Anniversaries Celebrated
Sunday, July 26, 2020 marked the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. During WebAIM’s 20th anniversary year, we take this opportunity to cherish this landmark legislation which codified equal opportunity and protections for those with disabilities.
For many, it is difficult to recall the reality of life before the ADA. Concepts like “self-determination”, “independent living”, and even “choice” were battlegrounds for those with disabilities. The ADA provided both aspirations and legal protections that facilitated great improvements.
During the signing ceremony, George H.W. Bush indicated:
Our success with this act proves that we are keeping faith with the spirit of our courageous forefathers who wrote in the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.” These words have been our guide for more than two centuries as we’ve labored to form our more perfect union. But tragically, for too many Americans, the blessings of liberty have been limited or even denied. The Civil Rights Act of ’64 took a bold step towards righting that wrong. But the stark fact remained that people with [...]