Equal Opportunity & Diversity Office

The Americans with Disabilities Act: Questions & Answers

1. What is the ADA?

The Americans With Disability Act is a federal civil rights law enacted on July 26, 1990. It is intended to protect qualified persons with disabilities from discrimination in employment, government services and programs, transportation, public accommodations, and telecommunications. The ADA supplements and complements other federal and state laws which protect persons with disabilities

2. Who is covered under the ADA?

A "disability" is defined as a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. A person is considered disabled if the person has such a physical or mental impairment, has a record of such an impairment, or is regarded as having such an impairment. "Disability" covers a wide range of conditions and includes mobility, vision, hearing, or speech impairments, learning disabilities, chronic health conditions, emotional illnesses, AIDS, HIV positive, and a history of alcoholism or prior substance abuse.

3. What support programs and services exist at the UMass Amherst Campus for persons with disabilities?

There are several on-campus programs which provide support and advocacy for students with disabilities. The specific program that one would contact would depend on the nature of the disability; the programs most directly involved with students are listed as follows:

Disability Services:

Disability Services was established in 1973 to provide special support services and advocacy for academically qualified disabled students and staff. Services are provided for persons with disabilities that affect attention, sight, hearing, learning, medical, mobility, or physical abilities. Examples of services provided include, but are not limited to, interpreters, transportation, test accommodations and tutors. The office also provides technical assistance to supervisors regarding reasonable accommodation for disabled employees.

Disability Services is located in 231 Whitmore Administration Bldg., University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003. Telephone: (413) 545-0892.

Psychological Disabilities Services:

The Program for Students with Psychological and Medical Disabilities was established in 1992 to provide academic support services for students with psychological disabilities. Services include designing and assistance in implementing reasonable accommodations to meet the academic requirements of the University. Such support is provided through a case management model where each student eligible for service is assigned a case manager. The office for this program is located in the 123 Berkshire House, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003. Telephone: (413) 545-0333.

Assistive Technologies Center:

The ATC is open to any member of the University community or Commonwealth of Massachusetts, who has an ADA defined disability and requires an accommodation such as retrieval of materials from the stacks, photocopying, large print user guides, scanning assistance, screen readers, text enhancements, and text enlargers. The goal of the Assistive Technologies Center is to provide a seamless integration of services to clients, tapping the expertise of OIT, Library, Learning Disabilities Support Services (LDSS), and Disability Services (DS) staff. The Assistive Technologies Center, is located on the main (reference) floor of the W.E.B. Du Bois Library, one floor below the entrance floor.

4. What other ADA resources are available?

•Accessible Web Page Design Resource List

•Resource List of ADA Related Federal Government and National Sites

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Last updated April, 2006. Accessed times since June 16, 1998. This is an official page of the University of Massachusetts Amherst Campus. Copyright © 1998 eod@admin.umass.edu