The Americans with Disabilities Act celebrates its 25th anniversary on July 26.
The act is widely viewed as the most significant piece of legislation advancing the rights of the hundreds of thousands of Americans with disabilities. The landmark civil rights law seeks to end discrimination on the basis of disability and requires equal access to opportunities for the disabled. In many ways, it has changed life in America.
News organizations are covering the anniversary in a variety of ways. Here are some of the stories that have been produced so far:
- Harvard historian Akira Iriye named the signing of the ADA as one of the turning points of the 20th century in Time’s list of 25 moments that changed America.
- New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio named July Disability Pride Month, The New York Daily News reports.
- The Disability Visibility Project partnered with StoryCorps to collect stories from people with disabilities.
- End the Awkward campaign seeks to educate people about how to interact with those who have disabilities, the DCist reports.
- NPR looks at a public relations campaign for the ADA and covers a new front on the accessibility fight, the Internet.
- The Pittsburgh-Post Gazette, KPAX in Missoula and Western Montana, WBAY in Green Bay, Mich., and the Texas Tribune report on how the country has changed since the ADA was signed into law.
- The Associated Press reports on a survey from Kessler Foundation that looks at how Americans with disabilities are fairing in the labor market, 25 years after the population gained workplace protections under the ADA.
- PR Newswire aggregates U.S. Census data concerning people living with disabilities in the United States.
- Rep. Jim Langevin, D-R.I., writes that he has experienced, firsthand, the changes the law has made, but says that “there is still more work to do to fulfill the mission that the ADA set out to accomplish.” Langevin is the first person with quadriplegia to serve as a representative in the U.S. Capitol, where increasing accessibility for wheelchair users is an ongoing process.
For more news and events, search Twitter using #ADA25.
Also, the ADA National Network has a tip sheet of resources (http://www.adaanniversary.org/), including a list of events across the country (https://adata.org/ada-anniversary/events).