GCDD Celebrates the ADA 25th Anniversary!

The Americans with Disabilities Act, 1990-2015Throughout 2015, the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) has been celebrating the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) which was signed into law 25 years ago on July 26, 1990 by President George H. W. Bush.

GCDD's Disability Day in March was themed “Fulfilling the Promise of the ADA” and commemorated this civil rights legislation for people with disabilities with speeches from Governor Nathan Deal and US Rep. John Lewis. GCDD Executive Director Eric E. Jacobson kicked off the event with a rousing speech highlighting the importance of how the ADA and the civil rights efforts of the 1960s were tied together.

For five days in May, Jacobson joined veteran disability rights photographer Tom Olin as "co-pilot" of the ADA25 Legacy Tour Bus, a national traveling exhibit designed to educate, build excitement and maintain the legacy of the 25th anniversary of the ADA. They returned to the Atlanta area on Friday, May 15 and were welcomed with fanfare at the Mobility Expo in Norcross, which featured technologies, products and services that enhance quality of life and independence for people with disabilities.

In June, the ADA25 Georgia Legacy Parade brought together disability advocates, local community organizations and national leaders in downtown Atlanta to pay homage to the ADA 25th anniversary with a full parade. Gwinnett County’s Shiloh High School Drum Corps performed along the route and marched into Centennial Park where national speakers Simi Linton and Claudia Gordon, plus Full Radius Dance, a fully-integrated, professional dance company closed out the event.

Coinciding with local ADA 25th anniversary activities in May and June, Atlanta hosted several national and international conferences related to disability including the National ADA Symposium, the 2015 Summer Institute on Theology and Disability and the annual conference for the Society for Disability Studies (SDS). GCDD supported several of these events and partnered with the SDS to host an annual meeting pre-conference program, the Disability and Social Justice Summit.

NOW AVAILABLE - ADA Video with Dual Accessibility Features! The GCDD has prepared a salute to the ADA in the following video, which is now both open captioned for the hearing impaired and equipped with "Descriptive Audio” technology to make it more accessible to the visually impaired. The technology involves transmitting an audio description of scenes, providing an additional track of narration during natural pauses in the video. It describes the action and provides context when there is no dialogue to guide the viewer.

Check out the GCDD"s Public Service Announcement (Captioned) recognizing the 25th Anniversary of the ADA.