Believe, but pursue: Our interview with Tony Coelho, celebrating the 34th anniversary of the ADA
For everyone in the disability community, it was a milestone event: July 26, 1990. That was the day President George H.W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) into law.
34 years later, it’s a date known around the world, because the ADA literally changed the world. We see its ongoing influence everywhere, perhaps most notably in the European Accessibility Act (EAA), a sweeping piece of legislation that will become national law in all 27 EU member states next year.
In 1998, when Tony Coelho testified at the 1998 ADA hearings, he concluded with these powerful words:
“That’s what this bill is all about. 36 million Americans deciding it’s time for us to stand up for ourselves. To make a difference. To say that we want our basic civil rights. We deserve it. Give us an opportunity to do what we can do. Don’t keep telling us what we can’t do.”
Today, in 2024, Tony Coelho is every bit as impassioned about inclusion and disability rights as he was when, as a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives, he was the act’s primary sponsor.
Glenda Sims, Deque’s Chief Information Accessibility Officer, recently had the opportunity to chat with Tony to discuss his life, his work, where we are today, and what he sees coming next. And, of course, the 34th anniversary of the ADA!
You can see footage from this exclusive interview here:
Tony’s passion is rooted in his personal experience. His willingness to be open and vulnerable before Congress, to share his journey with epilepsy and how it shaped his life, humanized the ADA effort and made clear it was something much bigger than politics.
In his testimony, he shared how, because of his epilepsy, his relationship with his parents suffered. Deeply religious Catholics, they genuinely believed he was possessed by the devil. He described how he went from being a high achiever with a promising career path ahead to having his driver’s license taken away, losing his insurance, and being unable to get a job. He had wanted to be a priest, but canon law prevented it, because of his epilepsy. He expressed that he became suicidal. He explained how he felt that “the light of opportunity and hope” had gone out around him. And he talked about how that light was lit again, “because some people believed.”
Tony’s faith continues to sustain him, and he describes his ongoing work as his “passion and ministry.” He is a visionary who recognized early on that the next frontier for disability advocacy was going to be the internet, and he welcomed the Justice Department’s April 2024 “final rule” under Title II of the ADA that ensures the accessibility of web content and mobile applications for people with disabilities.
Glenda Sims, Deque’s Chief Information Accessibility Officer, recently wrote about Title II for the Deque blog, and one of the questions she asked Tony was whether he sees a new inflection point emerging today, similar to the one that led to the signing of the ADA in 1990.
Tony’s response shows us that behind every inflection point, there is an ongoing journey:
“When I say my passion and my ministry, I mean that. Because we did the ADA. And then, ten years later, we had to do the ADA Amendments Act to cover epilepsy and a lot of other disabilities that the Supreme Court said weren’t covered by the ADA. And then, we worked on trying to get federal contractors to hire people with disabilities. I did that with Obama. And then I realized that the sight-impaired, hearing-impaired, physically-impaired communities couldn’t access the internet. So I then started working on that during the Obama Administration as well. But it took us 13 years, and finally, with President Biden, we got an executive order.”
Tony also explained how success is made possible through community:
“So it is now the next chapter in this effort. The great thing about this, is that, with the ADA Amendments Act, the total community came together. 300 different disability organizations joined the sight, hearing, and physically-impaired communities to get that done.”
When it comes to digital accessibility and the internet, Tony understands how real-world requirements, such as those encoded in Title II, can drive transformational results. “Companies that develop software for state, local, and federal government, that’s a huge market. And they’re not going to have one accessible product and one inaccessible product—they’re just going to have one!” And because software providers generally have global customer bases, those accessible products being created to comply with Title II are also going to be the same products used by businesses worldwide. “So I think this decision will have a world impact,” says Tony. “It is huge. It is really important, and it brings all of us together at the same level.”
Glenda closed out her interview with a final question: “What message do you want to leave with future disability advocates?”
Tony didn’t hesitate:
“Believe, but pursue. Don’t ever give up.”
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All of us at Deque are grateful to Tony for taking the time to chat with Glenda. We are grateful for his work, and we join him, along with the millions of people across the world whose lives have been positively impacted, in celebrating the 34th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act!
As Tony knows from firsthand experience, success is a journey that happens through community. Deque was founded in 1999, and for a quarter of a century, we have been proud members of the community that Tony highlights—the global community of individuals and organizations who believe in the rights of people with disabilities and who are working to ensure equal access for all.
Even as we look back and celebrate July 26, 1990, and even as we look ahead to celebrating milestone dates like June 28, 2025, when the EAA takes effect, we know there is still work to be done. We are inspired to continue our journey by Tony Coelho, and by everyone who believes in this mission.
