Tactile Warning Americans with Disability Act

The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's gave rise to other civil rights movements, most notably the Women's Rights Movement and the Disability Rights Movement. While minorities and women were protected by civil rights legislation passed by the United States Congress during the 1960's, the rights of people with disabilities were not protected by federal legislation until much later.

The ADA grew out of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's. During that decade, three major pieces of civil rights legislation were passed by the United States Congress.

However, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 did not protect people with disabilities. Discrimination against people with disabilities would not be addressed until 1973 when Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 became law and later still in 1990 when the ADA was passed.

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 prohibits discrimination on the basis of a disability towards otherwise qualified people with disabilities by recipients of federal financial assistance. But Section 504 did not protect people with disabilities from discrimination by employers, by public accommodations in the private sector, by publicly funded programs and by those providing federal financial assistance. It took the ADA to address these areas not covered by Section 504.

In 1990 a tactile warning was passed by Americans with Disability Act also known as ADAAG or the Americans with Disability Act Accessibility Guidelines for the visually impaired community. The tactile warning along with Americans with Disability Act introduced the truncated domes to America. After some criticism the law was suspended until July 26, 2001 to study if truncated domes where necessary as a tactile warning. After a 10 year suspension the law was deemed necessary.

The study concluded that a tactile warning of exposed aggregate, groves in the concrete where not easily distinguished from the surrounding concrete at a curb edge.

Armor Tile has been the industry leader when it comes to manufacturing truncated domes. The Armor Tile is made of a Vitrified Polymer Composite with an ultra violet stabilized coating employing aluminum oxide particles in the truncated domes. This gives the truncated domes phenomenal characteristics that go above and beyond the minimum ADA guidelines.

 

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