Disability Discrimination Act – Access To Goods And Services
Making Access to Goods and Services Easier for Disabled Customers: A Practical Guide for Small Businesses and Other Service Providers
Disabled customers
There are almost 9 million people in the UK* with a current disability covered by the DDA. Of these, 2.75 million have a significant hearing impairment and 2 million have a significant visual impairment. Some people have more than one disability; some have disabilities that cannot be seen; and the popular perception that people with disabilities always use wheelchairs is inaccurate.
Those who are likely to benefit from improvements made by small businesses and other service providers include:
- disabled customers (both existing and new ones)
- their friends and families accompanying them
- customers with pushchairs or carrying heavy shopping or luggage
- customers with children
- some older customers who may not consider themselves disabled but who do appreciate easier access
*source: Disability in Great Britain, DSS Research Report (number 94), 1999 identifies 8.6 million people with a disability in England, Wales and Scotland and the Labour Force Survey (LFS) Autumn (September to November) 2000 identifies almost 200,000 people with a disability in Northern Ireland.
