Is business complying
with the Disability Discrimination Act
if the premises are inaccessible?
The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) aims to end the discrimination which many disabled people face. The areas that the Act gives those with disabilities rights in are:
employment
education
access to goods, facilities and services
buying or renting land or property
Access to services
The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA)
gives you rights in the way consumers use services or receive goods.
It is unlawful for service providers to
treat you less favourably because of your disability, and they must make
‘reasonable adjustments’ for you, such as giving you extra help or changing the
way they provide their services. Following changes to the law in 2004, service
providers must consider making changes to physical features of their premises
so that there are no physical barriers which prevent you from using their
services, or make it unreasonably difficult for you to do so.
It doesn’t matter whether or not you pay for
the service; it’s providing the service that matters. Services include going to
a restaurant, shopping for clothes or food, using the local library, going to
church or visiting your solicitor or doctor.
A service doesn’t have to be impossible to
use before a service provider has to make changes. They also have to make
changes when it’s unreasonably difficult. They should think about whether any
inconvenience, effort, discomfort or loss of dignity you experience in using
the service would be considered unreasonable by other people, if they had to
endure similar difficulties.
Making reasonable
adjustments to services
There isn’t a clear answer that can be given
to the question ‘what is reasonable’? The law uses this phrase to allow
different solutions in different situations, and it is ultimately up the courts
to decide in each situation. However, what is reasonable may vary according to
the type of service and the nature of the service provider, its size and
resources.
Some of the factors that service providers
might have to take into account when considering adjustments may include:
- whether taking particular steps would overcome the difficulty that
you face in accessing their service
- how practicable it is to take these steps
- the financial and other costs involved
- how disruptive it would be
- how much money and other resources they have available
- how much they have already spent
- What financial help is available to them.
If a service provider does nothing until you
are unable to use their services, they could well be in breach of the law.
Is it all right for
service providers to wait until I cannot use their services before making
changes?
No. Their duties are anticipatory and
continuing. In other words, service providers should be thinking ahead and
continually looking at the way they provide services, the physical features of
their premises and services, and how they can make improvements for disabled
people.
Can service
providers just make changes for people with particular disabilities?
No. Service providers should consider
the full range of access needs of disabled people and the ways in which their
services may be difficult to use.
How should a
service provider deal with a physical feature that is making it difficult for
me to use a service?
Once a service provider has identified
the physical features that may make it difficult for you to use their service,
then the law gives them a choice. They can remove that feature, alter it, find
a way of avoiding it or provide the service another way.
We recommend that service providers first
consider removing the physical feature or altering it. This is often the safest
option because it is more likely to make the service accessible, meaning that
you receive the services in the same way as other customers. This is called an
‘inclusive’ approach.
Where a service provider does decide to avoid a feature or provide the service
another way, then the service must not be unreasonably difficult for you to
use.
What to do if think you
have been discriminated against?
The Equality and Human Rights Commission
(EHRC) is here to give information and guidance on discrimination and human
rights issues. If you think you may have been discriminated against, check
their website at www.equalityhumanrights.com
and go to the ‘know your rights’ section.
You can contact the EHRC by telephone, text
phone, letter, email or fax. If you are contacting by post about an
issue for the first time, please do not send any documents with your
letter. The EHRC will come back to you
to let you know what documents they will need to see.
The disability helpline has special
facilities: if you are a British Sign Language user or have a learning
disability, and would prefer to contact face-to-face, The EHRC can arrange a
videophone call with you.
If you would like to contact in a language other than English,
please do so by using any of the ways above and tell the EHRC what language you
would like to use. They will arrange to contact you in your language of choice
as soon as possible.
Below you will find the helpline addresses
and methods of contact available to you. If however you wish to submit an
enquiry please visit the website and use their web
enquiry form.
Addresses and phone numbers
England - disability
Equality and Human Rights Commission
Disability Helpline (England)
FREEPOST MID02164
Stratford upon Avon
CV37 9BR
Telephone: 08457 622 633
Textphone: 08457 622 644
Fax: 08457 778 878
Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri 9:00 am-5:00 pm; Wed 9:00
am-8:00 pm.
info@equalityhumanrights.com