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Home > About Us > The Law and Good Practice
The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) legislation was introduced when it was recognised that disabled people face unwarranted discrimination in today's society.
The DDA requires those who offer goods and services to the public to look at the way these are delivered and where they are delivered, and to remove unreasonable barriers to disabled people using them. Employers similarly have to remove unreasonable barriers to disabled people being employed by them.
The DDA is the bottom line. It has been proved to be effective through the Courts and Employment Tribunals, and will no doubt continue to be so.
It is important to recognise a few basic facts that mean serving disabled customers effectively makes sound business sense. If businesses do not attract disabled people as customers, or if they lose them because of poor service, they are missing out on a market worth around £80 billion. Currently around 20% of the UK population are in some way disabled. With the aging population this figure will undoubtedly rise. Disabled people also have friends and relatives whose custom businesses could be missing out on.
It is accepted that the labour market pool will shrink over the coming years. It makes good business sense to ensure your business draws on the full diversity of the working age population, of which disabled people form a significant part.
Equal Ability can help you to build you expertise in good employment and customer service practice. We will assist you to look at various opportunities as well as understanding the bottom line, and we are well placed to offer the best solution that fits the constraints of budgets.
