The Americans with Disabilities Act
Author: tiger Published Under: Health
On July 26, 1990, President George Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).This law is in many ways very similar to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which is designed to prevent discrimination against people based off of an individuals race or religion. The Americans with Disabilities Act was created to prevent discrimination against an individual because of their physical or mental disabilities.
There are many different rules and regulations that are set up by the ADA and it in many ways is very broad. The types of disabilities that are covered are also fairly broad and generally a persons disability is evaluated on a case by case basis. While many conditions are covered, there are some that are not. One such condition that is not covered by the ADA is substance abuse.
There are four basic categories though that are intended to make discriminating against someone because they are disabled to be illegal.
Employment: Prior to the implementation of the ADA, there where many cases where a person wasn’t hired because of their disability. The ADA made this practice illegal and not only applies to the actual hiring of an individual, but also their training and any other part of the employment process.
One way that potential employees were commonly discriminated against was by the use of medical screenings, so this is something specifically addressed by the ADA. An employer is not allowed to require any medical testing or screenings unless these are required of all of their employees. The ADA also requires that any medical records that are created must be treated confidentially.
Public Services and Transportation: Being able to get around is something that is often the biggest obstacle for an individual who is mobility challenged. The ADA requires that all public areas and public transportation are made handicapped accessible. This generally is intended to cover services offered by governmental agencies and the railroads.
Public Accommodations: This section is designed to make certain that the services offered by private businesses are handicapped accessible. Included in this section are restaurants, hotels, motels, and stores. This section requires that all business owners make a good faith effort to make their businesses accessible.
Buildings that were built after the passage of the ADA, are required to follow ADA guidelines, but there are some buildings that are very old that are not very handicapped friendly. These older buildings must make every effort to become ADA compliant as long as making these changes is deemed to be ‘readily achievable’. Generally to decide if something is ‘readily achievable,’ the cost of the renovations and the businesses overall finances of the business are taken into consideration. This means that what might be ‘readily achievable’ for a large corporation, like Google, might not be considered ‘readily achievable’ for a smaller family owned business.
Telecommunications: In today’s world, there are an almost ever increasing number of ways for people to communicate. From the traditional telephone to the not so traditional video chat, there are many ways that people from all over the World can easily converse. The ADA requires that all companies in the United States that deal in telecommunications are able to be accessed by those who are disabled. This is something that is largely geared towards ensuring that individuals who are deaf are still able to access common telecommunication channels.