20th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act

The Americans with Disabilities Act turns 20 today!

Thanks to the ADA, Americans with disabilities enjoy better access to buildings, transportation, telecommunication, employment, and education. It paved the way for IDEA, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which enabled me to graduate from college.  There’s still a long way to go before we as a society achieve the four goals of the ADA –  equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency — but it’s clear we’ve come a long way.

I’d like to point out, however, that the improved access that has resulted from the ADA doesn’t only benefit “disabled” people.  Curb cuts are just one example of this.  Curb cuts, those gently sloped cut-aways between the sidewalk and the street, are required by the ADA to enable wheelchair users to easily cross the street like the rest of us do.

The thing is, wheelchair users are not the only people who use curb cuts.  Have you ever crossed the street with a piece of wheeled luggage?  With a stroller?  How about on a bike or a skateboard?

If the answer to any of those questions is “yes”, then your life has been made just a little bit easier by the ADA.

In honor of the 20th anniversary of the ADA, Representative Jim Langevin of Rhode Island is presiding over Congress today.  Langevin is the first quadriplegic to be elected to Congress.

For a discussion of what we’ve accomplished with the ADA so far, and what remains to be done, check out this online discussion at the Washington Post, where Andrew J. Imparato of the American Association for People with Disabilities fields questions about the ADA’s history and its future.