AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT OF 1990, AS AMENDED
The Americans with Disabilities Act, Title III, gives rights of equal access to places of public accommodation. This includes a wide range of businesses, such as doctors’ and lawyers’ offices, private and public schools, theaters, banks, government agencies, and more. For deaf and hard-of-hearing people, this means businesses and agencies must remove any communication barriers. Often, providing a sign language interpreter is the most effective way to eliminate these frustrating obstacles to communication. To learn more about the ADA and how it relates to deafness and interpreting, please visit the National Association of the Deaf's informational link (Interpretek, 2016).
Editor's Note: Following is the current text of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), including changes made by the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-325), which became effective on January 1, 2009. The ADA was originally enacted in public law format and later rearranged and published in the United States Code. The United States Code is divided into titles and chapters that classify laws according to their subject matter. Titles I, II, III, and V of the original law are codified in Title 42, chapter 126, of the United States Code beginning at section 12101. Title IV of the original law is codified in Title 47, chapter 5, of the United States Code. Since this codification resulted in changes in the numbering system, the Table of Contents provides the section numbers of the ADA as originally enacted in brackets after the codified section numbers and headings.
State and Local Government Title II
Public Accommodations Title III
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) prohibits discrimination and ensures equal opportunity for persons with disabilities in employment, State and local government services, public accommodations, commercial facilities, and transportation. It also mandates the establishment of TDD/telephone relay services. The current text of the ADA includes changes made by the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-325), which became effective on January 1, 2009. The ADA was originally enacted in public law format and later rearranged and published in the United States Code.
On Friday, July 23, 2010, Attorney General Eric Holder signed final regulations revising the Department's ADA regulations, including its ADA Standards for Accessible Design. The official text was published in the Federal Register on September 15, 2010 (corrections to this text were published in the Federal Register on March 11, 2011).
The revised regulations amend the Department's 1991 title II regulation (State and local governments), 28 CFR Part 35, and the 1991 title III regulation (public accommodations), 28 CFR Part 36. Appendix A to each regulation includes a section-by-section analysis of the rule and responses to public comments on the proposed rule.
These final rules went into effect on March 15, 2011, and were published in the 2011 edition of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).
A recommended book is Legal Rights: The Guide for Deaf and HH People. Chapter 9 discusses the Legal System, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, differences between state/local courts and the federal courts, attorneys' obligations to Deaf clients, equal access in law enforcement, effective communication, example cases, interpreter competence, Miranda rights, access to prison programs and activities, and telecommunications access.
A recommended online video is the ADA video narrated by NAD Executive Director and attorney, Howard A. Rosenblum, presented in American Sign Language, with voice over and open captioning.
We have many texts and DVDs on the Americans with Disabilities Act. Search the RIT Libraries Catalog to find those materials. If interested in articles and cases, go to the Scholarly Articles tab to look up those materials.
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