Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Practice Test

The key idea is how disability protections were added onto civil rights law over time. The 1964 Civil Rights Act established a broad ban on discrimination and set up enforcement mechanisms, applying to race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. It did not include disability as a protected class, so it didn’t shield people with disabilities by itself. Later laws then built on that foundation: the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 first extended nondiscrimination protections to people with disabilities in programs receiving federal funds, and the Americans with Disabilities Act later codified comprehensive protections in many areas of public life. More recently, genetic information discrimination was addressed separately by the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act. So the statement is describing that the 1964 Civil Rights Act laid the groundwork for later disability protections without itself protecting disability, which is why that act is the best reference.