Letter of Transmittal

July 26, 2007

The President
The White House
Washington , DC 20500

Dear Mr. President:

The National Council on Disability (NCD) is charged with gathering information about the implementation, effectiveness, and impact of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). In keeping with this requirement, I submit this new report, entitledImplementation of the ADA : Challenges, Best Practices, and New Opportunities for Success. This report reflects the experiences and ideas of ADA stakeholders from around the country, including small and large businesses, employers, judges and legal professionals, governmental entities, and individuals with disabilities, concerning ADA implementation. Through this extensive stakeholder input, NCD learned of the many strategies for ADA implementation that have been successful, as well as obstacles that are preventing ADA implementation.

One important finding is that meaningful ADA implementation is both possible and practicable. Some effective ADA implementation practices were identified that can serve as models and that illustrate how diverse covered entities are going about making the promise of the ADA a reality. However, in many areas, the ADA remains unimplemented, and gaps in information, knowledge, and interest in complying with the ADA still exist. Therefore, this study also focused on understanding why certain sectors of our society have made little progress in ADA implementation and on developing recommendations to address those implementation gaps.

The ADA implementation report contains extensive recommendations for improving ADA implementation, and NCD remains committed to working with the Administration, Congress, and the public to achieve the promise of the ADA for all Americans—the elimination of disability-based discrimination in all aspects of society.

Sincerely,

John R. Vaughn

Chairperson

National Council on Disability Members and Staff

Members
John R. Vaughn , Chairperson
Patricia Pound , First Vice Chairperson
Glenn Anderson, Ph.D., Second Vice Chairperson
Milton Aponte, J.D.
Victoria Ray Carlson
Chad
Colley
Robert R. Davila , Ph.D.
Graham Hill
Young Woo Kang, Ph.D. 
Kathleen Martinez
Lisa Mattheiss
Anne M. Rader
Marco Rodriguez
Cynthia Wainscott
Linda Wetters

Staff
Michael C. Collins, Executive Director
Martin Gould, Ed.D., Director of Research and Technology
Mark S. Quigley, Director of Communications
Julie Carroll, Senior Attorney Advisor
Joan M. Durocher, Senior Attorney Advisor
Geraldine Drake Hawkins, Ph.D., Senior Program Analyst
Mark Seifarth, Congressional Liaison
Pamela O'Leary, Sign Language Interpreter
Brenda Bratton, Executive Assistant
Stacey S. Brown, Staff Assistant
Carla Nelson, Secretary

Acknowledgments

The National Council on Disability wishes to express its appreciation to Susan Henderson, Managing Director, Mary Lou Breslin, Senior Policy Advisor, Silvia Yee, Staff Attorney, and Marilyn Golden, Policy Analyst, Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF), Linda Toms Barker, Principal Research Analyst and Kathleen P. Magill, Senior Analyst, Berkeley Policy Associates, and Karen Peltz Strauss, KPS Consulting, for conducting the ADA Implementation Study and for drafting this report.