Access and facilities for disabled people
Change practices to give disabled people equal access
A business will usually have established a way of providing a service to its customers. This involves:
- practices - what a business actually does
- policies - how a business regulates what it does
- procedures - the systems set up to ensure the policies are achieved
Practices, policies and procedures may be:
- set out formally, eg a ban on animals entering the premises
- established informally or by custom, eg pet owners are discouraged from entering the premises with an animal but there is no outright ban or penalty for non-compliance
Your business may have in place certain practices, policies and procedures which make it impossible or very difficult for disabled people to make use of your services. You must, where reasonable, take steps to change any practice, policy or procedure so that it no longer has this effect.
You can do this by:
- removing the practice, policy or procedure altogether
- making exceptions to the practice, policy or procedure to accommodate disabled people
- instructing and training all employees so that they are aware of these changes
Examples of changing practices, policies and procedures include:
- waiving a "no dogs" policy to allow disabled people accompanied by an assistance dog to enter your premises
- expanding the procedure of using a driving licence as the only proof of identity to include other forms of identification - thereby allowing disabled people who do not drive to access your goods or services
Businesses in England, Wales and Scotland can read information on access for disabled people on the Disability Rights Commission website.
Read about the Northern Ireland disablement advisory service on the Department for Employment and Learning Northern Ireland website.
Subjects covered in this guide
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