Skip to content
Civil Rights Compliance Office

Disability Education

History of Section 504

What is Section 504?

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 was the first civil rights protection in the United States to prohibit discrimination against people with disabilities in programs and activities that receive federal funding.

Black and white image shows a large gathering of people, many of whom are in wheelchairs, in a crowded room during the Section 504 Sit-Ins

Implementation of Section 504

Although Section 504 was the first civil rights protection for disabled Americans, the provisions of 504 would not be enforced until the tireless advocacy of disabled activists and cross-movement organizations. From 1973 to 1977, no regulations were published or mandated by the national government. In turn, these groups began organizing to demand the implementation of 504 and civil rights of disabled Americans.

In 1977, disabled activists staged sit-ins at federal buildings across the country to demand the national enforcement of 504. Most notably, the sit-in in San Francisco lasted 26-days, marking the longest occupation of a federal building to date. As a result of these activists’ efforts in San Francisco and across the country, the government signed the regulations into law on April 28, 1977.

The implementation of Section 504 radically transformed society and education for disabled Americans. 504 furthermore laid the foundation for subsequent advancements in disability rights legislation, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990.

504 History Resources

  • Short History of the 504 Sit-In – A brief article highlighting the history of the 504 Sit-Ins and the importance of these demonstrations in implementing 504.
  • Lomax’s Martix: Disability, Solidarity, and the Black Power of 504 – A brief article demonstrating the importance of the Black Panther Party and cross-movement solidarity in the longest peaceful occupation of a federal building in the U.S.’s history.
  • The Power of 504 [18 mins] – An award-winning documentary capturing the emotions and stories of the historic civil right demonstration of people with disabilities in 1977; includes news footage and interviews with participants and leaders.

History of the ADA

What is the ADA?

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 is a broad civil rights law designed to protect people from discrimination based on disability. The ADA extends civil rights protection for people with disabilities in all areas of public life, including jobs, school, transportation, and all public and private places that are open to the general public.

Implementation of the ADA

On March 12, 1990, more than 1,000 people marched to the U.S. Capitol, asking Congress to pass the ADA. Once there, around 60 people left their wheelchairs and other mobility aids behind and crawled up the Capitol steps.

This powerful protest, called the “Capitol Crawl,” showed how difficult it is for people with disabilities to navigate inaccessible buildings. It also stressed the need for the ADA, which became law on July 26, 1990.

Black and white image shows two people climbing the steps of the U.S. Capitol during the Capitol Crawl]

ADA History Resources

AccessUW Podcast: Season 1

AccessUW features insightful discussions, informative interviews, and valuable perspectives about accessibility, equity, and inclusion in higher education, with experts across the University. In the accordion, you can find links to episodes, transcripts, and resources referenced in the podcast.

AccessUW was created and hosted by Toby Gallant, with co-hosts Bree Callahan and Heather Evans.

In Season 1, the AccessUW podcast commemorates the 50th anniversary of the signing of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. In honor of this historic milestone, this season explores both UW and national history surrounding disability rights, and introduces the UW’s ADA Office along with designated disability services offices.

In the first installation of this podcast series, meet the UW ADA Coordinator, Bree Callahan! In this brief discussion with Bree, she delves into the role, function, and importance of the Office of the ADA Coordinator in ensuring accessibility and inclusion for the UW tri-campus and medical system.

Episode 1 Transcript (Docx) 

Meet UW graduate and disability advocate, Toby Gallant! In this episode of the AccessUW series, Toby converses with Bree Callahan to provide clarity on the accommodation processes for staff, students, faculty, and visitors with disabilities at the UW.

Episode 2 Transcript (Docx) 

Resources referenced in the podcast:

Meet socio-legal scholar and UW faculty member, Heather Evans! In this episode of AccessUW, Bree interviews disability advocates, Heather and Toby, on how disability is a critical facet of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Episode 3 Transcript (Docx)

Resources referenced in this podcast:

Explore the rich and resilient history of disability activism at the University of Washington, Seattle campus. In this episode, a recently endowed Disability Studies scholar and graduate, Toby Gallant, highlights their capstone research titled “Breaking Barriers: A 50-Year Archival History of Disabled Resilience at the UW-Seattle.”

Episode 4 Transcript (Docx)

Meet disabled historian, researcher, and scholar, Dr. Jaipreet Virdi! In this episode of AccessUW, we get to sit down with Dr. Virdi to reflect on her Public Lecture at the UW, her work as a disabled historian, and the importance of the historic slogan “Nothing About Us Without Us.”

