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Legal Reasons
The information on this page is specifically oriented to UK Law. We are very aware of legislation in other countries, so if you need some pointers, please contact us. Additionally, in the section of our site devoted to other useful web sites, we provide a collection of links to legal resources online.
Disability Discrimination Act
- Under the UK's Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) it may be illegal for you to include information on your site which is inaccessible to certain users.
- In October of 1999, the DDA was extended to cover all "Goods, facilities and services" to all customers of businesses in the UK.
- This means that any organisations who provide information on a web site which is inaccessible to some users, will be liable to legal action.
- Education was originally excluded from the DDA. However, this exclusion was removed in 2001, with the introduction of the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act (SENDA).
Human Rights Act
Now in force throughout the UK, this provides a legal right "not to be discriminated against on any ground..." It brings some of the European Convention on Human Rights into UK law.
Remember Staff as well as Customers
Don't forget that if accessible problems of company web sites or intranets prevent someone from doing their job, they may be entitled to legal action against the company.