Section 504 explained for non US citizens
What you need to know to follow the current discussions on Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.
Section 504 is at the center of heated discussions at the moment. As a European who didn’t know what it was until I started studying for the CPACC exam, I wanted to recap it for my fellow non-US citizens in this week’s post.
What is the Rehabilitation Act?
Section 504 is part of the Rehabilitation Act. It is a federal law that prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities by federal agencies, their contractors, and programs that are federally funded.
The Rehabilitation Act was established in 1973, meaning it came even before the famous Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protects people with disabilities from discrimination. Disability rights are civil rights. From voting to parking, the ADA is a law that protects people with disabilities in many areas of public life. Quoted from ADA.gov
The Rehabilitation Act has multiple sections:
501 covers nondiscrimination in employment by federal agencies
503 prohibits employment discrimination among contractors and subcontractors of federal agencies
504 covers nondiscrimination in education and employment of persons with disabilities. The closest equivalent outside the US would be the Equality Act 2010 in the United Kingdom.
508 covers ICT that is developed, maintained, procured or used by the federal government. The closest European equivalent for this section would be EN 301549.
While narrower in its application, the standards in the Rehab Act are generally the same as those in the ADA. Both protect individuals with physical or mental disabilities that substantially limits one or more major life activities who cannot perform the essential job-related requirements without reasonable accommodation. Quoted from Cornell Law School
Section 504
No otherwise qualified individual with a disability in the United States, as defined in section 705(20) of this title, shall, solely by reason of her or his disability, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance or under any program or activity conducted by any Executive agency or by the United States Postal Service.
Section 504 emphasizes reasonable accomodations, both in employment and education. Under reasonable accomodations we understand things like flexible working hours, allowing service animals in the office, home office agreements, a JAWS subscription for your work laptop… In education it can look like being exempt from PE classes, or getting learning materials in digital, accessible form instead of print to be read with assistive tech.
Of course, what is considered “reasonable” depends on the situation and job requirements. Adjustments don’t take away from the core tasks, but adjust the circumstances of how they are carried out. For example: If the job is tied to a specific location, a home office agreement would not make sense, but allowing a cardiac alert dog on site would still be reasonable.
Learn More about 504
If you have further resources, please share them in the comments.
US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: Rehabilitation Act of 1973
Judith Heumann’s Fight for Disability Rights (feat. Ali Stroker) - Drunk History
Frequently Asked Questions: Section 504 Free Appropriate Public Education
Highlighting the Microsoft Disability Scholarship for US students
It feels fitting to highlight the Microsoft Disability Scholarship again here. Applicants will be accepted until March 13, 2025. Applications will be submitted via the Scholarship America Hub. For questions, email: disscholarshipinfo@microsoft.com
The Microsoft Disability Scholarship seeks to empower students with disabilities to achieve more through access to education leading to a career in technology.
Eight (8) $20,000 scholarships distributed over 4 years ($5,000 per year, renewable). Awards are renewable for up to three years or until a bachelor’s degree is earned, whichever occurs first, on the basis of satisfactory academic performance maintaining a cumulative grade point average of 2.0 on a 4.0 scale, full-time or half-time enrollment, and continued enrollment in the eligible major.