Federal U.S. legislation enacted in 1990 to provide for, among other rights, physical access for disabled persons to public accommodations and commercial facilities, mandated in new construction and requiring retrofitting for existing buildings.
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| Long title | An Act to establish a clear and comprehensive prohibition of discrimination on the basis of disability |
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| Acronyms (colloquial) | ADA |
| Nicknames | Americans with Disabilities Act of 1989 |
| Enacted by | the 101st United States Congress |
| Effective | July 26, 1990 |
| Citations | |
| Public law | 101-336 |
| Statutes at Large | 104 Stat. 327 |
| Codification | |
| Titles amended | 42 U.S.C.: Public Health and Social Welfare |
| U.S.C. sections created | 42 U.S.C. ch. 126 § 12101 et seq. |
| Legislative history | |
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| Major amendments | |
| ADA Amendments Act of 2008 | |
| United States Supreme Court cases | |
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Bragdon v. Abbott Olmstead v. L.C. Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky, Inc. v. Williams | |
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. § 12101) 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. 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 1986, the National Council on Disability had recommended enactment of an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and drafted the first version of the bill which was introduced in the House and Senate in 1988. The final version of the bill was signed into law on July 26, 1990, by President George H. W. Bush. It was later amended in 2008 and signed by President George W. Bush with changes effective as of January 1, 2009.