Disability Discrimination Act - Access to Goods and Services for the Disabled

Making Access to Goods and Services Easier for Disabled Customers: A Practical Guide for Small Businesses and Other Service Providers

Disabled customers

There are almost 9 million people in the UK* with a current disability covered by the DDA. Of these, 2.75 million have a significant hearing impairment and 2 million have a significant visual impairment. Some people have more than one disability; some have disabilities that cannot be seen; and the popular perception that people with disabilities always use wheelchairs is inaccurate.

Those who are likely to benefit from improvements made by small businesses and other service providers include:

• disabled customers (both existing and new ones)
• their friends and families accompanying them
• customers with pushchairs or carrying heavy shopping or luggage
• customers with children
• some older customers who may not consider themselves disabled but who do appreciate easier access

  *source: Disability in Great Britain, DSS Research Report (number 94), 1999 identifies 8.6 million people with a disability in England, Wales and Scotland and the Labour Force Survey (LFS) Autumn (September to November) 2000 identifies almost 200,000 people with a disability in Northern Ireland.