Digital accessibility obligations: Equality Act 2010

The Equality Act 2010 applies to both public and private sector organisations. Any organisation or service provider that offers any facilities or services must comply with the duties set out in the Equality Act 2010.

What are reasonable adjustments?

Sections 20 and 21 of the Equality Act 2010 set out a duty the ensure that organisations and service providers make reasonable adjustments to allow disabled persons to access their services. This may be a change made to remove or reduce a disadvantage that a disabled person may experience when accessing services, work, education or public functions. This is a proactive duty, meaning that organisations and service providers should foresee changes that they need to make.

There are a number of reasonable adjustments that can be made by organisations and service providers to ensure that their digital presence complies with the obligations set out in the Equality Act 2010. By way of example, these may include (but are not limited to):

1. Confirming that their content is compatible with screen readers;
2. The provision of captions and/or transcripts for non-text elements;
3. Ensuring that sufficient colour contrast is used for coloured content, allowing for the meaning to be inferred fully;
4. Allowing for keyboard-accessible navigation;
5. Offering alternative, accessible formats of documents; and,
6. Clear and concise labelling of the digital content.

If you believe that you have not been provided with reasonable adjustments when accessing a service, our specialist discrimination law team may be able to advise you and assist you in bringing a claim under the Equality Act 2010.

Alternatively, if you are a business who is seeking advice on the reasonable adjustments that you could make to foster a disability inclusive environment in line with the Equality Act 2010, or if you have received a complaint of discrimination or had a claim brought against you, please contact our specialist discrimination law team on 0161 696 6170 for advice surrounding the provision of reasonable adjustments generally and, if necessary, assistance in defending discrimination claims.

Blog author: Lucas Hardman