Legislation
- The Disability Discrimination Act 1995, Part III Access to Goods and Services
- Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001
- The Disability Discrimination Act 1995, Part IV Education
The part of The Disability Discrimination Act that applies to web sites is the ‘access to and use of information only services’.
The web is a particularly important tool for disabled people. Research has shown that disabled users spend much more time browsing the Internet. It should offer them a level playing field, but sometimes this benefit can be undermined by inaccessible web sites.
The Disability Discrimination Act is phrased in general terms and has not yet been tested. However, it seems clear that failure to make reasonable adjustments to inaccessible web sites can be discrimination. If you fail to make your web site accessible to disabled people, you may run the risk of legal action being brought against you under the Act.
