide a comparable level of service for the disabled community. If accommodations cannot be made on a fixed route transportation service, then the agency must provide paratransit service for the disabled.
Title III of ADA mandates access for the disabled at public acc...