Disability Discrimination Act 1995

There are estimated to be around 8.6 million disabled people in Great Britain, yet it is only in the last 5 years that provisions for a sufficient level of accessibility have been made.

The 1995 Disability Discrimination Act was the first of its kind to call for gradual improvements in the way that the owners and property managers of public buildings achieve equal access for all members of the public.

The Act was introduced in 1996 and has three successive stages of implementation:

Stage 1

Dec 1996 - Recognise overall problem

Stage 2

Oct 1999 - Start making reasonable adjustments

Stage 3

Oct 2004 - Need to comply

Those buildings that need to comply include:

• Offices
• Restaurants
• Public Buildings
• Shops
• Leisure Facilities
• Educational establishments
• Places of Worship
• Nursing Homes

Improvements to access to upper floor levels, multi-levelled surfaces, and items that may be too high to reach for the wheelchair user, are all examples of issues that need to be addressed.

It is the duty of the service provider to remedy the situation, i.e.:

• Remove the feature
• Alter it so it no longer has that effect, or
• Provide a reasonable alternative method of making the service in question available to a disabled person.