By: Patrick Gallardo
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
That sentiment brings us all to a certain level of nostalgia. Where did the time go? What do you remember? What awaits us in the next chapter? For some it’s a rather cold reminder of time marching on. For some it’s a celebration tinged with excitement for the future. The American Disabilities Act just turned 25 this year. We at Breakthrough are in the latter category. It’s a celebration!
So, Happy Birthday to you ADA!
In all frankness we do have a nagging question about this particular birthday. What in the world took so long? Dating back to a time before the ADA was born, one particular story involves a soldier returning from the Vietnam War in the 70s. He became paralyzed from the neck down in what turned out to be the result of an unfortunate case of mistaken identity. What happened after the war turned out to be harder than having been there. Society didn’t embrace his return and frankly we weren’t prepared to make the necessary accommodations. Fast forward to 1990 with the passing of ADA and as a result and as we reflect, ramps and curbs have been made and reshaped. ATMs now have audio ports and braille. Ah, but now we were veering into technology.
Although the internet had been around for quite some time by then in one form or another, the explosion and life-changing event that was the introduction of the World Wide Web was an incident we couldn’t have planned for in 1990. The fact is though, the ADA must embrace that reality due to that extraordinarily society-changing event. According to Katarina Klenner and her Labor and Employment blog, in 2016 the Justice Department will release a proposed rule on website accessibility. How will you prepare? We at Breakthrough Technologies will be prepared and anticipate the announcement with enthusiasm. It’s simply the right thing to do.
Happy Birthday! Pop the champagne and celebrate! We look forward with great anticipation to a wonderful 2016!