Episode 5 Transcript (Docx)

Resources referenced in this podcast:

In this episode, we dive deeper into the past, present, and future of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, marking its 50th anniversary. ADA Coordinator Bree Callahan and Disability Studies Professor Heather Evans delve into the law’s history. They discuss the challenges in its implementation, the role of disability rights activists, and the law’s ongoing importance, particularly in shaping discussions around inclusion and digital accessibility in higher education.

Episode 6 transcript (Docx)

[Content Warning: Mentions of police interaction and self-harm] 

In this episode, we are joined by Katie Warden, Director of NW ADA Center, and Elizabeth Pendo, Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the School of Law, to explore the differences and intersections between the Disability Rights and Disability Justice movements. Drawing on their extensive legal expertise, they shed light on the limitations of anti-discrimination laws in tackling compounded forms of oppression and underscore the crucial role of intersectionality in understanding the experiences of individuals with disabilities.

Episode 7 transcript (Docx)

Resources referenced in this podcast:

In this episode, we remember the co-founder of the UW Disability Studies Program and a tremendous disability advocate: Dennis Lang. Joined by Disability Studies Professors, Dr. Joanne Woiak and Dr. Sara Goering, this podcast highlights the impact of Dennis’ legacy on advocating for the community , developing the Disability Studies Program, and creating accessible and inclusive curriculum in the classroom.

Episode 8 transcript (Docx) 

Resources referenced in this episode:

This podcast episode features a discussion with three former directors of the UW Disability Resources for Students (DRS) office in Seattle. They reflect together on the evolution of the office, starting with minimal staff and resources in the mid-90s to developing a more robust service delivery in the early 2000s.

Episode 9 Transcript (Docx) 

Resources referenced in the podcast:

AccessUW Podcast: Season 2

In Season 2, the AccessUW will delve into a diverse array of topics, including digital accessibility, disability employment, and University accessibility initiatives and policies.

To kick off Season 2 of the podcast, this episode discusses the new federal regulation on digital accessibility under Title II of the ADA. These regulations mandate public institutions to ensure that their web content and mobile applications, including course content, is accessible. Introducing the new Deputy ADA Coordinator for Digital Accessibility, we discuss the resources and tools to help assist in this digital transformation.

Episode 10 Transcript (Docx) 

Resources referenced in the podcast:

This episode discusses the ADAt’s protections and implications on employment. Katie Warden, Director of the Northwest ADA Center, defines the ADA’s definition for disability, reasonable accommodations, and the interactive process. Listen or read to learn more about when to disclose a disability and the rights of individuals with disabilities in the workplace.

Episode 11 Transcript (Docx)

Resources referenced in the podcast:

This episode discusses in detail the service animal policy at the University of Washington to ensure that handlers and University personnel are aware of their rights and responsibilities. Specifically, this podcast highlights the updates to this policy made in fall 2024 to expand the handler’s responsibilities and rights for service animals in training at the UW.

Episode 12 Transcript (Docx)

Resources referenced in the podcast:

This episode discusses  the UW’s efforts in 2019 to re-establish comprehensive transitions to ensure the UW’s built environments are accessible for individuals with disabilities. Joined by our Campus Planner, this episode highlights the work completed over the past six years and what is to come in the next five years.

Episode 13 Transcript (Docx)

Resources referenced in the podcast:

This episode explores the journey of the Campus Climate survey, from its development, stakeholder feedback, and launch, to of the results. Jillian Morn, Director of  UW Institutional Assessment & Evaluation , emphasizes the survey’s critical role in capturing the University’s sense of belonging. This podcast emphasizes the focus placed on disability stakeholder feedback, highlighting accessibility as a foundational aspect of the survey’s design and question formulation.

Episode 14 Transcript (Docx)

Resources referenced in the podcast:

This episode discusses website accessibility and resources at the University of Washington, in honor of Global Accessibility Awareness Day. Terril Thompson,  Manager for IT Accessibility Services, joins the hosts to discuss  the importance of accessible web design, including proper heading structures, alt-text for images, and descriptive link text. He also introduces enterprise-wide website accessibility checker and training opportunities to support developing and maintaining accessible web content.

Episode 15 Transcript (Docx)

Resources referenced in the podcast:

This podcast discusses the importance of digital accessibility in course content. Institutional Accessibility Specialist Mary-Colleen Jenkins emphasizes the need for digital accessibility in courses for all students, including those with and without disabilities. She highlights common barriers that tend to be easy fixes and the benefits of using Canvas’ built-in accessibility checkers to ensure sustainable, accessible content.

