The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law by President George Bush on July 26, 1990. The law prohibited discrimination against the disabled by employers and required that commercial establishments, public accommodations, and mass transportation be made accessible to disabled persons. The various provisions of the ADA went into effect between January 26, 1992, and July 26, 1994.

The ADA was widely touted as the first civil rights protection for people with physical and mental disabilities. Disability-rights activists argue that in the past, the disabled have been held back more by prejudice and lack of access than by their physical limitations. A 1986 poll, for example, found that 66 percent of people with disabilities were unemployed, even though the majority considered themselves able and willing to work. In the same poll, 40 percent said that they frequently encountered physical barriers that barred their access to public...