Ways to Celebrate: State Resources for Celebrating the Americans with Disabilities Act

States continuously work to improve and evolve their policies regarding disability, and the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) provides the perfect opportunity to engage in conversations around accessibility, workplace accommodations and beyond. To highlight the importance of the ADA and the work that follows its passing, states can celebrate by:

• Scheduling social media campaigns and posts

• Signing a proclamation with inclusive ADA 30th anniversary language

• Signing an executive order establishing the state as a model employer with inclusive ADA 30th anniversary language

• Establishing a state task force

• Performing a statewide assessment of state websites for accessibility

• Conducting disability etiquette training for state government employees

• Hiring a state ADA coordinator

Online Resources

Funded by a grant from the Administration for Community Living’s National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation, a website marking the 30th anniversary of the ADA (adaanniversary.org) is a great resource for states to begin planning how they will salute this landmark and find creative ways to highlight the groundbreaking civil rights legislation for people with disabilities. This online resource highlights the many ways states can celebrate, inform, learn from and share the unique role the ADA has played in bringing about inclusive policies and regulations in the states.

Utilizing Social Media

A coordinated social media campaign can be impactful to showcase the ways your state is celebrating this anniversary. Think creatively when it comes to generating content, and use existing resources to establish effective content that educates about the ADA, highlights the impact on people with disabilities and recognizes workplaces that have benefitted from the inclusion of people with disabilities. The Campaign for Disability Employment, a U.S. Department of Labor initiative, created four powerful public service announcements to help states highlight the impact of the ADA. Access and share those at whatcanyoudocampaign.org.

The ADA 30th anniversary website offers a social media toolkit (adaanniversary.org/media-kit-ada-social-media). This resource notes ways to make your content accessible for all users, and it can help coordinate social media posts to match the ADA30 celebration through existing hashtags.

Issue a Proclamation

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) created sample proclamations for states to use to enumerate their support and promise to uphold the tenets of the ADA. Those can be accessed at adaanniversary.org/ sample_proclamation. The State Exchange on Employment and Disability (SEED), funded by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy, wrote a descriptive proclamation for use by policymakers and government leaders. It can be found at issuu.com/ csg.publications/docs/seed_sample_ada_30th_anniversary_proclamation_3.17.

Executive Orders

A proclamation is a great way to show support for the ADA, and an executive order mandating the state’s continued efforts to improve inclusivity and to establish the state as a model employer to protect the participation of people with disabilities is vital to statewide priority setting. SEED also provides draft executive orders — available at issuu.com/csg.publications/docs/seed_sample_ ada_30th_anniversary_eo_or_jt_resoluti — that states can use to launch State as Model Employer programs (SAME).

Several states have successfully enacted executive orders and state legislation that established the state as a model employer. In 2018, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order combating harassment in the workplace and setting the priority of diversity and inclusion for all people, including people with disabilities, with reference to the ADA. In 2009, the Massachusetts Disability Task Force on Employment released a strategic plan to establish the state as a model employer. It sought to create more inclusive opportunities for people with disabilities in the state executive branch.

Hashtags used to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the ADA include:

#ThanksToTheADA

#ADAAnniversary

#ADA30

#ADANational

#CSGCelebratesADA30