Episode 16 Transcript (Docx)

Resources referenced in the podcast:

The episode explores how the University of Washington supports students with disabilities who are transitioning from college to employment, highlighting the challenges in accessing career services and internships. Briana Randall and Travis Hyde emphasize the impact of partnerships among the Career Center, Disability Resources for Students, and Gregory S. Fehribach Center in expanding paid internship opportunities and increasing employer awareness.

Episode 17 Transcript (Docx)

Resources referenced in the podcast:

To wrap up season 2 of AccessUW, we invited accessibility champions in the UW Libraries to discuss how they are leading efforts to improve physical and digital accessibility for all patrons. Elliot Stevens, Hana Leavy, and Kimanthi Warren join us to discuss the successes of their Accessibility Working Group and the libraries response to the Department of Justice’s Title II rule on digital accessibility.

Episode 18 Transcript (Docx)

Resources Referenced in this Podcast:

Celebrate disability pride & culture

Discover how disability is an integral facet of diversity, enhancing our campus culture and society for all.

  • Black, Blind, & Beautiful — A poem by Leroy F. Moore Jr., a Black writer, poet, hip-hop music lover, community activist, and feminist with a physical disability.
  • Deaf Poet Society — An online literary journal that publishes poetry and art by D/deaf and/or disabled writers and artists.
  • Identity-First Language — An article by Disability Justice advocate Lydia X. Z. Brown on the significance of semantics and identity-first language.
  • Ramp Your Voice! — A blog from Vilissa Thompson, a Licensed Master Social Worker (LMSW) from Winnsboro, SC. Vilissa is the Founder & CEO of Ramp Your Voice!, an organization focused on promoting self-advocacy and strengthening empowerment among disabled people.

  • Autistic Self Advocacy Network — A national network run by autistic people,empowering autistic people across the world to take control of their own lives and the future of their common community to ensure their voices are heard.
  • Disability Visibility Project — An online community dedicated to creating, sharing, and amplifying disability media and culture.Created by disabled activist, writer, editor, media maker, and consultant, Alice Wong.
  • DisArt — A disabled-led production company and arts and culture organization focused on creating public art events that cultivate and communicate a disability culture.
  • FWD-Doc: Filmmakers With Disabilities — A global, intersectional community of disabled creators and allies working in the media to build a more inclusive, accessible, and equitable entertainment industry.
  • Krip-Hop Institute — A worldwide association of hip-hop artists with disabilities that serves as a cultural, activist, and inclusive platform for marginalized voices, especially those of  Black and Disabled people.
  • Sins Invalid — A Disability Justice-based performance project that incubates and celebrates artists with disabilities, featuring artists of color and LGBTQ / gender-variant artists who have been historically marginalized. Led by disabled people of color, Sins Invalid’s performance work explores the themes of sexuality, embodiment, and the disabled body with provocative works that challenge the paradigms of “normal” and “sexy”  and offer instead a vision of beauty and sexuality inclusive of all bodies and communities.
  • Society for Disability Studies — The leading international professional organization for disability studies which seeks to advance an understanding of disability as a cultural, social, and political phenomenon and strives for a critical interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approach to scholarly inquiry in solidarity with grassroots disability movements.

  • Sins Invalid: An Unshamed Claim to Beauty in the Face of Invisibility [32mins] — A short film covering a performance project that celebrates artists with disabilities, featuring artists of color and queer and gender-variant artists.
  • TED Talk: I’m not your Inspiration, thank you very much [9mins] — Stella Young is a comedian and journalist who happens to go about her day in a wheelchair—a fact that doesn’t, as she’d like to make clear, automatically turn her into a noble inspiration to all humanity. In this very funny talk, Young breaks down society’s habit of turning disabled people into “inspiration porn.”

