DDA (Disability Discrimination Act)

Access requirements are subject to the Disability Discrimination Acts, 1995 and 2005. If your business or organisation supplies goods or services to the general public, it is vital that you are aware of the duties placed on you. For guidance, I suggest you visit this site:

The final part of the Disability Discrimination Act came in to force on 1st October 2004. This places new requirements on organisations offering goods or services to the general public. The quote below is taken from the Disability Rights Commission Website, which no longer exists, having been replaced by The Equality and Human Rights Commision. Their website at  Equality and Human Rights Commission  is an excellent source of information on the implications of the Law.

"The Law"

From October 1st 2004 where a physical feature makes it impossible or unreasonably difficult for disabled persons to access your goods or services, your organisation is required to take reasonable steps to:

• Remove the feature; or
• Alter it so it no longer has that effect; or
• Provide a reasonable means of avoiding the feature; or
• Provide a reasonable alternative method of making the service available.

Disabled individuals will be entitled to financial compensation and other legal remedies where they are affected by a breach of these requirements. The Disability Rights Commission can provide assistance to individuals in making legal challenges, and also has the power to launch strategic investigations if they believe that an organisation is in breach of the DDA.

This duty applies to all disabled people at large, and applies regardless of whether the organisation knows that a particular member of the public is disabled. Service providers are required to anticipate the types of problems which could arise so that when a disabled customer requests a service, reasonable steps will already have been taken to ensure that they can be served without unreasonable difficulty.

In some situations it may not be reasonable for a business to anticipate a particular problem; however, once a disabled customer's particular need becomes apparent reasonable steps must be taken to resolve the problem."

Problems will undoubtedly arise in defining what is "reasonable". These issues will need to be resolved in time through test cases being taken to Court.

Should you require any advice on issues arising from this Law or for an accessibility review, please contact me:   info@mouseonthemove.co.uk