This summer marks the 30th anniversary of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. On July 26, 1990, President George H.W. Bush signed the ADA—a comprehensive civil rights statute that prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in employment and in access to government services and public accommodations—into law. In his signing statement that day, the president described the ADA as signaling “the end to the unjustified segregation and exclusion of persons with disabilities from the mainstream of American life.”

Like many celebrations in recent months, the ADA’s birthday party will not proceed as many had planned. As states have imposed restrictions to mitigate the impact of COVID-19, disability advocates and organizations scrapped plans for large conferences, parades and rallies to commemorate the anniversary. Nonetheless, the importance of the ADA and disability rights has been center stage in 2020. The worldwide pandemic has brought into sharp focus the myriad ways people with disabilities still encounter significant discrimination in many facets of life.