Embassy Press Release

Information on U.S. Legislation Concerning Persons with Disabilities
The American with Disabilities Act of 1990

In 1990, the U.S. Congress passed the American with Disabilities Act (ADA). The ADA recognizes and protects the civil rights of people with disabilities and is modeled after earlier landmark laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race and gender. The ADA covers a wide range of disability, from physical conditions affecting mobility, stamina, sight, hearing, and speech to conditions such as emotional illness and learning disorders. The ADA addresses access to the workplace (title I), State and local government services (title II), and places of public accommodation and commercial facilities (title III). It also requires phone companies to provide telecommunications relay services for people who have hearing or speech impairments (title IV) and miscellaneous instructions to Federal agencies that enforce the law (title V). Regulations issued under the different titles by various Federal agencies set requirements and establish enforcement procedures.

Under titles II and III of the ADA, the Board develops and maintains accessibility guidelines for buildings, facilities, and transit vehicles and provides technical assistance and training on these guidelines. The ADA Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG) serve as the basis of standards issued by the departments of Justice (DOJ) and Transportation (DOT) to enforce the law. The building guidelines cover places of public accommodation, commercial facilities, and State and local government facilities. The vehicle guidelines address buses, vans, a variety of rail vehicles, trams, and other modes of public transportation. Regulations issued by DOJ and DOT contain standards based on ADAAG and also provide important information on which buildings and facilities are subject to the standards.

For more information, see the links below.

Text of Law:
http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/pubs/ada.txt

ADA Regulations and Technical Materials:
http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/publicat.htm

Questions and Answers:
http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/q%26aeng02.htm

Statement by President George W. Bush on the 16-year anniversary of the ADA:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/07/20060725-3.html

More information from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americans_with_Disabilities_Act

Other resources:

Website of the U.S. National Council on Disabilities, including facts, information, publications, reports on issues affecting the disabled:
http://www.ncd.gov/

ONPHR - Organizatia Nationala a Persoanelor cu Handicap din Romania
http://www.integration.ro/

Federatia Romana a Sportului pentru Persoane cu Handicap
http://www.handisport.ro/

Special Olympics Romania
http://www.specialolympics.ro/

Motivation Romania – NGO working on access for disabled
http://www.motivation.ro/

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