Disabled Access UK is in the forefront of the minds of all shop owners and business owners. Unlike some other countries, there are strict rules and laws on disabled access, allowing disabled people to be treated the same as those without a physical or mental disability. The Disability Discrimination Act of 1995 saw huge changes in the UK, and this was later followed and renamed as the Equality Act.
These acts ensured that disabled people would no longer be discriminated against, in accessing of everyday goods and services. These include shops, cafes, cinemas, banks, and places of worship. Store owner are required to make access for disabled customers possible, and this can include the introduction of wheelchair ramps, access doors, and more you can find when you click here.
Disabled Access UK: Access to Services
As well as allowing disabled people physical access to services, the DDA ensured that disabled people in the UK have equal rights when it comes to buying and renting property, accessing education, transport, health care, and more. Private facilities such as clubs for more than 25 members were also included in the act, as was the policing and issuing of licenses.
Disabled Access UK: Access to Employment and Healthcare
Under the DDA, it is unlawful for employers to discriminate against job seekers due to a disability. Under the act, healthcare providers are required to provide necessary adjustments such as sign language interpreters, hearing loops, and publications in different formats for their patients.
SENDO
Sendo is the Special Education Needs and Disability Order of 2005. This order requires education providers at all levels to provide prospective students with everything they need. If a centre does not have sufficient wheelchair access or a disabled toilet for example, they will be required to make the necessary adjustment. Books should be produced in large font for the visually impaired and disability-related harassment is in no way or form acceptable.
Mental Health
Many people with mental health problems may not consider themselves disabled. This however is not the case, and the Mental Health order of 1986 ensured that those whose disability was not physical would also be treated fairly.
Public Transport
It is required by the providers of public transport to provide a service that does not discriminate against the disabled. This includes low level access buses for disabled, and the necessity for taxi drivers to carry a wheelchair with them in their cab. Access to transport should be easy for those in a wheelchair, and adaptations made in the UK have made it easier for wheelchair users to board a bus or train without struggling or having to call on members of the public to help them.
Although living with a disability is never easy, the UK provides everything necessary for disabled people to get on with their lives far easier than in some other countries, even in Western Europe. Although other countries are following suit, the UK can be seen to be leading the way with disabled access in every sense of the word.