July 26, 2025, marks the 35th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). As the ADA turns 35 this year, here are some key facts you should know.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), signed in 1990, was a landmark moment in U.S. civil rights history. It made it illegal to deny someone a job, education, or housing just because of a disability. But the ADA didn’t just happen. It was demanded. Activists crawled up the steps of the U.S. Capitol during the Capitol Crawl to fight for equal rights.

Today, the ADA protects people with both visible and invisible disabilities, like PTSD, ADHD, and diabetes. It also covers far more than physical spaces. Think websites, apps, voice recognition, closed captioning, and screen readers. In fact, in 2022 alone, over 3,000 web accessibility lawsuits were filed under the ADA.

From the U.S. to countries like the U.K., Canada, and Australia, the ADA’s influence is global. And yes, even Siri owes a thank you to the ADA.

Equal access isn’t extra. It’s essential.

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who joined us last Friday, the 25th, to celebrate with UMBC's Accessibility and Disability Services and Student Disability Services. Your presence and support in recognizing this important milestone meant so much to us. This celebration was a reminder that while we've made great strides since the passage of the ADA, there is still work to do—and we’re grateful to have you with us in that journey.

If you're still interested in exploring more, here are some of the powerful films we screened during the Disability Film Festival. We encourage you to check them out in your spare time:

• All Riders
• Le Frere
• Unseen, 
• The Body is a House of Familiar Rooms 
• The Beautiful Colors of Jeremy Sicile-Kira

July 26, 2025, marks the 35th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). As the ADA turns 35 this year, here are some key facts you should know.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), signed in 1990, was a landmark moment in U.S. civil rights history. It made it illegal to deny someone a job, education, or housing just because of a disability. But the ADA didn’t just happen. It was demanded. Activists crawled up the steps of the U.S. Capitol during the Capitol Crawl to fight for equal rights.

Today, the ADA protects people with both visible and invisible disabilities, like PTSD, ADHD, and diabetes. It also covers far more than physical spaces. Think websites, apps, voice recognition, closed captioning, and screen readers. In fact, in 2022 alone, over 3,000 web accessibility lawsuits were filed under the ADA.

From the U.S. to countries like the U.K., Canada, and Australia, the ADA’s influence is global. And yes, even Siri owes a thank you to the ADA.

Equal access isn’t extra. It’s essential.

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who joined us last Friday, the 25th, to celebrate with UMBC's Accessibility and Disability Services and Student Disability Services. Your presence and support in recognizing this important milestone meant so much to us. This celebration was a reminder that while we've made great strides since the passage of the ADA, there is still work to do—and we’re grateful to have you with us in that journey.

If you're still interested in exploring more, here are some of the powerful films we screened during the Disability Film Festival. We encourage you to check them out in your spare time:

• All Riders
• Le Frere
• Unseen, 
• The Body is a House of Familiar Rooms 
• The Beautiful Colors of Jeremy Sicile-Kira

NIH Announces a New Policy Requirement to Train Senior/Key Personnel on Other Support Disclosure Requirements

Notice Number: NOT-OD-25-133

https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-25-133.html

Purpose

Background

This Guide Notice announces a new policy requirement that requires NIH recipients to provide training to all faculty and researchers identified as Senior/Key Personnel on the requirement to disclose all research activities and affiliations (active and pending) in Other Support (see Other Support form). The new requirement to train researchers to comply with other support disclosure requirements adds to the current policy (see NIH Grants Policy Statement (GPS), Section 2.5.1 "Just-in-Time Procedures") in order to provide a comprehensive plan in the area of disclosure requirements for recipients. This update will be included in the FY2026 version of the NIH GPS as part of NIH’s standard processes.

Effective October 1, 2025,  recipients must implement trainings, in addition to maintaining a written and enforced policy, on requirements for the disclosure of other support to ensure Senior/Key Personnel fully understand their responsibility to disclose all resources made available to the researcher in support of and/or related to all of their research endeavors, regardless of whether or not they have monetary value and regardless of whether they are based at the institution the researcher identifies for the current grant.

Please refer to the full notice linked above for further details.

Should you have any questions, please contact the Office of Sponsored Programs.