The document summarizes several key laws pertaining to disability rights and access to technology in the United States, including the Americans with Disabilities Act, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, Assistive Technology Act of 1998, Fair Housing Act Amendments of 1988, Telecommunications Act of 1996, and Workforce Investment Act of 1998. It provides brief descriptions of the purpose and requirements of each law. Additional resources on disability rights laws and organizations are listed at the end.

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Assistive Technology Laws
by: Family Center on Technology and Disability

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Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
Public Law 101-334 [42 USC 12101]
ADA prohibits discrimination on the basis
of disability in the following areas:
 Employment
 State and Local Government
 Public Accommodations
 Commercial Facilities
 Transportation
 Telecommunications

3. www.fctd.info
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
Public Law 101-334 [42 USC 12101]
The law is organized by section, or “Title”
 Title I – Employment
Any employer who has 15 or more
employees must offer “equal opportunity” to
employment related activities
 Title II – State and Local Governments
Insists that all people with disabilities must
be given equal access to public education,
employment, transportation, recreation,
health care, and other areas under their
control

4. www.fctd.info
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
Public Law 101-334 [42 USC 12101]
 Title III – Public Accommodations by Private
Companies
Public accommodations must be made by all
private companies, including private schools,
restaurants, stores, hotels, and doctors’
offices.
 Title IV – Assistive Technology
All telephone companies must provide the
necessary services to allow people who are
deaf or hearing impaired to use
telecommunication devices.
For more information about ADA, visit:
http://www.ada.gov

5. www.fctd.info
Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act (IDEA)
Public Law 94-142
Originally passed in 1975 as the
Education for All Handicapped Children
Act (EHA), IDEA guarantees that eligible
children and youth with disabilities
receive a free and appropriate public
education (FAPE)
Amended many times, most recently in
2004
For more information about IDEA, visit:For more information about IDEA, visit: http://idea.ed.gov/http://idea.ed.gov/

6. www.fctd.info
Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act
29 USC § 794d
 Requires that all electronic and information technologies that are
developed and used by any Federal government agency must be
accessible to people with disabilities. These technologies
include:
 Websites
 Video and audio materials
 Electronic books
 Televised programs
 Any other type of electronic media
 Does not apply to the private sector or to organizations that
receive Federal funds. (It does, however, apply to materials
developed by those organizations for the Federal government
and funded by government agencies.)
For more information, visit:
http://www.section508.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Content&ID=12

7. www.fctd.info
Assistive Technology Act of 1998
Public Law 105-394 [29 USC 2201]
 Also known as the “Tech Act”
 Provides funds to states to support three types of programs:
1. Assistive technology (AT) demonstration centers, information
centers, equipment loan facilities, referral services, and other
consumer-oriented programs
2. Protection and advocacy services to help people with disabilities
and their families, as they attempt to access the services for
which they are eligible
3.3. Federal/state programs to provide lowFederal/state programs to provide low
interest loans and other alternativeinterest loans and other alternative
financing options to help people withfinancing options to help people with
disabilities purchase needed assistivedisabilities purchase needed assistive
technologytechnology
http://http://assistivetech.net/webresources/stateTechActProjects.phpassistivetech.net/webresources/stateTechActProjects.php

8. www.fctd.info
Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical
Education Act Amendments of 1998
P.L. 105-332 Section 1 (b) [20 USC 2302]
 Defines vocational technical education as organized educational
programs offering sequences of courses directly related to preparing
individuals for paid or unpaid employment in current or emerging
occupations requiring other than a baccalaureate or advanced degree.
 Requires schools to:
 Integrate academic, vocational and technical training
 Increase the use of technology
 Provide professional development opportunities to staff
 Develop and implement evaluations of program quality
 Expand and modernize quality programs
 Link secondary and post-secondary vocational education
 Requires states to:
 Submit an annual report on how special populations, including persons
living with disabilities, engaged in vocational education are faring relative to
the state’s performance guidelines
More information at: http://www2.ed.gov/policy/sectech/leg/perkins/index.html

9. www.fctd.info
Fair Housing Act Amendments of 1988
Public Law 100-430 [42 USC 3604]
 Addresses non-discrimination issues for potential
tenants with disabilities.
 Makes it unlawful to deny housing to a renter/buyer
because of a disability that the person may have.
 Mandates that reasonable exceptions to policies be
made to accommodate individuals with disabilities.
 Allows tenants to make reasonable access-related
modifications to property if necessary.
http://www.hud.gov/offices/fheo/FHLaws/yourrights.cfm

10. www.fctd.info
The Television Decoder Circuitry Act of 1990,
Section 3
Public Law 101-431 [47 USC 303(u)]
All individuals who are deaf or have
hearing impairments should have
access to information and
entertainment via television to the
fullest extent possible through
technology.
Requires that all new televisions with
at least a 13-inch screen have the
built-in capacity to display closed-
captioned TV transmissions.
For more information, visit:
http://www.access-board.gov/sec508/guide/1194.24.htm

11. www.fctd.info
Telecommunications Act of 1996
Title I – Public Law 104-104 [47 USC 255]
 Requires that telecommunications equipment and services be accessible to
and usable by individuals with disabilities.
 Telecommunication products covered include:
 Wired and wireless telecommunication devices (telephones, cellular phones,
pagers, and fax machines)
 Other products that have a telecommunication service capability such as
computers with modems
 Equipment that carriers use to provide services, such as a phone company’s
switching equipment
Title II – Public Law 104-104 [47 USC 613]
 Discusses rules concerning closed captions and video descriptions of
video programming
For more information about this law, visit:
http://www.access-board.gov/about/laws/telecomm.htm
http://www.fcc.gov/telecom.html

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Federal Government Procurement of
Accessible Information Technology
Public Law 105-220 Section 408 [29 USC 794 (d)]
Individuals with disabilities
cannot be excluded from
participation in, be denied the
benefits of, or be subjected to
discrimination under any
program or activity receiving
Federal financial assistance or
under any program or activity
conducted by any Executive
agency or by the United States
Postal Service.
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode29/usc_sec_29_00000794---d000-.htmlhttp://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode29/usc_sec_29_00000794---d000-.html

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Workforce Investment Act of 1998
Public Law 105-220 [29 USC 701]
This law defines technology in the vocational
rehabilitation process and mandates its use in
job planning, acquisition and retention of people
with disabilities.
For more information about the Workforce
Investment Act of 1998, see:
http://www.doleta.gov/usworkforce/wia/act.cfm

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Additional Resources
Family Center on Technology and Disability
http://www.fctd.info
WrightsLaw
http://www.wrightslaw.com
National Disability Rights Network
http://www.napas.org/
A Guide to Disability Rights Law – U.S. Department of Justice
http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/cguide.htm
American Association of People with Disabilities
http://www.aapd-dc.org/
Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities
http://www.c-c-d.org/
Many states have their own Disability Law or Protection and Advocacy Organizations.
Links to these sites can be found on the Family Center on Technology and
Disability’s Website under Member Organizations.

15. www.fctd.info
Family Center on Technology and Disability
Academy for Educational Development (AED)
1825 Connecticut Avenue, NW
7th
Floor
Washington, DC 20009-5721
phone: (202) 884-8068
fax: (202) 884-8441
email: fctd@aed.org