NEW YORK (CNNfn) - For some people with disabilities, the white-hot labor market can be nothing more than distant flicker.
While employers complain that they must scramble to find workers, the unemployment rate among the mentally and physically challenged is as high as 75 percent.
Even as President Clinton recently marked the 10th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which is intended to make society more accessible for the disabled, advocates say there is still much work to be done.  The problems often stem from attitudes among employers who will not hire a disabled person. Unless the action is blatant, government officials say, it is often difficult to prove discrimination.
"The unemployment rate remains astronomically high," said John D. Kemp, senior vice president for strategic development at HalfthePlanet.com, an Internet portal for the disabled. "ADA has had little impact on unemployment. I think we're losing the talents and contributions all people have to make."
Kemp, who was born without arms or legs, said employment brings empowerment, allowing people to make choices. He said he had doubts about Clinton's order to federal agencies to hire 100,000 people with disabilities over the next five years.
"I don't know how it's going to happen," he said, "but at least he's committed to doing it."
www.disAbility.gov
In addition to celebrating the ADA's anniversary, Clinton also unveiled a new Web site that will provide information for the disabled and their families. The site includes information about federal regulations, college and adult education, housing, transportation and tax credits.
Becky Ogle, executive director of the Presidential Task Force on Employment for Adults with Disabilities, said the Ticket to Work and Work Incentive Improvement Act of 1999 gives people with disabilities an opportunity to go to work without having to lose their Medicare and Medicaid coverage.
The legislation creates new options for states to offer a Medicaid buy-in for workers with disabilities.
Click here for further coverage of career opportunities for the developmentally challenged.
On the job
Some employers may think they'll be hit with massive bills if they make their workplaces accessible to the disabled, but experts say such concerns are largely unfounded.
The Job Accommodation Network (JAN), a consultation service of the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities, reports that 80 percent of its suggested accommodations cost less than $500. 
It might be something as simple as rearranging equipment, such as changing a desk layout from the right to the left side for a data entry operator with a shoulder injury.
Other changes and costs include:
· Supplying a phone amplifier for someone who is hard of hearing--$56.
· Providing a special chair to alleviate pain caused by a back injury -- $400.
· Using an articulating keyboard tray to ease the strain of repetitive motion and carpal tunnel syndrome --$150.
· Drafting table, page-turner and pressure sensitive tape recorder for paralyzed worker -- $950.
Accommodations such as these can reduce workers compensation and other insurance costs, increase the pool of qualified workers and create opportunities for people with limitations.
JAN has a toll-free consultation service for workplace conditions at 800-ADA-WORK (232-9675).
The future
If you are disabled and looking for work where do you start? The National Business & Disability Council has a database connecting people with disabilities with Fortune 1000 companies. Job seekers can either post their resumes or search for positions in such areas as engineering, financial services, information technology and others.
CAREERS & the disABLED magazine also has a resume and job listing service on its Web site. The publication listed 50 of the top companies providing positive working environments for people with disabilities.
The names include American Express (AXP: Research, Estimates), Dell Computer Co. (DELL: Research, Estimates), Home Depot (HD: Research, Estimates), IBM (IBM: Research, Estimates) and Microsoft (MSFT: Research, Estimates).
"People with disabilities have to be advocates for themselves," said Jim Scheider, editor of CAREERS & the disABLED. "They have to be prepared to tell an interviewer, 'This is the accommodation I need.'
Employers have said 'we want to hire people with disabilities, but they don't tell us what they need.'"
'Get out there'
Tai Du, community affairs manager, at Halftheplanet.com has similar advice for the disabled job seeker.
"My message to people is to get out there," said Du, who contracted polio when he was two years old. "Disabled people have to be twice as aggressive as able-bodied people in order to succeed and climb the corporate later."
Although Du's condition is deteriorating, he maintains life is much tougher for other disabled people.
"Quite honestly I was pretty lucky," he said. "It's particularly hard for people with speech impediments. In any job situation, first impressions count so much. For someone with cerebral palsy, it doesn't matter how intelligent you are, people think you're stupid if you can't be understood."
Du, 24, said a poll commissioned by Halftheplanet of people with disabilities found less than 46 percent of them knew the specific sections of the ADA.
While acknowledging the advances made in the last 10 years, Du said social movements have a tendency to lose momentum if people become complacent.
"I think my generation will be the torch-bearers in changing the attitudinal barriers," Du said. 
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