Definition of disability in the Act
Before talking about the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995, let's take a look at what the Act defines as a disability.
A disability is defined as an impairment; a loss or damage to physical and mental functioning, which includes hearing impairment and deafness.
The definition used in the DDA is very much based on a medical model of disability.
In the Act, a sensory impairment is incorporated in the term physical loss. To be included in this definition, the individual must be unable to hold a conversation with someone who has a normal voice and also unable to understand another person speaking clearly over the voice telephone.
This means that if you are Deaf and cannot talk to or hear someone face-to-face and on the voice telephone, then your rights are protected by the DDA.
It is important to point out that the Deaf community see themselves as a cultural linguistic minority, therefore perceiving the word disability to mean that society is disabling them from taking part in mainstream activities.
The Act
The following are included in the Act:
- Employment - see Help for Employers: Access to Work
- Trade Organisations and qualifications bodies
- Access to goods, facilities and services
- The management, buying or renting of land and property
- Education
It does not matter whether you have to pay for these services or they are free, they are still covered by the DDA.
The DDA requires services providers to make reasonable adjustments to the way they deliver their services so that disabled people can use them.
What is a reasonable adjustment?
The DDA terms a reasonable adjustment as an auxiliary aid or service. This means that the service provider should offer a BSL/English interpreter and ensure that a minicom/textphone is available so that Deaf people can access their services.