  • Disability Disability: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century, Alice Wong — From Harriet McBryde Johnson’s account of her debate with Peter Singer over her personhood to original pieces by authors such as Keah Brown and Haben Girma; from blog posts, manifestos, and eulogies to congressional testimonies and beyond— this anthology offers a glimpse into the rich complexity of the disabled experience. It highlights the passions, talents, and everyday lives of this community and invites readers to question their own understanding. It celebrates and documents disability culture in the present and looks to the past and the future with hope and love.
  • Disability Pride: Dispatches From a Post-ADA World, Ben Mattlin — An eye-opening portrait of the diverse disability community as it is today, and how disability attitudes, activism, and representation have evolved since the passage of the ADA.
  • Exile and Pride: Disability, Queerness, and Liberation, Eli Clare — With a poet’s devotion to truth and an activist’s demand for justice, Eli unspools the multiple histories from which our sense of self unfolds. His essays weave together memoir, history, and political thinking to explore meanings and experiences of home. Here, readers will find an intersectional framework for understanding how we actually live with the daily hydraulics of oppression, power, and resistance.
  • Feminist, Queer, Crip, Alison Kafer — Kafer imagines a different future for disability and disabled bodies. Challenging the ways in which ideas about the future and time have been deployed in the service of compulsory able-bodiedness and able-mindedness, Kafer rejects the idea of disability as a pre-determined limit. She juxtaposes theories, movements, and identities such as environmental justice, reproductive justice, cyborg theory, transgender politics, and disability that are typically discussed in isolation and envisions new possibilities for crip futures and feminist/queer/crip alliances.
  • The Pretty One: On Life, Pop Culture, Disability, and Other Reasons to Fall in Love with Me, Keah Brown — From the disability rights advocate and creator of the #DisabledAndCute viral campaign, a thoughtful, inspiring, and charming collection of essays exploring what it means to be black and disabled in a mostly able-bodied white America.
  • True Biz, Sara Novic — The title is an A.S.L. expression meaning “seriously” or “real talk.” This is a story of sign language and lip-reading, disability and civil rights, isolation and injustice, first love and loss, and above all, great persistence, daring, and joy. Absorbing and assured, idiosyncratic and relatable, the novel unveils an unforgettable journey into the Deaf community and a universal celebration of human connection.
  • Year of the Tiger: An Activist’s Life, Alice Wong — From the founder and director of the Disability Visibility Project and the editor of the acclaimed anthology Disability Visibility, a groundbreaking memoir in essays offers a glimpse into an activist’s journey to find and cultivate community and her continued fight for disability justice.

Engage in disability advocacy & innovation

Advance the spirit of disability right laws by championing accessibility and participating in disability advocacy.

  • Access Intimacy: The Missing Link — A brief article by Mia Mingus discussing the deep sense of comfort, trust, and connection that arises from disabled individuals who share similar accessibility needs or lived experiences.
  • ADA 30 in Color — A series of original essays on the past, present, and future of Disability Rights and Justice by disabled BIPOC writers in honor of the 30th anniversary of the passage of the ADA.
  • Changing the Framework: Disability Justice — A brief article by Mia Mingus discussing how our communities can move beyond access to wholeness through principles of Disability Justice.
  • Global Disability Innovation Hub —  A research and practice center driving disability innovation for a fairer world. Operating in 41 countries with more than 70 partners, the center has  reached 29 million people since launching in 2016. The Hub highlights disability innovation news and recurring blog posts.
  • Leaving Evidence — A blog by Mia Mingus, a writer, educator and trainer for transformative justice and disability justice. She is a queer, physically disabled Korean transracial-and-transnational adoptee raised in the Caribbean. She works for community, interdependence, and home for all of us—not just some of us— and longs for a world where disabled children can live free of violence, with dignity and love
  • What is Disability Justice? — A brief blog post defining and understanding what “justice” means in the context of disability services, advocacy, and studies.
  • What is Universal Design? — A resource highlighting the seven principles of universal design, the history behind it, and the benefits to users, companies, organizations, and society as a whole
  • 6 Ways Your Social Justice Activism Might Be Ableist — An op-ed discussing how social justice activism is not always accessible or built for members of the disability and d/Deaf communities.
  • 10 Principles of Disability Justice — Learn the 10 foundational principles of the Disability Justice movement, a new disability framework that has evolved and improved on the Disability Rights movement.

  • Disability & Innovation: The Universal Benefits of Accessible Design, by Haben Girma [26 mins] — The first Deafblind person to graduate from Harvard Law School, Haben champions equal access to information for people with disabilities, which has earned her recognitions from both President Obama and President Clinton. Haben shares how designing with accessibility in mind benefits not just users with disabilities, but developers, too. Throughout history, disability has sparked innovation, leading to breakthroughs in wide-ranging inventions from keyboards to telephones.
  • My Body Doesn’t Oppress Me, Society Does [5 mins] — Patty Berne and Stacey Milbern present a social model of disability, explaining how adopting universal design, incorporating adaptive devices, and meeting people’s access needs can limit the social, economic, and physical barriers that render physical impairments disabling in an ableist society.
  • Supporting Neurodivergent Colleagues in the Workplace [58 mins] — A panel of neurodivergent academics and employees at the UW discusses how to be an ally to neurodivergent people in the workplace. Produced by the WholeU.
  • The 7 Principles of Universal Design: Ed Roberts Campus [6 mins] — What is universal design? In this episode of Power On, “Professor” Rafael Siegel takes you to Ed Roberts Campus in Berkeley, California’ to teach the 7 Principles of Universal Design. Learn how to create buildings and interiors for people with disabilities, people who use wheelchairs, and… everybody!
  • Why We Need Universal Design [10 mins] — A TEDTalk by Deaf presenter and Gallaudet graduate, Michael Nesmith, on the importance of Universal Design.
  • Student Activism for Disability Justice and Holistic Access [14 mins] — Marion Quirici discusses disability access as a civil rights issue, and shares how student activism can make change on college campuses.

