Find answers to our July 2025 e-newsletter pop quiz below:
Test Your Knowledge of the ADA
Answers to Pop Quiz
True or False: The ADA is divided into five titles or sections, each addressing a different area of public life such as employment, public services, and telecommunications.
Answer: True
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has five titles, each covering a different area of public life:
Title I – Employment
Designed to help people with disabilities access the same employment opportunities and benefits available to people without disabilities.
Title II – Public Services (State and Local Government)
Prohibits discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities in all programs, activities, and services of public entities. It applies to all state and local governments, their departments and agencies, and any other instrumentalities or special purpose districts of state or local governments.
Title III – Public Accommodations
Prohibits private places of public accommodation from discriminating against individuals with disabilities. Examples of public accommodations include privately-owned, leased or operated facilities like hotels, restaurants, retail merchants, doctor’s offices, golf courses, private schools, day care centers, health clubs, sports stadiums, movie theaters, and so on.
Title IV – Telecommunications
Requires telephone and Internet companies to provide a nationwide system of interstate and intrastate telecommunications relay services that allows individuals with hearing and speech disabilities to communicate over the telephone. This title also requires closed captioning of federally funded public service announcements.
Title V – Miscellaneous Provisions
The final title contains a variety of provisions relating to the ADA as a whole, including its relationship to other laws, state immunity, its impact on insurance providers and benefits, prohibition against retaliation and coercion, illegal use of drugs, and attorney’s fees. This title also provides a list of certain conditions that are not to be considered as disabilities.
Visit https://adata.org/learn-about-ada to learn more
True or False: A patient with a disability can have a support person with them at the hospital—but ONLY during posted visiting hours.
Answer: False
Explanation:
The ADA (and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act) requires healthcare facilities to provide reasonable accommodations, which includes allowing a support person to stay with a patient when needed for communication, emotional support, or medical decision-making–even during restricted visitation periods.
Visit https://drcnh.org/know-your-rights/the-ada-and-healthcare/to learn more.
True or False: You may qualify under the ADA even if your disability is episodic or in remission.
Answer: True
Under the ADA, a person is considered to have a disability if they have a current or past physical or mental impairment that substantially limits major life activities, or if others perceive them as having such an impairment. An impairment that is episodic or in remission is considered a disability under the ADA if it substantially limits one or more major life activities when active.
Visit https://drcnh.org/know-your-rights/the-ada-and-disability/ to learn more.
True or False: During the hiring process, an employer can ask if you have a disability.
Answer: False
The ADA prohibits employers from asking disability-related questions or requiring medical exams before making a job offer. Employers can ask if an applicant can perform the job’s essential functions—with or without reasonable accommodation—but cannot inquire about the presence or nature of a disability during hiring.
Visit https://drcnh.org/know-your-rights/employment-and-the-ada/ to learn more.
True or False: Older buildings may not be accessible because they fall under the ADA's Grandfather Clause.
Answer: False, the ADA does not have a grandfather clause.
This means that all public and private entities covered by the ADA are expected to comply with the law, regardless of when they were built or when their policies were established.
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Buildings that were built before the ADA (before 1990) are not exempt or ‘grandfathered’. Rather, these buildings must remove architectural barriers when it is “readily achievable” (e.g., without much difficulty or expense). When a building is renovated, it must, to the maximum extent feasible, make the renovation accessible. If a public building isn’t accessible, its programs and services must be made accessible. An example of this would be relocating the activity to an accessible location.
True or False: The state of NH can charge people a fee for a disability parking placard.
Answer: False
New Hampshire eliminated the $5 fee for disability parking placards in 2018 after it was found to violate the ADA, which prohibits charging people with disabilities for necessary accommodations.
Visit https://drcnh.org/news/know-your-rights-disability-parking-placards/ for more information.
Additional Resources
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
Learn all about this fundamental civil rights law.
Community, Communication, and the ADA
By: Bob Williams
In 1990, President George H. W. Bush said that by signing the ADA into law he was taking a sledgehammer to “the shameful wall of exclusion.” He was not merely referring to toppling concrete barriers such as stairs, sidewalk curbs, and inaccessible transit. He was also recognizing that...
A Definition of Disability
The prefix dis is often associated with something negative. It turns words like respectful or honest into disrespectful and dishonest. However, dis is also related to the Latin prefixes of bis and duo, both of which are related to the notion of twice or two ways.
When considered this way, the term disability...
