This guide gives general information for service providers in answer to a selection of frequently asked questions regarding the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA).  This is a general guide and is not an authoritative statement of the law.

 

Each organisation provides a unique service and this, in turn, affects the reasonable adjustments required to make a business accessible to as many disabled people as possible.

 

If you provide goods or services to the general public in Northern Ireland, you are a service provider and have responsibilities under Part 3 (Access to Goods, Facilities, Services and Premises) of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 DDA).

Service providers´ duties were introduced in three stages:

• Since December 1996 it has been unlawful for service providers to treat disabled people less favourably for a reason related to their disability.  For example: refusing service, treating a person differently, charging more or imposing an extra condition for a reason related to a person’s disability.
  
• Since October 1999, service providers have had to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people such as providing extra help or making changes to the way they provide their services.  For example, reasonable adjustments can include making a bank statement available in large print for a person with sight loss or providing a sign language interpreter for a deaf person who is applying for a mortgage.
  
• Since October 2004, service providers must consider making reasonable adjustments to the physical features of the premises if disabled people cannot  access their service.  For example: removing a step, altering a step by adding a handrail, avoiding a step, using an alternative door or providing access by an alternative method such as providing the same service by telephone or in another venue.

The Equality Commission for Northern Ireland has produced a Code of Practice:  Rights of access goods, facilities, services and premises.  The Code of Practice is a legal document that has to be taken into account by the courts where relevant.

 

There are other publications available to assist service providers and these are available by contacting the Equality Commission or clicking here.

 

Answer
The Disability Discrimination Act requires all businesses to implement any reasonable changes in order to make it easier for disabled customers to access their services.  You may think that, as a service provider, you do not have many disabled customers.  The chances are that you will have quite a few, because people with hidden disabilities such as cancer, diabetes, asthma and heart conditions are likely to be covered by the DDA. There are good business reasons for making changes because you will expand your customer base and retain some of your existing customers as they acquire disabilities.

 

Making changes to how you provide services will encourage:

Ultimately, they will have a positive effect on your profits.

 

The Disability Discrimination Act defines the term ´disability´ and who has rights under the law.  The statutory definition is a person "who has a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long term adverse effect on a person´s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities".  You cannot always tell if a person has a disability.  Click here for further information on the definition of a disabled person.  

The latest labour force survey in Northern Ireland shows that 20% of the population has a disability.  The definition of disability is not restricted to wheelchair users and includes people with learning disabilities, people with sensory disabilities and people with hidden disabilities such as multiple sclerosis or diabetes.

 

If you do not make the changes, you are leaving yourself open to being challenged by a disabled person in a County Court.

 back to top

Answer
All organisations that provide goods, facilities or services (whether paid-for or free) to the public or a section of the public are covered by the DDA, no matter how large or small they are.

 

This category includes:

Other services to the public would include festivals, agricultural and garden shows and other events.

 

Some services are excluded from Part 3 of the DDA.  These are:

 back to top

Answer
Voluntary organisations are covered by the law.  The DDA affects everyone concerned with the provision of services to the public, whether in the private, public or voluntary and community sectors.  It does not matter if the services are provided free or for payment.

 

As a service provider, you will have to prove that you have taken reasonable steps to inform staff and volunteers of their legal duty to treat disabled customers the same as other customers and to make adjustments such as offering extra assistance.

 

There are publications about how to treat disabled customers when they access your services.  You might wish to check if your local disability organisation can provide tips on disability awareness and etiquette.  If you don´t take any reasonable steps, then the whole organisation could be liable.

 

For your information, the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland has produced the publication, What service providers need to know.  

 

 back to top

Answer
Services not available to the public, such as those provided by private clubs, are not covered by Part 3 of the DDA.  However, where a club does provide services to the public then the Act applies to those services.  Private clubs are generally those where membership is a condition of participation and members have to comply with a genuine process of selection, usually by a club committee applying the club membership criteria. However, simply calling a service a ´club´ does not necessarily mean that the courts will consider it to be a private club.

 

Regulations are to be made which will change the status of private clubs so that they are no longer excluded from the legislation.

 

Private clubs with more than 25 members will have a duty not to discriminate against disabled members and a duty to make reasonable adjustments to policies, procedures and practices.  There will be a further duty to make reasonable adjustments to any of the particular physical features which make it difficult for disabled members to use the services of the club.  For further information on the DDO and regulations go to the government website at www.ofmdfmni.gov.uk

 back to top

 

Answer
An access audit is a service which can be carried out by a surveyor, architect or professional access auditor.  It will identify any improvements to services and buildings to make them easier for disabled people to use the services.

