The federal disability laws which have the most direct bearing on colleges and universities are the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The primary purpose of these laws is to ensure equal access and equal opportunity for individuals with disabilities.

An individual with a disability is defined as:

• A person who has a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits a major life activity (including caring for oneself, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, reproducing, breathing, sleeping, learning, thinking, concentrating, and working).

• A person who has a record of such an impairment (e.g., someone with a history of alcohol addiction who is in recovery and no longer drinking, but is discriminated against because of that past history)

• A person who is regarded as having such an impairment (e.g., someone with a disfiguring scar who is discriminated against in the way others respond to her/his appearance)

By definition, disability does not include: current use of illegal drugs, compulsive gambling, kleptomania, pyromania, transvestism, transsexualism, pedophilia, exhibitionism, voyeurism, gender identity disorders not resulting from physical impairments, or other sexual behavior disorders.

Important provisions of ADA and Section 504 regulations include the following:

1. Colleges and universities may not limit the number of students with disabilities accepted.

2. Preadmission inquiries about whether or not an applicant is disabled are prohibited.

3. Rules and policies cannot be established that adversely impact students with disabilities.

4. A qualified student with a disability may not be excluded from university activities, services, or academic programs. Qualified individuals include:

   1. Students who meet the qualifications for entry into the particular school or program (with or without reasonable accommodations)

   2. Parents or members of the public who have a disability, and are attending a function at the university (e.g., admission, graduation, or athletic events, performances, other functions open to parents and/or members of the public)

5. Individuals who pose a direct threat to the health or safety of others can be excluded from participation.

6. If a student desires accommodation of a disability, it is the student's responsibility to inform the college or school of the disability, and to provide appropriate documentation.

7. The university is responsible for providing reasonable accommodations in order to afford the student an equal opportunity to participate in the university’s activities, services, and programs. Reasonable accommodations may include such things as:

   1. Relocating a class from an inaccessible to an accessible location

   2. Permission to audiotape class lectures

   3. Allowing a student who uses a guide dog to keep the guide dog on campus

   4. Providing printed materials/media in accessible formats (e.g., in Braille, on audiotape, or in large print)

   5. Making sure that internships, externships, placements, field trips, research projects, and other university-sponsored programs are accessible to students with disabilities

   6. Equipping computer labs with disability-accessible software and hardware (e.g., text-to-speech, speech-to-text, screen enlargers, screen reader software, adaptive keyboards)

   7. Making websites accessible (see www.rit.edu/~easi/webkit.htm,
      www-3.ibm.com/able/access.html, and www.cast.org/bobby/)

8. Reasonable accommodations need to be determined on a case by case basis, rather than applying a "cookie cutter" approach based on category of disability.

9. Academic requirements that are essential to a program are not discriminatory, and do not need to be modified. A student must be qualified to perform the essential requirements of an academic program in spite of a disability. The burden is on the university to show that a given requirement is essential.

10. Nonessential academic requirements may need to be modified to ensure that they do not discriminate against students with disabilities.

11. Exams and evaluations must be done in a way that best ensures the results reflect the student's achievement rather than his/her disability. For example, certain students with disabilities may need one or more of the following:

    1. Additional time on tests

    2. Permission to take tests in a distraction-reduced setting

    3. Essay exams instead of multiple-choice exams

    4. Use of a computer during exams

    5. A reader for exam questions (or an audiotape of the exam questions)
       

    This is not an exhaustive list. Other testing accommodations may be necessary and appropriate.

12. The institution will provide needed auxiliary aids (e.g., access to taped textbooks, interpreters), but is not required to provide services of a personal nature (e.g., a personal attendant). Accommodations that fundamentally alter a program or create an undue hardship on the university do not have to be made. However, undue economic hardship is considered from the perspective of the entire university budget, rather than the budget of an individual school, department, or program.

13. Surcharges to cover the cost of disability accommodations cannot be imposed solely on students with disabilities. (However, such costs could be assessed to the entire student body.)

14. Students with disabilities have the right to participate in the most integrated settings possible.

15. Students have the right to refuse accommodation (e.g., they do not have to use the accommodations which have been approved for them).

16. Students with disabilities may not be counseled toward more restrictive career options. Students can be informed of the requirements of a given career, and the difficulties they may encounter, but cannot be counseled away from an area of interest simply because of their disability.

17. The university is responsible for ensuring that services provided by outside contractors are not discriminatory.

18. It is unlawful to retaliate against, coerce, threaten, intimidate, or interfere with persons exercising their rights under the ADA, or persons who aide or encourage others to exercise such rights.

Adapted from:
Jarrow, J. (1992). The ADA’s impact on post secondary education. Columbus, OH: AHEAD.
Thompson Publishing Group. (1999). ADA Compliance Guide. Washington, D.C.:Author.