FreeIndex UK Business Directory

The Disability Discrimination Act 1995What is the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995?The purpose of the DDA is to prevent Service Providers treating people with disabilities less favourably than other customers or employees and to oblige Service Providers to make reasonable adjustments to all aspects of their service to ensure it is accessible to people with disabilities.The DDA makes it unlawful for service providers to discriminate against disabled people in the service they provide by either:1. Refusing to provide a disabled person with a service which is provided to others;2. Offering service on different terms;3. Offering a different standard or manner of service; or failing to comply with a duty to make “reasonable adjustments”, such that it makes it impossible or unreasonably difficult for a person with disabilities to use that service.Who is classed as disabled?The DDA defines a person with a disability as someone with a “physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on the ability to carry out normal day to day activities”In addition to customers who use wheelchairs or who have mobility problems, there are millions of potential customers affected by some degree of hearing loss, learning disabilities, facial disfigurement, visual impairment, mental illness or a condition such as arthritis or incontinence.Who is a service provider?The DDA defines a service provider as “[someone]….concerned with the provision, in the UK, of services to the public or to a section of the public, with or without payment.”A few examples of service providers to whom the DDA applies are:Banks, Advice Agencies, Local Councils, Hotels, National Parks, Pubs, Building Societies, Sports Stadia, Post Offices, Charities, Theatres, Voluntary Organisations, Art Galleries, Cinemas, Museums, Places of Worship, Leisure Centres, Shops and Government Departments & Agencies.What should Service Providers do?The DDA is being brought into force in three phases:December 1996 - It became unlawful for service providers to treat people with disabilities less favourably than other people for a reason related to their disability.Since October 1999 - service providers have been obliged to:1. Alter practices, policies or procedures that make it unreasonably difficult for a person with a disability to use their services;2. Provide alternative methods of making their services available where the physical features of their premises make it unreasonably difficult for people with disabilities to access services; and provide auxiliary aids and services to assist people with disabilities to access goods or services.By 1st of October 2004 service providers will have had to have made “reasonable adjustments” to the physical features of their premises to overcome barriers to access faced by people with disabilities. This must be done by:1. Removing the feature;2. Alter it so that it no longer has that effect;3. Provide a reasonable means of avoiding it; or provide a reasonable alternative method of making the services available.What is a "reasonable adjustment"?The extent of adjustments that will be deemed ‘reasonable’ for a service provider to have made to their building and premises prior to 1st October 2004 will be judged by the Courts on a number of factors. These factors will include the resources the service provider had available to make the adjustment, the disruption that making the adjustment would have caused and the improvement in access that would have been achieved in making the adjustment.Its not always an easy call to make. The key is to recognise best practice and to correctly identify your access issues with an appropriate access audit.The most important barriers to access for people with disabilities arise from the physical features of premises, from staff communication and training, and from the business policies and practices that service providers adopt. In achieving inclusive access it is equally important to implement effective staff equality training as it is to alter obvious physical barriers to access such as steps and poor signage. A common sense approach towards people’s access needs combined with often relatively minor physical adjustment can dramatically improve access.