ADA Knowledge Translation Center

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Knowledge Translation Center operates nationally, and is based at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington and at the University of Illinois, Chicago in Chicago, Illinois.

The primary goal of the ADA Knowledge Translation Center, in collaboration with the rest of the ADA National Network, is to help people understand the ADA and how it applies in communities across the United States. The ADA Knowledge Translation Center carries out its own projects and supports the 10 regional ADA Centers of the ADA National Network in helping people with disabilities, professionals, employers, businesses, and others to understand their rights and responsibilities under the ADA.

Increasing the Efficiency and Impact of the National Network

The ADA Knowledge Translation Center’s work is focused on increasing the efficiency and impact of the ADA National Network. The ADA Knowledge Translation Center meets this goal through five types of activities:

Documenting the regional ADA Centers’ outcomes.
Managing the national website and communications for the ADA National Network, including social media.
Leading national product development.
Conducting ADA research.
Managing and supporting national committees and meetings.

Documenting the Regional ADA Centers’ Outcomes

The ADA KT Center helps the entire ADA National Network tell the story of its collective impact on ADA implementation.

A primary activity of the ADA Knowledge Translation Center is developing and supporting the systems that collect information about the ADA National Network’s work. This information can help the ADA National Network understand its stakeholders’ needs and provide more useful services. The ADA Knowledge Translation Center manages the Outcomes Measurement System (OMS), a database to collect information about technical assistance, training, and other activities conducted by the regional ADA Centers. The ADA Knowledge Translation Center also coordinates a quarterly process to collect information about outcomes resulting from the regional ADA Centers’ technical assistance. Results from this survey help document how information about the ADA is used by people who contact the ADA National Network. The ADA Knowledge Translation Center provides confidential reports from OMS and the Outcomes Surveys to the regional ADA Center Directors and the ADA National Network’s funder, the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research.

The ADA Knowledge Translation Center illustrates examples of ADA implementation by writing and publishing ADA Success Stories. These stories are based on real situations where a TA Specialist at a regional ADA Center helped someone understand their rights or their responsibilities under the law. Using their new knowledge, the people in the success stories took action, resulting in a positive ADA outcome.

Managing the National Website and Communications for the ADA National Network

The ADA Knowledge Translation Center develops and supports the ADA National Network website (adata.org). This website is designed to connect individuals and organizations to ADA National Network services and highlight informational products about the ADA. The website includes nationally relevant publications created by the ADA National Network, a national and local event calendar, a portal to training opportunities offered by the ADA National Network, a searchable database of high quality publications created by relevant organizations (like the Department of Justice), and a searchable database of frequently asked questions about the ADA. With an updated version of the website planned to launch in late 2025, the website will have more accessible features.

The ADA Knowledge Translation Center manages communications for the ADA National Network. This includes writing and distributing the ADA National Network Newsletter and managing the national social media accounts of the ADA National Network. Through social media, we provide information about the ADA, disseminate national ADA National Network products, and share news articles about the ADA. Through the national social media accounts, the ADA National Network also celebrates things like National Disability Employment Awareness Month, the ADA Anniversary, and National Speech-Language-Hearing Month and provides education on things like social media accessibility practices. Social media is a way for the public to reach out with questions about the ADA, and the ADA Knowledge Translation Center staff connects them with their regional ADA Centers for personalized assistance.

Leading National Product Development

The ADA Knowledge Translation Center supports the entire ADA National Network in developing and sharing national ADA National Network products. These include frequently asked questions about the ADA, fact sheets, research briefs, videos, and promotional materials. The ADA Knowledge Translation Center and the regional ADA Centers develop new materials or modify existing ones for national dissemination. The ADA Knowledge Translation Center manages the product nomination and review process, where several levels of ADA experts examine potential products and approve them if they meet an important need and are accurate. ADA National Network products are available in multiple formats (including HTML, accessible PDFs, and large print PDFS) and in Spanish. A few of the recent fact sheets that have been approved to be national ADA National Network products include:

The ADA Knowledge Translation Center provides a leadership role for the Spanish Language Outreach Project, a five-year collaborative national initiative of the ADA National Network that aims to determine the best ways to support Spanish-speaking people in accessing their rights under the ADA. Although many people in the U.S. speak Spanish, there is not much information about Spanish-speaking people’s need for information about the ADA. Through the Spanish Language Outreach Project, the ADA National Network developed a deeper understanding of the context of Spanish-speaking communities and assessed their ADA-related information and outreach needs. This led the ADA National Network to develop a series of videos in Spanish and English and to increase language access to ADA information and resources.

Conducting ADA Research

The ADA Knowledge Translation Center conducts research on methods and approaches that help to improve use of ADA-related research findings and ADA-related information by relevant stakeholders. These studies were designed to be rigorous, but also pragmatic, embedded, and engaged. We developed them with the goal of generating usable evidence, valued by our stakeholders, to support the entire ADA National Network in its work.

To support dissemination and use of ADA-related research, the ADA Knowledge Translation Center will host the free virtual ADA State of the Science Conference on February 26 and March 12, 2026. The conference will consist of lightening sessions from ADA researchers focusing on four themes:

Employment.
Community Living and Participation.
Health and Function.
Outreach and Engagement.

Managing and Supporting National Committees and Meetings

The ADA Knowledge Translation Center co-chairs and supports committees that guide ADA National Network activities and increase collaboration between regional centers. Committees help identify and develop products, determine training needs, coordinate social media activities, and create standard operating protocols. The ADA Knowledge Translation Center also organizes twice-annual meetings, bringing together the directors of the regional ADA Center, staff from the ADA National Network’s funding agency (the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research,) and partner agencies or organizations (like the Office of Civil Rights).

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