How is discrimination defined under the Disability Discrimination Act?
It is discrimination under the D.D.A. to treat a person less favourably, because of his or her disability, than a person without that disability would be treated in the same or similar circumstances. This is also known as direct discrimination. (See section 5 of the DDA.) The D.D.A. also covers discrimination where the same treatment applies to people with and without a disability but the impact is to disadvantage or exclude people with a disability in a way which is not reasonable. This is known as indirect discrimination. (See section 6 of the DDA.) For example: stairs are the same for everyone but some people cannot use them; print on paper is the same for everyone but some people cannot read it. Changing rules or requirements, premises or equipment so that indirect discrimination does not occur is often referred to as making reasonable adjustments. It is also discrimination to treat a person with a disability less favourably because he or she uses an assistive device (see section 7
