Disability legislation explained

A brief history of recent disability law and what it means.

Equality Act 2010 and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995

The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) passed in 1995 came into law in 2001. Section 3 of the Act legally obliged companies providing goods and services to the public to provide auxiliary aids or services to make it easier for people with a disability to make use of any services that it offers to the public.

Part three of the Act made it the legal responsibility of companies to provide reasonable adjustments to make products and services available to people with a disability. The Act placed the responsibility of being proactive onto service providers and not their customers. Companies have a duty to provide information that is accessible to everyone.

In short, any materials that a company produces and sent out to customers must be made available in an alternative format (including Modified Large Print, Braille and Audio).

Vision Support Trading works with a large number of companies to ensure that this responsibility is not just met but is part of an excellent all encompassing customer services proposition.

The term “reasonable adjustment” had no single solution but the production and timely distribution of printed materials is the best policy.

As a general rule the more important the information the more vital it becomes that it is available in an alternative format. For example,

• A change to an existing service to which some or all customers will need to be aware of to take action.
• Essential information such as labelling, safety notices and evacuation procedures.
• Information from which important decisions will be made.
• Legally binding agreements.
• Confidential or personal information.
• Preferential offers.

If the information concerns a product or service that is only available for a limited period Companies will need to ensure that Vision Impaired customers are not disadvantaged by delays in getting the required information to them in the required format.

Disability Equality Duty

In December 2007 the Disability Equality Duty (DED) became law. The main aim of the DED was to get public authorities to think and act proactively on disability equality issues from the start of any product or service change rather than at the completion of a project. This change in approach required public authorities to include people with a disability at the beginning of a project to help remove unnecessary barriers that and that projects create equal participation for all. These proactive requirements include having information available in alternative formats from the beginning of a project, or at least a process to do so, rather than when a request is made.

The duty for the first time mead public authorities towards inclusive planning by actually consulting with disabled people and learning from their experiences and understanding their recommendations to make a truly inclusive experience from building access to accessible information.

The DED built upon the individual rights of the DDA by focusing public organisations to be inclusive from the start. The emphasis was more on the organisation than the individual.

The success of the DED in changing thinking in the provision of goods and services increased inclusive elements and improved disability rights further.

Disability Equality Act 2010

The main focus of the Equality Act 2010 (EA) was to streamline and strengthen anti-discrimination legislation in Great Britain. It provides a legal framework to protect individuals and groups, including disabled people, from discrimination. It replaces the DDA and subsequent amendments (except for UK related parts of the DDA for civil servants working in Northern Ireland).

Although the EA generally carries forward the protection provided for disabled people in the DDA there are key differences.

• It provides more protection for disabled people against direct discrimination.
  For example a disabled person being asked to vacate a premises because of how they are perceived to make other people feel.
• The EA introduces improved protection from discrimination due to something connected with a person’s disability.
  For example, providing a phone only service that makes it more difficult for deaf people to receive information or take advantage of a service.
• The EA also provides a trigger point at which there is a duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people. This trigger point is where a disabled person would be at a substantial disadvantage if an adjustment were not made.
• The EA extends the protection from direct discrimination harassment based upon disability. Previously this was confined to the work place.
• The EA provides protection from discrimination due to association with a person that has a disability.
• The EA provides limitations on the type of enquiries that a recruiting employer can make in relation to disability.

Disability legislation has radically improved the rights of people with a disability and directed goods and service providers, employers, transport providers amongst other to be proactive. By guiding companies to be more inclusive today and by strengthening the legal rights of individuals a more inclusive society can grow year on year.

Treating Customers fairly

Building on the Financial Services and Markets Act of 2000 the Financial Services Authority published guidelines entitled Treating Customers Fairly. Outcome three of this guidance was to ensure that “consumers are provided with clear information and are kept appropriately informed before, during and after the point of sale.” The FSA requested that clear information is crucial to ensuring that consumers are treated fairly. In particular where consumers do not take advice and must rely on the clarity of information when making decisions. It states that “a firm must pay due regard to the information needs of its clients, and communicate information to them in a way which is clear, fair and not misleading.” Further clarification of Outcome three has included the provision of alternative formats as being necessary to make information clear to consumers that have a vision impairment.

What does this all mean?

When considering your current and future policies, procedures and practices, seeking merely to comply is a high risk approach. Disability legislation requires providers to be proactive and committed to making information available. For customers with a vision impairment this means having robust policies in the provision of alternative formats and having these policies communicated freely within an organisation. The Equalities Act and the Acts before it have tried to make the provision of alternative formats readily accessible and not an inconvenient barrier to accessing goods and services.

VST are experts in the provision of alternative formats and we are happy to provide advise and guidance on alternative format issues. For more information please contact us.