This study examines the perceptions of people with disabilities as to the effectiveness of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in regard to accessibility issues covered by Titles II, III, and IV. In analyzing the influence of the independent variables (disability type, age of onset of disability, disability organization membership, and employment status) on perceptions of the ADA's effectiveness, most of the results were not statistically significant. However, differences among the three titles did emerge from the analysis. Title II (public sector) was rated somewhat higher than Title III (private sector) in improved accessibility of covered entities since the passage of the ADA. However, in neither case did a majority of respondents rate accessibility issues covered by these titles as better. In contrast, a majority of respondents rated Title IV (telecommunications) as better. Reasons for the perceived differences among the titles are discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq.
2.
Blanck, P.D. (1995). Assessing five years of employment integration and economic opportunity under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Mental and Physical Disability Law Reporter, 19, 384-392.
3.
Bullock, C.S., & Lamb, C.U. (1984). Implementation of civil rights policy. Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole.
4.
Buys, N.J., & Fried, J.H. (1994). Employers' level of knowledge of the Americans with Disabilities Act and its impact on their workers' compensation practices. Journal of RehabilitationAdministration, 18, 241-253.
5.
Condrey, S.E., & Brudney, J.L. (1998). The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990: Assessing its implementation in America's largest cities. American Review of Public Administration, 28, 26-42.
6.
Feldblum, C.R. (1991). The Americans with Disabilities Act definition of disability. The Labor Lawyer, 7(1), 11-26.
7.
Finn, J., & Pfeiffer, D. (1995a). Compliance by local governments in the U.S. with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Boston: Suffolk University.
8.
Finn, J., & Pfeiffer, D. (1995b). State government compliance in the U.S. with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Boston: Suffolk University.
9.
Gardner, R.H., & Campanella, C.J. (1991). The undue hardship defense to the reasonable accommodation requirement of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. The Labor Lawyer, 7(1), 37-51.
10.
Hahn, H. (1987). Advertising the acceptable employable image: Disability and capitalism. Policy Studies Journal, 15, 551-570.
11.
Hasler, F. (1993). Developments in the disabled people's movement . In J. Swain, V. Finkelstein, S. French, & M. Oliver (Eds.), Disabling barriers-Enabling environments (pp. 278-284). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
12.
Johnson, W.G., & Baldwin, M. (1993). The Americans with Disabilities Act: Will it make a difference?Policy Studies Journal, 21, 775-788.
13.
Kalton, G., & Anderson, D.W. (1986). Sampling rare populations . Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, 149(1),65-82.
14.
Koch, E.I. (1993). The mandate millstone. In L. J. O'Toole (Ed.), American intergovernmental relations: Foundations, perspectives, and issues (2nd ed., pp. 297-304). Washington, DC: CQ Press.
15.
Kregel, J., & Tomiyasu, Y. (1994). Employers' attitudes toward workers with disabilities: Effect of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 4, 165-173.
16.
LaPlante, M.P. (1991). The demographics of disability. In J. West (Ed.), The Americans with Disabilities Act: From policy to practice (pp. 55-77). New York: Milbank Memorial Fund.
17.
McFadden, M.E. (1997). ADA—Is the glass empty or...?Trial, 33(12), 28-35.
18.
McGuire, J.F. (1994). Organizing from diversity in the name of community: Lessons from the disability civil rights movement. Policy Studies Journal, 22(1),112-122.
19.
National Council on Disability. (1993). ADA Watch—Year one: A Report to the President and the Congress on progress in implementing the Americans with Disabilities Act. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
20.
National Council on Disability. (1995a). The Americans with Disabilities Act: Ensuring equal access to the American dream. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
21.
National Council on Disability. ( 1995b). Voices of freedom: America speaks out on the ADA. A report to the President and Congress. Washington, DC : U.S. Government Printing Office.
22.
National Council on Disability. (1996). Achieving independence: The challenge for the 21st century. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
23.
National Council on Disability. (1997). Removing barriers to work: Action proposals for the 105th congress and beyond . Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
24.
National Council on Disability. (1999). Lift every voice: Modernizing disability policies and programs to serve a diverse nation. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
25.
National Council on Disability. (2000). Promises to keep: A decade of federal enforcement of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
26.
National Council on Disability. (2001). The accessible future. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
27.
National Organization on Disability, & Louis Harris and Associates. (1995). Survey on employment of people with disabilities. Washington, DC: Author.
28.
National Organization on Disability, & Louis Harris and Associates. (1998). Survey of Americans with disabilities. Washington, DC: Author .
29.
O'Connell, L. (1991). Investigators at work: How bureaucratic and legal constraints influence the enforcement of discrimination law. Public Administration Review, 51, 123-130.
30.
Palumbo, D.J. (1992). Bucking the tide: Policy studies in political science, 1978-1988. In W. N. Dunn & R. M. Kelly (Eds.), Advances in policy studies since 1950 (pp. 59-119). New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction.
31.
Percy, S.L. (1993). The ADA: Expanding mandates for disability rights . Inter-governmental Perspective, 19(1), 11-14.
Pfeiffer, D. (1993). Overview of the disability movement: History, legislative record, and political implications. Policy Studies Journal, 21 (4), 724-734.
34.
Pfeiffer, D. (1994). The Americans with Disabilities Act: Costly mandates or civil rights?Disability and Society, 9, 533-542.
35.
President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities. (1994). Operation People First: Toward a national disability policy. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
36.
President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities. (1995). Survey on the employment of people with disabilities. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
37.
Sabatier, P., & Mazmanian, D. (1980). The implementation of public policy: A framework of analysis. Policy Studies Journal, 8, 538-561.
38.
Sampson, A.R. (1997). Surveying individuals with disabilities. In B. D. Spencer (Ed.), Statistics and public policy (pp. 162∼179). New York: Oxford University Press.
39.
Shapiro, J. (1994). Disability policy and the media: A stealth civil rights movement bypasses the press and defies conventional wisdom. Policy Studies Journal, 22, 123-132.
40.
Strauss, K.P. (1991). Implementing the telecommunications provisions . In J. West (Ed.), The Americans with Disabilities Act: From policy to practice (pp. 238-267). New York: Milbank Memorial Fund.
41.
Taylor, S.J., & Bogdan, R. (1993). Promises made and promises to be broken. In P. Wehman (Ed.), The ADA mandate for social change (pp. 255-268). Baltimore: Brookes.
42.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. (1995). Statistical abstract of the United States. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
43.
U.S. Congress. (1989). Americans with Disabilities Act Bill. Congressional Quarterly Almanac. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
44.
U.S. Congress. (1990). Americans with Disabilities Act Bill. Congressional Quarterly Almanac. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
45.
U.S. General Accounting Office. (1994). Americans with Disabilities Act: Effects of the law on access to goods and services. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
46.
Watson, S.D. (1993). A study in legislative strategy: The passage of the ADA. In L. O. Gostin & H. A. Beyer (Eds.), Implementing the Americans with Disabilities Act (pp. 25-34). Baltimore: Brookes.
47.
Weirich, C.G. (1991). Reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Labor Lawyer, 7(1), 27-36.
48.
West, J. (1994). Federal implementation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, 1991-1994. New York: Milbank Memorial Fund.
49.
Worthington, B. (1994, June). How workers who have disabilities perceive the employment provisions of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act. Paper presented at the Society for Disability Studies Annual Conference , Rockville, MD.
