The Disability Discrimination Act (1995) - Your Responsibilities

The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA), requires that people with disabilities be given equal opportunities to participate in and contribute to the full range of economic, social, cultural and political activities. It makes it unlawful for any service provider to treat disabled people less favourably than they would treat other people for a reason related to their disability, when offering or providing goods, services or facilities.

It does not matter whether the service is offered on payment or free of charge. The DDA defines a disabled person as "anyone with a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long term adverse effect upon his or her ability to carry out normal day to day activities".

More than 8.5 million people living in Britain are recognised as having some form of disability. Recent research has shown that over 75% of disabled respondents considered an annual holiday to be important, both for themselves and for their carers. If European visitors are also considered, it quickly becomes apparent that they represent a very substantial number, with commensurate spending power.

The objective of the DDA, the creation of a fairer society, is compatible with your objective of creating or maintaining a successful business. It is therefore important that all businesses in the tourism industry take their legal and civic responsibility seriously.

The Disability Discrimination Act (1995)
The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) requires that service providers of all kinds should not discriminate against disabled people for reasons relating to their disability. [More]

VisitScotland Access Assessment
A VisitScotland Access Assessment a useful way of identifying the physical accessibility of the property and is a useful marketing tool. [More]

External Access Audit
This can be commissioned as a personalised health check of your business, including staff training and advice on good practice. [More]

How to build a web site for all
Many web sites are unusable for people with a visual impairment simply because they are poorly designed and are written in invalid HTML. [More]

Links
Useful contacts to help your business meet the new requirements. [More]

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