The university was amongst the first in the world to begin admitting people with physical disabilities, including prominent activist Ed Roberts.
The CIL led a movement in Berkeley to install curb cuts up and down Telegraph and Shattuck Avenues creating an extensive path of travel for wheelchair riders.
[5] In 1973, when there were protests for the ratification of section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, prohibiting discrimination on the basis of disability, Zukas was one of the leaders of the movement and was chosen among other activists to lobby in Washington D.C. to confront the Carter Administration.
He was a driving force in designing the button placement inside BART elevators at a height that could easily be reached by wheelchair users.
[8][9] He was on the board of Transit Accessibility which meets monthly to discuss ways to make public transportation available to more people.