 

Professionals will document the barriers to access which exist within a building and its surroundings.  It is a report of a journey from a person´s arrival by bus, on foot or by car, through their entry into the building, how they move around within the building to exiting the building.  The audit will assess and identify any changes or options which will assist disabled people using your service.

 

Depending on your service and building, the auditors will identify solutions to problems of access which are faced by people with disabilities.  These range from physical barriers for people with physical disabilities to communication barriers encountered by people with sensory disabilities such as sight loss or deafness.  This, in turn, will help the auditors to advise you on the practical solutions such as aids and equipment for disabled people.

 

It is important to ask the auditors for examples of audits they have carried out recently in Northern Ireland.  It is vital that you consider and try to meet the needs of a broad spectrum of disabled people.  The auditor needs to understand the types of barriers disabled people face and then be up-to-date with options which are available.  It is important to remember that auditors may suggest that an improvement can be achieved by altering the service and not just the building.

6.  What are the first steps I should take as a service provider to the public?

 

 

 

 

If a claim of disability discrimination does occur, a service provider who has commissioned and followed the recommendations of an access audit may use this in their defence.

 back to top

 

The DDA requires that service providers make reasonable adjustments.  What constitutes a reasonable adjustment will depend on the particular circumstances of the disabled person and the service provider.  A reasonable adjustment for a disabled person can be the provision of extra help or changing the way a particular service is delivered.

 

For example:

This is not an exhaustive list of reasonable adjustments.

back to top

 

 

 

 back to top

 

Answer
Physical features include:

This is not a complete list.  The courts may decide that other things can be classed as physical features.

 back to top

Answer
The law requires the service provider to look at:

The Equality Commission, in its Code of Practice, recommends adopting an inclusive approach because removing or altering the barriers created by a physical feature makes the service available to everyone in the same way.  In contrast, an alternative method of service delivery offers disabled people a different form of service than that which is provided for non-disabled people.

 back to top

 

Answer
For service providers in listed buildings there is no absolute exemption.  The key issue is to examine how you deliver your services and then look at the buildings from where they are delivered.  Many physical changes to physical features such as steps can be incorporated tastefully and do not have to detract from the architectural features.

 

English Heritage has produced detailed guidance on providing access to historic buildings.  Easy access to historic buildings (June 2004) and Access guide: Welcoming visitors with disabilities to English Heritage properties (Aug 2003) are both available from customers@english-heritage.org.uk   The DDA does not override other legislation such as listed building or planning legislation therefore you will still need to obtain the relevant approvals.  You may wish to contact the Northern Ireland Environmental and Heritage Service who can advise you on how to take these steps. 

 back to top

Answer
In accessing a service, the Act does not define what is unreasonably difficult or impossible for a disabled person.  However, the Code of Practice recommends that service providers should take into account whether the time, inconvenience, effort, discomfort or loss of dignity entailed in using the service would be considered unreasonable by other people if they had to endure similar difficulties.  In other words, would you consider it reasonable to discuss your banking details on the street?

 

The focus of the Act is on results.  Where there is a physical barrier, the service provider´s aim should be to make the services accessible to disabled people so, as matter of good practice, the Commission recommends that you first consider removing, altering or avoiding the physical barrier and then, as a last resort, look at reasonable alternative ways of offering the service.

 back to top

Answer
Where a service provider is prevented, because of the terms of their lease, from making an alteration to the physical environment, special provisions apply.  In such circumstances, if the alteration is one which the service provider proposes to make in order to comply with a duty to make a reasonable adjustment, the Act overrides the terms of the lease so as to entitle the service provider to make the alteration with the consent of the landlord (´the lessor´).

 

In such a case, the service provider must write to the lessor asking for consent to make the alteration.  The lessor cannot unreasonably withhold consent, but may attach reasonable conditions to the consent (see: Code of Practice: Rights of Access: Goods, Facilities, Services and Premises)

 back to top

Answer
Common areas are the spaces which are shared between several businesses.  For example, the toilets, lifts, stairs, car parks, etc, in a shopping centre.  The key issue is whether members of the public have access to these areas of the building or complex (although there is no single test that determines whether a place is one which members of the public are permitted to enter).

