Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Aging, sponsored last week a series of panel presentations commemorating the 50-year anniversary of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The presentations looked back at the passage and implementation of the groundbreaking legislation that prohibited discrimination based on disability in federal government agencies and federally funded entities. They also looked inside a figurative crystal ball to analyze what implications the law has for the future. 

Panelists included Katherine Pérez, Director of the Coelho Center for Disability Law, Policy, and Innovation; John Wodatch, Disability Rights Lawyer and former Department of Justice Civil Rights Attorney; Christina Curry, New York City Commissioner for the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities; Taryn Williams, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Disability Employment; Josie Badger, President of J. Badger Consulting, Inc.; and Senator Casey himself.

The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is of particular importance to BVA for two amendments passed in 1998, Sections 504 and 508. The amendments require federal agencies to ensure that persons with disabilities have comparable access to and use of electronic information technology as well as auxiliary aids that include Braille or large versions of materials, electronic diskettes, audiotapes, or readers.

The anniversary event was videotaped and made available by the Committee on Aging. To link directly to the webcast, click here. The panel starts at 43 minutes into the video link, which can be conveniently adjusted by moving a cursor forward on the screen of an electronic device.