ADA 22nd Anniversary

The Americans with Disabilities Act will turn 22! On this page you will find the following information:

• Video of the Signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act
• ADA Anniversary Postcard
• Reflections of the Past, Present, and Future
• ADA 22nd Anniversary Toolkit
• History of the Americans with Disabilities Act
• ADA Amendments Act of 2008

Video of the Signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act; July 26, 1990

Celebrating 22 Years of the ADA!

The ADA National Network  is celebrating 22 years of the Americans with Disabilities Act July 26, 2012! While much progress has been made, much remains to be done.  Please feel free to share this postcard with your network of colleagues and friends and help us honor this landmark civil rights legislation!

Reflections of the Past, Present, and Future

In the Summer 2010 issue of our In Focus newsletter Marian Vessels, Director of Mid-Atlantic ADA Center, shares her feelings about the 20th anniversary of the signing of the American with Disabilities Act into law.

Mrs. Vessels also offers a very personal view on the importance of such a momentous event in a short video (different from above) published in YouTube. The clip is from a 22 minute video, "Reflections of a Promise" which is available for loan from the Center.

Check out these other videos:

[NOTE: These video links are being offered as a service. The ADA cannot gaurantee that all videos are properly captioned.]

• ADA National Network Anniversary Video
• History of the Disability Movement and Anniversary of the ADA
• Senator Harkin Celebrating the Anniversary of the ADA
• Epilepsy Foundation: ADA Anniversary Video 

ADA 22nd Anniversary Toolkit

Together with national, regional, and local affiliate networks and partners, significant results have been accomplished toward voluntary ADA compliance.

For more information, contact your regional ADA Center at (800) 949-4232 Voice/TTY. Visit the ADA National Network's Anniversary web page to access the 2012 ADA Anniversary Toolkit, and other information related to the anniversary.

History of the ADA

The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s gave rise to other civil rights movements, most notably the Women's Rights Movement and the Disability Rights Movement. While minorities and women were protected by civil rights legislation passed by the United States Congress during the 1960s, the rights of people with disabilities were not protected by federal legislation until much later. Read more on the history of the ADA.

ADA Amendments Act of 2008

On September 25, 2008, the ADA Amendments Act (ADAAA) was signed into law. It became effective on January 1, 2009. 
The ADAAA focuses on the discrimination at issue instead of the individual's disability. It makes important changes to the definition of the term "disability" by rejecting the holdings in several Supreme Court decisions and portions of Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's (EEOC) ADA regulations. The Act retains the ADA's basic definition of "disability" as a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a record of such an impairment, or being regarded as having such an impairment. However, it changes the way these terms should be interpreted. Read more on the ADA Amendments Act.