 

Landlords in this situation are regarded as the service provider.  If members of the public are not permitted to enter the premises, the landlord is unlikely to be a service provider under the Act.  Further information on this issue is available in the Code of Practice: Rights of Access Goods, Facilities, Services and Premises.

 back to top

15.  Who has responsibility for common areas in a building? 

Answer
You should consult with your architects or builder.  Explain that you provide a service to the public and you wish to comply with your duties under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and the Disability Discrimination Order 2006.  The DDA standard is currently higher than the building regulations standard.  The Equality Commission recommends you use the standards set out in British Standard 8300:2001: Design of Buildings and Their Approaches to Meet the Needs of Disabled people - Code of Practice and the Building Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000.  Technical Booklet R: Access and Facilities for Disabled People (currently under review).  If you would like further information, there are contact details for other relevant organisations at the end of this guide.

 back to top

 

Answer
Most customers who frequent a bar would need access to the toilet and you should consider how accessible the toilets are, both in terms of getting to and using the facilities.  You will need technical advice on creating a wheelchair-accessible toilet compartment because the layout, dimensions and positioning of fittings are all critical.  It is important to have an access audit completed by a qualified auditor who will give you detailed advice.  The other issue is to consider how the facility will be managed, to ensure the accessible toilet remains accessible, by keeping out the cleaning materials.  This can be linked to ongoing health and safety, risk and maintenance issues.  See further sources of information for details.

 back to top

 

Answer
Some service providers label all disabled people as a fire risk.  The law does not allow you to exclude disabled people from your service on the grounds of health and safety. Ideally, an individual disabled person should have their own evacuation plan.  This is called a PEEP (personal emergency egress plan).  This is an ideal method for the workplace but it would be appropriate to develop standard ones that could be offered to visitors.  There are a number of options:

Statutory regulations require that everyone in the building, whether they are disabled or not, is provided with a means of escape in case of fire or other emergency.  This responsibility rests with the building management or service providers.  This means drawing up evacuation plans in consultation with the fire officer.  There are various types of equipment available that may assist with escape, including:  sound alerter, security systems, assistive chair, flashing beacons, e-alert, telephone systems, vibrating pagers, orientation signs and way guidance lighting.

 

You may wish to consult the guidance given in British Standard 5588: Part 8 - Code of Practice for Means of Escape for Disabled People (1999) on the facilities for, and the management of, assisted escape.

 

You may have to obtain statutory consent before making adjustments to the physical features of your building and this can include Fire Regulations approval.  You may also need to make changes to fire evacuation procedures for deaf people and people with sight loss.  These can be permanent changes such as inclusive fire alarms.

 back to top

 

Answer
Car parking facilities would fall under the duty to make reasonable adjustments in order to ensure that policies, practices or procedures do not make it unreasonably difficult or impossible for disabled people to use the service.  A shopping centre would therefore be obliged to take all reasonable steps to ensure that disabled people have access to the services.  Such steps could include monitoring of parking spaces by the centre and trying to ensure that non-disabled people do not use spaces designated for disabled users.  Guidance on this issue and on the physical design of spaces can be obtained from British Standard 8300:2001: Design of Buildings and Their Approaches to Meet the Needs of Disabled people - Code of Practice.

 back to top

Answer
The duty to make reasonable adjustments to physical features applies where it is impossible or unreasonably difficult for a disabled person to access services to the public.  The legislation does not require a service provider, in meeting its obligations, to adopt one way rather than another.

 

You should consider commissioning an access audit to see if you can remove, alter or avoid the feature as a matter of best practice.  If this is not an option, then you may be able to join forces with other businesses in the same building to share the cost of installing a lift.  If it is impossible for you to provide access to your services, you should try to provide these services by any other means such as by telephone, via the internet, by meeting in another building or perhaps by providing a home service.

 

You will need to ensure that lifts meet the recommended standards as set out in Section 3 of the Building Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000.  Technical Booklet R: Access and Facilities for Disabled People.  Section 3: Access within a building (www.drdni.gov.uk.)

 

back to top

Answer
Restaurants and public houses often have a ´no dogs´ policy.  They should change this policy because the DDA requires service providers to make reasonable adjustments to policies.  Assistance dogs are trained to high standards and would not be a health and safety risk.  The Equality Commission has assisted a number of cases on this particular issue.

 

For further information see the Equality Commission´s publication, The Disability Discrimination Act 1995: Assistance dog owners - their rights.  Employers and service providers - Best practice written booklet on this topic.