  • Ableism & Racism: Roots of the Same Tree — Dr. Kendi sits down with Disability Justice advocate, Rebecca Cokley, for a frank conversation on the intersections of ableism and racism in America, the historic civil rights legislation governing both, and what we can all do to advocate for a better future for people with disabilities.
  • Heumann Perspective Podcast — Join Judy Heumann, an internationally recognized bad-ass disability activist in conversation with disabled changemakers and their allies. For all fighting for social justice, these conversations around disability culture, art, entertainment, policy and advocacy are sure to light a rebellious fire under you to fight harder for all people.
  • The Accessible Stall Podcast — The Accessible Stall is a disability podcast hosted by Kyle Khachadurian and Emily Ladau that keeps it real about issues within the disability community. Because they each have different disabilities and mobility levels, they approach topics with two unique viewpoints, offering their listeners a fresh insight into how differences in disability can color experiences and perspectives. They are not afraid  to speak their minds,  even if they go against the grain of the disability community at large.
  • The Politics of Disability — Disability is messy, political, and not palatable, and intersects at every identity. This podcast examines those intersections and their nuances.

  • Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha — In their new collection of essays, Lambda Literary Award-winning writer and Disability Justice activist Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha explores the politics and realities of Disability Justice, a movement that centers the lives and leadership of sick and disabled queer, trans, Black, and brown people, offering knowledge and gifts for all. Care Work is a mapping of access as radical love, that celebrates the work of sick and disabled queer/people of color to find each other and build power and community. It is a toolkit for everyone who wants to build radically resilient communities of liberation where no one is left behind.
  • Crip Kinship: The Disability Justice & Art Activism of Sins Invalid, Shayda Kafai — Kafai explores the art-activism of Sins Invalid, a San Francisco Bay Area-based performance project, and its radical imaginings of what disabled, queer, trans, and gender nonconforming bodyminds of color can do: rewriting oppression and gifting us with transformational lessons for our collective survival.
  • Deaf Gain: Raising the Stakes for Human Diversity, H-Dirksen Bauman and Joseph Murray — Through their in-depth articulation of Deaf Gain, the contributors to this pathbreaking volume approach deafness as a distinct way of being—one that opens perceptions, perspectives, and insights less common to the majority of hearing persons. By framing deafness in terms of its intellectual, creative, and cultural benefits, “Deaf Gain” recognizes physical and cognitive differences as vital to human diversity.
  • Demystifying Disability: What to Know, What to Say, and How to Be an Ally, Emily Ladau — An approachable guide to being a thoughtful, informed ally to disabled people, with actionable steps for what to say and do (and what not to do) and how you can help make the world a more accessible, inclusive place.
  • Haben: The Deafblind Woman who Conquered Harvard Law, Haben Grima — The incredible life story of Haben Girma, the first Deafblind graduate of Harvard Law School, and her amazing journey from isolation to the world stage. Haben defines disability as an opportunity for innovation. She learned non-visual techniques for everything from dancing salsa to handling an electric saw. She developed a text-to-braille communication system that created an exciting new way to connect with people. Haben pioneered her way through obstacles and Harvard Law, and now uses her talents to advocate for people with disabilities.
  • Mad at School: Rhetorics of Mental Disability and Academic Life, Margaret Price — Price explores the contested boundaries between disability, illness, and mental illness in U.S. higher education. Much of the research and teaching within disability studies assume a disabled body but a rational and energetic (an “agile”) mind. In Mad at School, scholar and disabilities activist Margaret Price asks: How might our education practices change if we understood disability to incorporate the disabled mind?

Find resources and networking opportunities

Want to get involved in disability advocacy on campus or in Washington state? Or learn from local disability experts? Check out these incredible organizations to partner or collaborate with!