Purpose of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) 

Congress stated the purpose of the ADA is "to provide a clear and comprehensive national mandate for the elimination of discrimination against individuals with disabilities."

ADA Overview

• The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) became law in 1990. The ADA is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life, including jobs, schools, transportation, and all public and private places that are open to the general public.
  
  
• The US Rehabilitation Act of 1973 was amended in 1986 and again in 1998 to include all information technology, including computer hardware, software and documentation. These amendments also created enforcement measure developed with US Federal funding or for US government agencies. The amendments are known as Section 508 and they dictated specific accommodations for various types of content.
  
  
• The Department of Justice (DOJ) published the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Standards for Accessible Design in September 2010. These standards state that all electronic and information technology must be accessible to people with disabilities.
  
  
• The ADA differs from Section 508 regulations, which are an amendment of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and apply to all information technology, including computer hardware, software and documentation.

Definition of Disability

The ADA prohibits discrimination against what it terms a "qualified person with a disability."  The term "disability" means, with respect to an individual: "a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities of such individual; a record of such an impairment; or being regarded as having such an impairment. Major life activities include, but are not limited to, caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, seeing, hearing, eating, sleeping, walking, standing, lifting, bending, speaking, breathing, learning, reading, concentrating, thinking, communicating, and working.

Examples of Disabilities

• Visually (in our realm color contrast and font)
• Hearing impairment (partial or total)
• Physically (limb movement difficulties or dismemberment)
• Cognitive and Sensory (Dyslexia, flashing, moving, or blinking items)

WCAG 2.0 covers a wide range of recommendations for making Web content more accessible.  Following these guidelines will make content accessible to a wider range of people with disabilities, including blindness and low vision, deafness and hearing loss, learning dualities, cognitive limitations, limited movement, speech disabilities, photosensitivity, and combinations of these. Following these guidelines will also often make your Web content more usable to users in general.

• Level A (minimum): the most basic web accessibility features
• Level AA (mid-range): deals with the biggest and most common barriers for disabled users
• Level AAA (highest): the highest level of web accessibility

• Is the content organized? Does it flow from top to bottom or left to right?
• Can I easily navigate this site without a mouse?
• Is my page considerate of different disabilities?