The Disability Discrimination Act
The Disability Discrimination Act aims to end prejudice against less able people. It has been significantly extended over the last ten years and now gives less able people rights in the following areas:
- Education
- Employment
- Renting or buying land or property
- Access to goods, facilities and services
- Activities, clubs, sports and associations
What classes as a disability?
The DDA defines a disabled person as someone who has “a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on the person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.” These include:
- Learning difficulties, mental illnesses, and brain damage.
- Paralysis, severe disfigurement, or limb injuries.
- Deafness, blindness, or heart disease.
Obligations
The DDA requires service providers (e.g. shops, libraries, cinemas etc) and all workplaces to make reasonable adjustments to overcome physical features, which obstruct the less able. These include anything arising from a building’s design or construction, fixtures, fittings, equipment, or materials.
To overcome a physical feature means to either remove it, alter it so that it no longer has an effect, provide an alternative access route, or make services available to the less able in another way.
Reasonable Adjustments
There is no legal definition of a reasonable adjustment. It depends on the kind of service provided, an adjustment’s cost and practicality, and the size of the service provider. Reasonable adjustments could include:
- Replacing steps with a ramp or platform lift
- Widening a building’s entrance and exit to accommodate wheelchairs
- Making toilets and washing facilities accessible to all.
