1973 Rehabilitation Act Clauses

1973 Rehabilitation Act is the most long-standing Federal Law of The United States about civil rights related to disabled people.

This law prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities from occurring in public and private sector programs and activities that receive financial assistance from the federal government. Besides, the law also regulates programs and activities conducted by the federal government, including all federal agencies and the United States postal service. A notable feature of this law is its wide coverage.

The law utilizes to all forms of disability and to sectors ranging from transport, education to health care. The law also provides a brief provision (only about 70 words) that prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities.

In May 2016, modifying process was carried out when the US Department of Health and Human Services released its citizenship provisions under the Affordable Care Act. (ACA), which applies federal civil rights laws. In here, including Section 504, to private health insurance companies established under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

504 clause is an essential  premise of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which describes both the scope of Section 504 and the model for dividing administration and enforcement powers among the various federal agencies.

 Although Section 504 is perhaps the most famous part of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act, other parts of the Act are also important.

• Section 501 requires federal agencies of the executive branch to provide forms of assistance to people with disabilities. Besides, this clause prohibits discriminate against people with disabilities in their hiring practices.

• 503 Clause sets forth similar hiring practices requirements for federal government contractors and subcontractors to a certain extent.

• Section 508 requires that the electronics and information technology industry developed, maintained, purchased, or used by the federal government be accessible to people with disabilities, including employees of public agencies and citizen.

Section 508 is an amendment to the Workforce Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which U.S. President Bill Clinton signed into law in 1998.

Section 508 requires U.S. federal departments only to build, procure, maintain or use electronic and information technologies accessible to persons with disabilities, unless doing so places too much burden on ministries. 

This requirement also applies to content on websites; federal officials and employees with disabilities have the same access and use of information as their colleagues. This requirement also applies to residents seeking information and services from federal departments.

Under this Act, the Architectural and Transportation Compliance Committee (also known as the American Accessibility Commission) consults with key federal ministries and issues specific accessibility standards at least in within eight months after the 1998 revised Rehabilitation Law was promulgated. These standards will apply to federal departments.

Section 508 does not directly apply to the private sector, including private entities that receive federal funds or financial assistance. However, the scope of section 508 is not inadequate to activities and programs that use federal funds, at least in two respects:

1. The federal government is the one that does a lot of procurement in electronics and information technology. Under this Act, the federal government must purchase systems that are accessible to people with disabilities. Therefore,  require private companies to design and sell accessible information and electronic technology systems. for PWDs.

2. All states that receive funding under the Assistive Technologies Act of 1998 are required to sign a federal pledge that states will be required to fully implement Section 508 before federal appropriations can be made. Several states have pioneered and enacted state legislation implementing Section 508 for state agencies.

Federal government employees with disabilities and individuals with disabilities can promote Section 508 enforcement in one of three ways:

1. Anyone can file a complaint with a federal department or agency that is accused of a Section 508 violation.

2. Anyone can file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Civil Rights.

3. And finally, anyone can file a lawsuit in a federal district court. Since 2001, the Attorney General of the United States must report to the President and Congress every two years on the status of people with disabilities’ access to electronic and information technology. Morover,  summarize the situation, settlement of lawsuits and complaints against federal departments related to the implementation of Section 508.