The act ensures that Britain’s disabled consumers and workers can gain access to businesses by removing barriers or providing the product or service in another way.  This can have considerable advantages to a business when considering the potential £50 billion annually spending power by disabled people.

 

A new practical guide to help organisations meet the needs of customers and staff with disabilities is now available from DDA Services  in partnership with  Exemplas Ltd’s disability service, Disability Employer Outreach Service (DEOS).  With 60 pages, the guide presents the basic facts on how to ensure accessibility for disabled people in the workplace, in employment practice and in serving disabled customers.  It is a basic introduction, enabling people at any level in the largest to the smallest of organisations to start to question how aware they are of disabled people and how accessible a business is to them. 

 

The aim of the guide is to help organisations identify any physical and non-physical barriers to service including access to websites and online services.  Working through the guide, an organisation will be able to make a formal record of any barriers within the organisation.  Once these barriers have been identified, the guide provides a range of solutions to help the business overcome those barriers to meet the requirements of the new legislation and, of course, its customers.

 

The guide is split into sections with checklists to help an organisation audit its accessibility.  Imagery is used throughout the guide to show how to implement certain requirements e.g. size of disabled parking space.  The sections include:

·         Access routes into, around and inside a building;

·         Production of literature and information;

·         Websites and online services;

·         Communication, language and behaviour;

·         Policy and procedures;

·         Recruitment, selection and employment;

 

The Disability Access & Awareness guide has been endorsed by Richard Howitt MEP, President of the European All Party Group on Disability Rights and Kerry Pollard MP, First Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Small Business Group.

 

The guide is available for £50 (plus postage and packaging) per copy with discounts available for bulk purchases.  The guide can be purchased by calling DDA Services on 0845 371 3091 or logging onto ddaservices.co.uk

 

 

 

 

1.      Disability Employer Outreach Service (DEOS) exists to create an interface between businesses and the disabled community. It provides a range of services aimed at businesses and designed to assist them with complying with current and future legislation.

1.      Exemplas Ltd helps organisations adapt, change and grow.  Our understanding of entrepreneurship and how to instil its spirit comes from working with organisations of all sizes, from large and small businesses, to membership groups and Government departments. Our services help organisations to plan and grow in all areas: people management and development, commercialisation of knowledge, finance, exporting, sales and marketing.  Our world-class Exemplas products and services are also provided through accredited brands including Exemplas International. In Hertfordshire they are offered to small and medium sized businesses through Business Link, partly funded by the UK Government.

2.      Exemplas Ltd and DDA Services have entered into partnership to produce the Disability Access & Awareness Guide.  This partnership combines the expertise of the Exemplas Ltd disability service, called the Disability Employer Outreach Service (DEOS), with the technical and equipment specialisms of dda Services UK Ltd.