35 Years of Promoting Voluntary Compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act

The Great Lakes ADA Center Celebrates 35 Years of Promoting Voluntary Compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act

July 26, 2025 marks the 35th Anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This comprehensive law bestowed civil rights protections on people with disabilities similar to those provided on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, age, and religion. The ADA guarantees equal opportunity for people with disabilities in employment, access to businesses, transportation and telecommunications as well as state and local government programs and services. This year, we celebrate three and a half decades of ADA protections and the many milestones reached by the disability community thanks to this important law. Here are some of the most recent ADA milestones:

• The U.S. Access Board’s Final Rule on Public Right-of-Way Accessibility Guidelines (PROWAG)
• Adopted by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) on December 18, 2024
• The Department of Justice’s Final Rule on Web and Mobile Applications under Title II of the ADA
• The Department of Justice’s Final Rule on Medical Diagnostic Equipment Used by State and Local Governments under Title II of the ADA

The Great Lakes ADA Center joins the disability community in celebrating these important achievements as we look ahead and continue our fight for a more accessible future. The Great Lakes ADA Center is one of the 10 regional centers that make up the ADA National Network and serves six states: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin. The goal of the Center is to increase ADA awareness and knowledge with the ultimate goal of promoting voluntary compliance with the law. This is accomplished through customized training, technical assistance, and ADA resources. While not an enforcement or regulatory agency themselves, the Great Lakes ADA Center serves a key role in promoting and supporting compliance under the ADA amongst various businesses, architecture firms, employers, state and local governments as well as a broad range of disability partners and advocates throughout the Midwest.

As part of their mission, the Great Lakes ADA Center funds a network of State Affiliates within each of the six states in their region. The mission of the Affiliates is to enhance and utilize local resources, training opportunities, technical assistance, and conferences to promote voluntary compliance with the ADA on the state and local level.

Each Affiliate provides the following services:

• Education, training, and topic specific presentations
• Connection to a network of local and national agencies
• Publications with information on employment, accessibility, reasonable accommodations, etc.

More information regarding our Affiliates can be found at:

For more information about the Great Lakes ADA Center, please call 1-800-949-4232 (V/TTY), 312-413-1856 (Fax) or visit our website at http://www.adagreatlakes.org. You can also reach us via Text/SMS at 872-298-1019.