HAPPY 30TH BIRTHDAY ADA!!
- Alexxandra Niss
- Oct 6, 2020
- 3 min read
On July 26th 1990, President George H.W Bush signed the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) which is one of the most important documents to be signed in our field today. The Act bans “discrimination on the basis of disability in the areas of employment, public accommodation, public services, transportation and telecommunications.” Before this law was put into place, people with disabilities only had the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Education for all Handicapped Children Act of 1974. It is shocking to look back on the history and see that it took almost two decades for a new act to be signed to give people with disabilities more of a voice and freedom. However, the Rehabilitation Act and the Education for all Handicapped Children Act both helped shape what the American with Disabilities Act is today as well as the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
According to the official ADA website “To be protected by the ADA, one must have a disability, which is defined by the ADA as a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a person who has a history or record of such an impairment, or a person who is perceived by others as having such an impairment. The ADA does not specifically name all of the impairments that are covered.” The Civil Rights Division put on their website how different facilities and buildings became more accessible and inclusive throughout the last 30 years. These were some of the buildings and facilities that surprised me and interested me the most.
Walt Disney World/ Walt Disneyland
In order for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing to enjoy the happiest place on earth, Disney decided to make the following adaptive adjustments to all of their amusement parks:
Provide oral and sign language interpreters at specific attractions
Make captioning systems available at the entrances to specific rides or shows
Provide transcripts at attractions and allow an opportunity to ride an attraction another time in order to better understand the text
Schedule interpreters at specified shows, performances, and rides
Provide closed captioning on video monitors in queues for attractions and other arcades throughout the parks
Make interpreter schedules available from Guest Services
Provide assistive listening systems and written transcripts for most attractions
Train cast members to improve services for guests who are deaf or hard of hearing
Even though this just focusing on one population, Disney has created many different ways to be accessible and adaptive to all populations and all different disabilties. These include sensory rooms and wheelchair accessible rides and areas.
New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival
As one of the largest music festivals in the country, the Jazz festival came up with a very detailed list of the different ways that they are going to make their festivals more accessible to those with disabilities. The following list are a few of the many changes they have made to be more inclusive.
Staff trainings for those who are assigned to interact with the public facilities and services accessible to attendees with disabilities.
Three full-time high qualified American Sign Language Interpreters will be hired with at least one available to assist in medical emergencies.
Braille and large print versions of programming information at the Access Center and info booths. Audio recordings of Programming information will also be available at the Access Center.
The accessible parking spaces will be specifically designated for van accessibility and parking will be located on the shortest accessible route to an accessible entrance
There will be a large amount of accessible restrooms and portable toilets. The accessible toilets will be distributed around the Jazz Fest fairgrounds to make them accessible to those individuals.
Designated seating for individuals who use wheelchairs. There will be signage to indicate the availability of accessible seating.
Milwaukee Riverwalk
In 2006, the city of Milwaukee provided a statement for Physical changes to the walkway that were made to be more adaptive and inclusive by adding or adjusting the following parts of the walkway.
Ramps and walkway
Handrails
Curb slope
Accessible walkways
Floating docks
All of these parts of the walkway were adjusted to be wider and longer to fit the needs of all individuals with any and all disabilities and to create wheelchair accessibility.
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