Who has rights under the Act
The Act gives rights to disabled people - those with a 'physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long term adverse effect on the ability to carry out normal day to day activities'. From 14 April 2003, if you have been certified as blind or partially sighted by a consultant ophthalmologist, or if you are registered as blind or partially sighted with a local authority, you will automatically be regarded as disabled for the purposes of the Act (although this does not apply to Northern Ireland).
Find out more about becoming registered.
Who has duties under the Act
The duty to make reasonable adjustments applies to anyone providing goods, facilities or services to the public, whether for a fee or not. This includes banks, GPs, places of worship, local authority departments such as social services and environmental health when carrying out services, leisure centres, hotels and restaurants.
It also applies to public authorities when carrying out a public authority function - such as making welfare benefit decisions, subjecting people to immigration control, or arresting someone - and also to private clubs.
Practices, policies and procedures
Where a service provider has a practice, policy or procedure which makes it impossible or unreasonably difficult for you to use their service, they will have to take 'reasonable steps' to change that practice, policy or procedure so that you can use the service. Broadly similar provisions apply to public authorities carrying out functions, and to private clubs.
Auxiliary aids or services
Where an auxiliary aid or service (such as information in alternative formats) would enable or make it easier for disabled people to use a service / public authority / private club, service providers should take reasonable steps to supply such aids or services.
Physical features
Where a physical feature, for example something to do with the design of or access to buildings, or even the scope of a building, makes it impossible or unreasonably difficult for disabled people to use the service the service provider has to take reasonable steps to:
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remove the feature
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alter it so that it no longer has that effect
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provide a reasonable means of avoiding the feature
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provide a reasonable method of making the service in question available to disabled people.
What 'impossible or unreasonably difficult' means
The phrase 'impossible or unreasonably difficult' is used both as a 'trigger' for determining when adjustments relating to practices, policies and procedures have to be made, and also to determine whether or not a failure to make adjustments is unlawful.
A failure to comply with the duty to make reasonable adjustments in relation to providers of services to the public and private clubs will only amount to unlawful discrimination in specified circumstances. That is when the effect of the failure is to make it impossible or 'unreasonably difficult' for the disabled person to make use of services or of clubs and that the failure is not justified.
The Act does not define what is meant by 'unreasonably difficult', or 'unreasonably adverse'. However, the two phrases are intended to represent the same level of difficulty in accessing services or functions that disabled people may face. However, when considering whether services are unreasonably difficult for disabled people to use, or whether disabled people's experiences are unreasonably adverse, service providers should take account of whether the time, inconvenience, effort, discomfort, anxiety or loss of dignity entailed in using the service would be considered unreasonable by other people if they had to endure similar difficulties.
What taking 'reasonable' steps means
The Act doesn't specify what factors should be taken into account when considering whether or not a step is a 'reasonable' one to take. The Code of Practice states that what is reasonable will vary according to:
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the type of service being provided
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the nature of the service provider, and its size and resources
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how the person's disability affects them in that context.
The Code also says that some of the following factors might be taken into account when considering what is reasonable:
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how effective any steps would be in overcoming the difficulty that disabled people face in accessing the services
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how practicable it would be for the service provider to take these steps
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how disruptive taking the steps would be
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the financial and other costs of making the adjustment
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the extent of the service provider's financial and other resources
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the amount of any resources already spent on making adjustments
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the availability of financial or other assistance.
Provision of information in preferred formats
Service providers, public authorities and private clubs have to make sure that the service is accessible to you without unreasonable difficulty. This may mean providing information in your preferred format but it will depend on the circumstances.
Cost of these adjustments
Disabled people cannot be charged more than others who are not disabled or who have a different disability to cover the cost of meeting their DDA obligations.
What service providers have to do in advance
The duties owed under this section of the DDA are owed to disabled people as a whole, and service providers should have already reviewed their practices etc to make sure that they can comply with the Act. In certain circumstances, though, it may be reasonable for them to provide adjustments if you have requested them and not in advance.
If service providers don't make reasonable adjustments
If you say that you have been discriminated against because a service provider has failed to make reasonable adjustments, service providers can defend such a claim if their reasons fall within the following grounds of justifications under the DDA applied. These grounds are:
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health and safety
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inability of the disabled person to contract
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fundamentally alters the nature of the service, trade, profession or business.
Also, in the case of public authorities only, where:
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there is a reasonably held belief that not complying with the duty to make reasonable adjustments is necessary for the protection of the rights and freedoms of other people
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the failure is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim
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the authority has no power to take the steps which need to be taken.
What service users need to do
Although service providers have obligations to think ahead about what disabled people may need to enable them to use their service, it is a good idea for you to let them know if you have any particular needs. If you need your bank statements in braille, or you need assistance in a supermarket, correspondence from the tax office in large print, or assistance to familiarise yourself with the premises of your private club, let the service provider know of your needs to make sure that they are fully aware of what you require.
If a service provider hasn't complied with the Act
If a service provider hasn't made any reasonable adjustments and, as a result of this, it is impossible or unreasonably difficult for you to access the service, then you can take the matter further. In the first instance, you should write to the service provider detailing your complaint and, in particular, why their failure to make adjustments makes it impossible or unreasonably difficult for you to use their service.
You can also issue them with the questions procedure, to find out more about their reasons for not making the adjustments.
If your complaint is not satisfied, you can take your case to the county court. You must do this within six months of the discrimination taking place.
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