The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 or ADA is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. It affords similar protections against discrimination to Americans with disabilities as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which made discrimination based on race, religion, sex, national origin, and other characteristics illegal, and later sexual orientation and gender identity. In addition, unlike the Civil Rights Act, the ADA also requires covered employers to provide reasonable accommodations to employees with disabilities, and imposes accessibility requirements on public accommodations.
In 1998 the U.S. Congress amended the Rehabilitation Act to require federal agencies to make their electronic and information technology accessible to people with disabilities. Section 508 was enacted to eliminate barriers in information technology, to make available new opportunities for people with disabilities and to encourage the development of technologies that will help achieve these goals. The law applies to all federal agencies when they develop, procure, maintain, or use electronic and information technology. Under Section 508, agencies must give employees with disabilities and members of the public access to information that is comparable to the access available to others.
Accessibility is the design of products, devices, services, vehicles, or environments so as to be usable by people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design and practice of accessible development ensures both "direct access" and "indirect access" meaning compatibility with a person's assistive technology.
Universal design is the design of buildings, products or environments to make them accessible to people, regardless of age, disability or other factors. It addresses common barriers to participation by creating things that can be used by the maximum number of people possible. Curb cuts or sidewalk ramps, which are essential for people in wheelchairs but also used by all, are a common example of universal design.
Manitoba Finance is the department of finance for the Canadian province of Manitoba.
Web accessibility, or eAccessibility, is the inclusive practice of ensuring there are no barriers that prevent interaction with, or access to, websites on the World Wide Web by people with physical disabilities, situational disabilities, and socio-economic restrictions on bandwidth and speed. When sites are correctly designed, developed and edited, more users have equal access to information and functionality.
Paratransit is the term used in North America, also known by other names such as community transport (UK), for transportation services that supplement fixed-route mass transit by providing individualized rides without fixed routes or timetables. Paratransit services may vary considerably on the degree of flexibility they provide their customers. At their simplest they may consist of a taxi or small bus that will run along a more or less defined route and then stop to pick up or discharge passengers on request. At the other end of the spectrum—fully demand responsive transport—the most flexible paratransit systems offer on-demand call-up door-to-door service from any origin to any destination in a service area. In addition to public transit agencies, paratransit services may be operated by community groups or not-for-profit organizations, and for-profit private companies or operators.
The Ministry for Seniors and Accessibility, is the ministry responsible for issues relating to seniors and persons with disabilities in the Canadian province of Ontario.
In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, a number of countries have passed laws aimed at reducing discrimination against people with disabilities. These laws have begun to appear as the notion of civil rights has become more influential globally, and follow other forms of anti-discrimination and equal opportunity legislation aimed at preventing racial discrimination and sexism which began to emerge in the second half of the 20th century. Many of these Acts aim to reduce barriers for persons with disabilities in the areas of customer service, employment, built environment, transportation, and information and communications.
The United States Access Board is an independent agency of the United States government devoted to accessibility for people with disabilities. The Board was created in 1973 to ensure access to federally funded facilities. It develops and maintains design criteria for the built environment, transit vehicles, telecommunications equipment, and electronic and information technology. It also provides technical assistance and training on these requirements and on accessible design and continues to enforce accessibility standards that cover federally funded facilities.
The Architectural Barriers Act of 1968 is an Act of Congress, enacted by President Lyndon B. Johnson.
Manitoba Crown Services —through the Crown Services Secretariat—provides strategic, regulatory, and policy support to the Crown corporations of Manitoba, as well as assisting in the reporting and oversight of all Crown corporations governed by the Crown Corporation Governance and Accountability Act.
Design for All in the context of information and communications technology (ICT) is the conscious and systematic effort to proactively apply principles, methods and tools to promote universal design in computer-related technologies, including Internet-based technologies, thus avoiding the need for a posteriori adaptations, or specialised design.
The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (AODA) is a statute enacted in 2005 by the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in Canada. Its purpose is to improve accessibility standards for Ontarians with physical and mental disabilities to all public establishments by 2025.
The Accessible Canada Act (ACA) builds on the Canadian Human Rights Act, focusing on the prohibition of discrimination based on disability. Carla Qualtrough presented Bill C-81 for its final reading on June 21, 2019, where it received Royal Assent. This is a Canada-wide accessibility act that applies to the federal public sector, Crown Corporations, and all federally regulated organizations. It is the first national Canadian legislation on accessibility that affects all government departments and federally regulated agencies. The federally regulated organizations include the following industries:
The chief accessibility officer (CAO) is a C-suite executive position within an organization. The role exists in organizations to improve accessibility for people with physical or mental disabilities.
Nova Scotia created the Nova Scotia Accessibility Act in 2017. It is similar to the Accessibility for Manitobans Act, and further supports the rights of People with Disabilities (PwD) under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The European Accessibility Act is a directive of the European Union which took effect in April 2019. This directive aims to improve the trade between members of the EU for accessible products and services, by removing country specific rules. Businesses benefit from having a common set of rules within the EU, which should facilitate easier cross-border trade. It should also allow a greater market for companies providing accessible products and services. Persons with disabilities and elderly people will benefit from having more accessible products and services in the market. An increased market size should produce more competitive prices. There should be fewer barriers within the EU and more job opportunities as well.
British Columbia created the Accessible British Columbia Act in 2021. This act commits the government of British Columbia to promote accessibility, recognize AccessAbility Week, and officially recognize both American Sign Language & Indigenous sign languages. There will be annual reports that will be published for each fiscal year, describing the actions taken by the minister and the provincial accessibility committee. This act will be reviewed every 5 years until 2031 when it will be reviewed every ten years after that. This act applies to the government as well as some other prescribed organizations.
The Newfoundland and Labrador Accessibility Act was an act introduced under the Minister of Children, Seniors and Social Development which became law on December 3, 2021. One of the key elements of the act is the creation of an Accessibility Standards Advisory Board. The act also creates a Disability Policy Office which works with all government departments and agencies.
