DDA overview
The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995 Part III came into force in October 2004.
Part III of the Act requires ALL businesses, regardless of size, to take reasonable measures to ensure that their goods and services are made accessible to disabled people.
The following statistics give some indication of the number of businesses that the Act affects:
There are a total of 2.1 million service providers in the UK . An estimated 1.44m private sector service providers and 104,000 public sector providers are subject to the legal requirements of the Act. *
These numbers are due to increase as a result of draft amendments to the Act due to come into force in December 2006. This will include the following groups who are not currently affected by the Act:
- public authorities
- private clubs
- the housing sector, with important new duties being placed on those letting, controlling and managing property
Further information on the DDA can be found on the following sites:
http://www.disability.gov.uk/dda/
There are an estimated 10 million disabled people in the UK .
From the business perspective this sector of society contributes significantly to the economy with an estimated annual purchasing power of £80 billion. It makes economic sense for companies to try and attract some of that revenue by making their goods and services more accessible and user-friendly.
*Source: Disability Rights Commission