Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) and Disability Equality Duty

Note: The information in this section is subject to change following the introduction of the Equality Act (2010) from the 1st October 2010.

Further details of the requirements of the Equality Act are available from the Equality and Human Rights Commision.

The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) (as amended) places statutory duties on Universities to make reasonable adjustments to meet the needs of disabled staff, disabled students and other disabled users of the University's facilities and services, including all aspects of admissions, learning and teaching.

Under the DDA, a disabled person is defined as someone who has 'a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his or her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities'. This definition covers a wide range of physical, mental and sensory impairments, including specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia and chronic health conditions such as diabetes, epilepsy and depression. Since December 2005, the definition also includes people with cancer, HIV and multiple sclerosis from the point of diagnosis and the requirement for mental illness to be clinically well recognised has been removed.

An overview of the DDA has been prepared by Disability Services that provides a summary of the University's legal responsibilities in this area. Further details are also available from our disability legislation resources.

The DDA was amended in April 2005 by the Disability Discrimination Bill which has introduced significant new statutory public sector duties from 5th December 2006 in the form of a new Disability Equality Duty. This legislation places a General Duty on public sector authorities, when carrying out their functions, to have due regard to the need to:

Promote equality of opportunity between disabled people and other people
Eliminate discrimination that is unlawful under the Act
Eliminate harassment of disabled people that is related to their disabilities
Promote positive attitudes towards disabled people
Encourage participation by disabled people in public life
Take steps to take account of disabled peoples' disabilities, even where that involves treating disabled people more favourably than other people

The Disability Equality Duty requires public sector authorities to shift away from focussing on making reasonable adjustments, to a proactive approach that builds-in inclusivity and promotes the full participation of disabled people in all of the authority's activities.

Key public sector authorities (including universities) are also subject to Specific Duties under the Disability Equality Duty. These duties require public sector authorities to publish a Disability Equality Scheme (DES) setting out how the authority intends to fulfil the requirements of the General Duty. Public authorities must:

Involve disabled people in developing the DES, identifying priorities and producing an action plan
Identify how they will gather and analyse evidence to inform their actions and monitor progress
Set out how they will assess the impact of their existing and proposed activities on disabled people
Produce an action plan for the next three years
Report on their progress every year and review and make appropriate revisions to the DES every three years

Involvement of Disabled People

The University has enabled the active involvement of disabled people in our response to the Disability Equality Duty and in the development of our Disability Equality Schemes (DES). All University staff and students are invited to complete surveys to comment on the University's provision for disabled people and to identify the key areas of University activity that should be prioritised in our DES. Focus groups of disabled staff and students are also asked to consider our draft DES and priorities, and continue to be involved in the ongoing monitoring of each Scheme as it is implemented. In addition, all staff and students can participate in the University's Disability Equality Forum on the University's Virtual Learning Environment, My Dundee. The University also considers feedback received from disabled members of the public in identifying and reviewing priorities for action in each Scheme.

The University's draft DES are distributed for comment to all staff identified as having lead responsibility for action, to all of the University's Disability Support Officers, to Trade Union representatives and subsequently to the University's Learning and Teaching Committee and Human Resources Committee. The final versions of the DES and action plan are ultimately submitted for consideration and approval by the University Court prior to publication.