On July 26th, 1990, George H. W. Bush signed the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) into law. This year will mark the 28th anniversary of this Civil Rights document. The ADA was passed with the intent of creating an equal opportunity for people with disabilities by protecting their rights and preventing discrimination in all areas of public life.
Five titles that make up the ADA pertain to different areas of public life. Title I calls for an equal employment opportunity for people with disabilities. Title II calls on both state and local governments to be nondiscriminatory on the basis of disability in all areas of service. Title III calls on private entities providing public services to not discriminate against people with disabilities. Title IV focuses on communication and prohibits telephone and internet companies from discriminating against people with hearing and speech disabilities. Title V is a section full of miscellaneous provisions including a list of conditions that are not considered disabilities and therefore, not protected under the ADA.
The ADA was written with good intent, but even a law cannot change mindsets. When mindsets are not changed, laws are looked at as something that has to be done rather than something that should be followed; this causes the law to be looked at with contempt which is reflected back upon the person/group/entity in which the law protects. In this case, the ignorance of not understanding why accessibility is necessary perpetuates the stereotype that people with disabilities are a burden on society.
When a law is looked at as something that has to be done, typically people have an innate sense to not want to follow it. This tends to perpetuate ignorance towards the ADA as one is not willing to take the time to become educated about the importance of this law and the law itself.
Loopholes will often be sought to not have to comply with the law. Whatever reason it may be, there are many ways to get around complying with the ADA. The way the ADA was written leaves wiggle-room as accessibility is not “one size fits all” and not every building and terrain allows for Universal Design. However, this wiggle-room also leaves gaps that allow the loopholes that so many jump through even when it is not necessary for them to do so. People are able to settle for the letter of the law — rather than the essence of the law — as that is either all they know or all they care to follow. Unfortunately, the reality of it is, for the ADA to be all-inclusive and express the standard of Universal Design that is flexible enough for all existing buildings and terrains, it would have to be tens of thousands of pages long. Therefore, the minimum standard with large loopholes is what we have.
The ADA is not only full of loopholes, but it is also poorly enforced. This leaves gaps that prevent people with disabilities from the access that the ADA was originally intended to give. Multiple states, as well as the federal government, have even tried to make the ADA irrelevant. The lack of regulation has driven a multitude of lawsuits to respond to the breaching of ADA compliance. When this is combined with ignorance, these lawsuits are looked at as trivial. If the government would have reinforced the ADA from the very beginning, the legitimacy of these lawsuits would not even be in question.
Year after year, people continue to be ignorant about the ADA; many do not know of its existence and even worse many ignore it and try to skirt around it, jumping through loopholes to cut costs. Access for people with disabilities is trumped by expenses; we create a burdensome extra expense and our business is not worth the time or money spent to create access.
What should have been a solid foundation for accessibility turned into a bandage that masked the root of a larger problem. Though we as a nation have come so far in the improvement of accessibility for the disability community, ableism still runs deep. The mentality that the ADA was passed, and ramps were installed, therefore people with physical disabilities are now all-included is an ignorant and discriminatory statement. The ADA did not provide complete access to people with disabilities; 28 years later complete compliance of this law is nowhere near to being met and we still have a long way to go!
Let’s celebrate the ADA. Let’s celebrate what it did so far, but what it can still do. Celebrate by educating yourself about the ADA and the issues that surround it. Celebrate the ADA so that society understands the essence of what the law should be. Celebrate the ADA so that another 28 years does not pass by before we achieve equal access for all.
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