From October 2004 companies and organisations that provide services to the public will be required by the Disability Discrimination Act to ensure that those services are reasonably accessible to disabled people. In particular from October 2004, service providers may have to make reasonable adjustments in relationship to the physical features of their premises to overcome physical barriers to access.

Under the DDA, disability is defined as a physical, sensory or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on a person’s ability to carry out normal daily activities. An approximate breakdown of disability by prevalence is shown on the chart.

Where a physical feature makes it impossible or unreasonably difficult to disabled customers to make use of a service offered to the public service providers will have to take measures, where reasonable to: -

• Remove the feature, or
• Alter it so that it no longer has that effect, or
• Provide a reasonable means of avoiding the feature, or
• Provide a reasonable alternative method of making the service available to disabled people.

Physical features are defined under the DDA as anything on the premises arising from a building’s design or construction or approach to, exit from or access to such a building; fixtures, fittings, furnishings, equipment or materials and other physical element or quality of land in premises whether temporary or permanent.

As Access Consultants we can conduct an access audit of your building to assess its current strengths and determine priorities for future improvement. We can then provide you with: -

• A planning framework for analysis and action
• Help you focus on the priorities of what to do and when to do it
• Ensure to achieve value from future spending plans.