The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, a major civil rights law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of disability, establishes design requirements for the construction or alteration of facilities.

What does ADA cover?

It covers facilities in the private sector (places of public accommodation and commercial facilities) and the public sector (state and local government facilities). Under the ADA, the U.S. Access Board, an independent Federal agency, is responsible for accessibility guidelines covering newly built and altered facilities.

In 1991, the Board published the ADA Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG) which serve as the basis for standards used to enforce the law.

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