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On July 26, 1990, I attended the historic White House ceremony where President George H. W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). At the time, I didnt think about how different life for disabled Americans might be today, thirty-two years later. I just wanted to enjoy the victorious day and wait until tomorrow to think about what happens next.

Back then, I wasnt so nave as to think that the ADA would fix everything. But I couldnt have had a sense of the absurd sharp enough to have predicted that the power of the ADA would be tested in the manner it is being tested now.

I could never have guessed that someday there would be companies like Uber with brutally libertarian business models that harshly clash with the ADA. Its hard enough for a wheelchair user like me to get an Uber ride because drivers use private vehicles and almost none of them are wheelchair accessible. And on top of that, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit late last year accusing Uber of charging extra fees to many disabled customers, a violation of Title III of the ADA.

The lawsuit stated that since 2016, Uber added an additional fee to some disabled people who took more than two minutes to get loaded into the vehicle and ready to ride. The lawsuit said disabled people may often need additional loading time for many reasons, including that they might also have a mobility device like a wheelchair or walker that may need to be folded or disassembled.

And hell, a lot of the time we just move slower than other people.

Earlier this month, the Department of Justice announced a settlement with Uber in which the company agreed to forego charging waiting fees to anyone that certifies that they or someone with whom they frequently ride may require extra boarding time due to a disability. The announcement also said Uber would pay nearly $1.8 million to more than 1,000 riders who complained to the company about being charged wait time fees because of a disability.

I also never would have foreseen that someday a vast amount of goods, services, and information would be obtained via a virtual global marketplace known as the Internet. But today it is a whole new frontier of ADA violations.

Disabled folks often find that websites arent accessible to them, especially blind people who cant access information thats only presented visually. For example , if a website is incompatible with the screen reader a blind person uses, written or graphic information will not be converted into speech. Thats as aggravating, insulting, and disadvantageous as encountering a brick and mortar establishment that isnt accessible.

According to the law firm Seyfarth Shaw, nearly 2,900 federal web accessibility lawsuits were filed in 2021, compared to slightly more than 800 in 2017.

I guess this is how its always going to be. The ADA will always be a work in progress. Who knows what challenges it will face in the future? But at least it gives disabled folks a fighting chance at achieving justice.

See the article here:
Smart Ass Cripple: The ADA's Bittersweet Anniversary - Progressive.org