What the Disability Discrimination Act means to us
By Nick Bishop
This November marks 30 years since the UK Parliament passed the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995. I spoke to two brilliant disabled campaigners, Sarah and Emma, about the impact of this landmark law.
Today is gonna be the day
In some ways, a look back at November 1995 will feel quite familiar. Oasis and Pulp enjoyed huge popularity after sellout shows across the UK. The Government prepared a November Budget as an embattled Prime Minister still faced speculation about his future. The media talked endlessly about the BBC, the royal family and the US President.
But there was something new and life-changing for many of us. For the first time, the UK had a law specifically designed to stop discrimination against disabled people. Campaigners had fought long and hard for this. Now, finally, under law, disabled people could not be treated any less favourably than people who were not disabled. Parliament passed its first Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) on 8 November 1995.
Access denied
It is not a perfect world today, of course. Some activists had wisely warned at the time that the DDA was simply not strong enough. Many disabled people continue to be denied services, often due to lack of accessibility
Before the Disability Discrimination Act, this denial of service was almost always perfectly legal. So it would happen a lot more.
Wheelchair users could legally be denied entry to inaccessible shops, restaurants, stadia or public transport. People travelling on trains could be seated in a guard’s van next to a sack of mail. Deaf people could rarely access films or TV programmes due to a lack of subtitles or sign language.
Moreover, blind people could receive all their bills and letters in writing, on paper, with no offers of suitable accessible formats. A blind person trying to get a taxi could be refused entry for their guide dog. Disabled pupils in mainstream schools could receive no support. Disabled employees could be treated a lot worse than non-disabled employees.
Before the DDA takes effect: very poor attitudes and a total lack of understanding
Sarah Leadbetter is in her early fifties and lives in Leicester. She is registered blind and has a guide dog, a golden retriever called Nellie. Sarah clearly remembers life before the DDA.
She recalls her time at school as she was losing her sight. “I was struggling going through mainstream school and for a long time there was no support, no understanding, nothing.”
After the first DDA was passed in 1995, some organisations took a long time to grasp even the basics of the law. Recalling her early career in the 1990s, Sarah says: “I started work as a nursery nurse. After I lost all of my sight, my employer said: ‘We can’t insure you’. They wanted to get rid of me. And they sent me letters about this in a format that was not accessible.”
The DDA helps to start the ball rolling
Thankfully, the new law meant some things did begin to change for people like Sarah.
“I could now show the employer how they were not complying with the law. I got compensation. And when I started on a college course, the college made adjustments for me. All this would not have happened without the DDA.”
The Equality Act 2010
Today the key anti-discrimination rules for disabled people remain. The Equality Act 2010 replaced the DDA in England, Scotland and Wales. This has very similar protections affecting many aspects of disabled people’s lives. These still apply to employers, service providers, transport providers, sports bodies and many other groups.
Reasonable adjustments
If a wheelchair user cannot get into a shop building and a non-disabled person can, this could be against the law. The shop, a service provider, has a key legal duty – first set out in the DDA 30 years ago.
If there is a situation where disabled people are treated less favourably, ‘reasonable adjustments’ must be made to prevent this. So, for example, the shop could remove a step or put in a ramp. (This could be a fixed or temporary ramp, suitable for people using manual and powered wheelchairs.)
There’s a duty to anticipate the need for reasonable adjustments in advance and not just make changes when they are pointed out.
Not everyone complies with the legislation
As disabled people across the UK will know, not everyone complies with laws against disability discrimination. Years after the introduction of both the DDA 1995 and the Equality Act 2010, a lot of unnecessary obstacles quite literally remained in place. Many people felt that several employers, transport providers, shops and restaurants were not following their legal responsibilities. And this is still true today.
It is against the law to refuse permission for a disabled person to travel in a taxi with their guide dog or assistance dog. (There are exemptions if a taxi driver displays a valid medical certificate showing they are allergic to dogs).
Sarah frequently encounters taxi drivers who won’t let in her guide dog, Nellie. Some refuse outright. Others spuriously claim that their cab is ‘not big enough’, knowing that it’s the same size as many others. Consequently, Sarah can’t always travel to her destination.
Reminders of legal duties
If someone is not complying with the law, they are expected to act. Often, they don’t. But sometimes the simple mention of disability discrimination laws can have the desired effect.
Emma Dobson is a wheelchair user from Birmingham who was born in 1996, one year after the DDA was passed. After her day job, the 29-year-old avid music fan goes to loads of gig venues across the UK. Later, Emma writes entertaining access reviews in the blog Invincible Woman On Wheels. (Check out the best to worst venue rankings).
Emma was sold gig tickets that she could never possibly use. “When I was buying the accessible space for that gig, staff knew the lift had already broken. So I would never get in.
I told them that their actions could be against the Equality Act. Within minutes I had management on the phone. The speed at which I got a positive response was suddenly completely different.
Both Emma and Sarah are only too aware that things don’t always happen that quickly.
Enforcing change: responsibility is placed on disabled people
When someone will not comply with the Equality Act 2010, a successful legal action is the only way to guarantee change. Many disabled people, understandably, don’t have the time, energy or funds for a long court battle.
For example, a judge must decide if a taxi driver’s refusal to allow entry for an assistance dog broke the law. A judge must decide whether a gig venue treated a disabled customer less favourably.
And a judge must decide if a shop that had not provided wheelchair access has since made ‘reasonable adjustments’ to avoid unlawful discrimination. Of course, service providers and authorities may dispute what counts as a ‘reasonable adjustment’. Some people argue that the Equality Act must be stronger if we are going to see all the changes we need.
As Emma says: “I feel like we shouldn’t have to fight so hard in order to make use of the Equality Act. People say to me: ‘Oh. You could take them to court.’ If I did that every time a venue was circumnavigating the law, I’d spend more time in court than at shows!”
Paying tribute to campaigners
Both Sarah and Emma are keen to salute the campaigners who fought for the DDA, as well as those who continue to fight for disability rights.
Sarah reflects: “I have to remember that if people hadn’t demonstrated and fought for the DDA in the 1990s, we wouldn’t have these protections and rights. We wouldn’t have some of the progress we’ve had with accessibility and attitudes”.
Emma concurs: “I’m very aware that campaigners who came before me gave me a lot. Without them, I wouldn’t be living the life I live today.”