Decline in Awareness and Support for US Disabilities Act
July 29 2003
A poll conducted by Harris for the thirteenth anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has found that both awareness of and support for the key principles of the Act has declined in the past four years.
The great majority of the American public is still strongly supportive of key principles of the Act - agreement levels range from 79% to 88% for the various statements. However, previous Harris Interactive surveys conducted in 1991 and 1999 found even higher levels of support:
- Fully 88% of all adults support the principle that 'public places like restaurants, hotels, theaters, stores and museums may not discriminate against customers on the basis of disability' - but the figure is down from 95% four years ago, and the number who say they do not support it, as opposed to being unsure, has doubled to 8%.
- 87% support the principle that 'new public transportation vehicles must be accessible to people with disabilities' but here again, support has slipped four points from 91% four years ago.
- 85% support the principle that 'employers may not discriminate against someone who is qualified to do a job just because they have a disability', but this is down more steeply, nine points from 94% in 1999.
- A lower percentage, 79% of all adults, support the principle that 'employers with more than fifteen employees must make reasonable accommodations for employees with disabilities' - this is also down from the 1999 figure which was 85%. This is almost entirely down to an increase in people 'not sure' rather than definite that they do not support the principle.
In every case, a slightly higher percentage of people with disabilities than of all adults support the principles.
Four years ago in 1999, two-thirds of all adults, 67%, said they had seen, heard or read anything about the Americans with Disabilities Act. This has now fallen to 58%. Perhaps surprisingly, awareness of the ADA is actually lower among people with disabilities, as it was in the 1999 survey. This awareness has also fallen. Only 48% of Americans with disabilities now say they are aware of the ADA, compared to 63% of Americans with disabilities who were aware of it four years ago.
Harris suggest that the fall in support, as well as that in awareness, may be a result of less media coverage of disability rights and issues, and less said about the Act itself. Without doubt, supporters of the ADA and advocates for people with disabilities will be concerned by these findings, particularly the erosion of support for the key positions of the ADA.
The Harris Poll(r) was conducted by telephone within the United States between June 10 and 15, 2003 among a nationwide cross section of 1,011 adults (ages 18+).
All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas unless otherwise stated.
