The Waterfront Partnership

Disability Discrimination & The Web

DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION AND YOUR WEBSITE - A FEW POINTERS

(This document was first produced in 2006)

As well as governing workplace relations, the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and the Disability Discrimination Act 2005 imposes obligations on providers of goods and services (including an obligation to make their website accessible to disabled persons) and makes significant demands in terms of the construction of buildings and the organisation of transport.

All providers of goods and services are now obliged to make "reasonable adjustments" to ensure that they do not discriminate against disabled persons.

Key Legislation

• Disability Discrimination Act 1995 ("DDA") as amended by Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (Amendment) Regulations 2003 SI 2003/1673 (DDA Amendment Regulations), with effect from 1st October 2004

• Disability Discrimination Act 2005 ("DDA 2005"), which came into force on 5 December 2005.

Definition

DDA provides a definition of ‘disability'. DDA 2005 made certain amendments to that definition:

"a person has a disability for the purposes of this Act if he has a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities."

A "long-term effect" is an effect which has lasted at least 12 months or is likely to last for at least 12 months or is likely to last for the rest of the life of the person affected. 

An impairment is to be taken to affect the ability of the person concerned to carry out normal day-to-day activities only if it affects one of the following-

• mobility;
• manual dexterity;
• physical co-ordination;
• continence;
• ability to lift, carry or otherwise move everyday objects;
• speech, hearing or eyesight;
• memory or ability to concentrate, learn or understand; or
• perception of the risk of physical danger.

If an impairment ceases to have a substantial adverse effect on a person's ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities, it is to be treated as continuing to have that effect if that effect is likely to recur.

A severe disfigurement is treated as having a substantial adverse effect on the ability of the person concerned to carry out normal day-to-day activities.

Where a person takes measures (including medical treatment and the use of a prosthesis or other aid) to negate the effect of their disability, they are still deemed to be disabled.

A person who has cancer, HIV infection or multiple sclerosis is to be deemed to have a disability.

Any person whose name is on the register of disabled persons maintained under section 6 of the Disabled Persons (Employment) Act 1944 is deemed to be disabled.

Website Development

A Disability Rights Commission (DRC) investigation revealed that 81 per cent of British websites are inaccessible to ‘disabled' people.  Following this, they commissioned the British Standards Institution (BSI) to produce a ‘best practice guide' on how to develop a website which is user-friendly for disabled people.  This was released in March 2006 and is available to purchase for £30.

6 Key Areas:

• The accessible website process - guidance on building an accessible website from commissioning and developing it, through to publishing and maintaining it. This also includes guidance on contracting web design and accessibility auditing services

• Accessibility policy - its importance and how to define this for the website

• Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) guidelines - their importance in the context of accessibility issues, what they mean and which ones to follow

• Involvement of disabled people - in the requirements gathering, conceptual design and testing processes

• Conformance checking - guidance on adhering to it

• Additional accessibility provisions - elements additional to conformance to the WAI guidelines can be useful but should not be considered essential

 

© Waterfront Solicitors LLP 2006