The legal position in the UK
In the UK, the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) makes it unlawful for a provider of services to discriminate against a disabled person by refusing or deliberately failing to make its services available to disabled people. Section 21 of the DDA places a duty on those providing services to the public to make such adjustments as are reasonable in the circumstances to ensure that disabled people can access the services. This duty applies whether or not payment is made for the services. A website is a service to the public, whether it is a site selling goods or services, or one which simply provides information, and as such would appear to be subject to the provisions of Part III of the DDA. However, there is no decided case law in the UK concerning the application of the DDA to websites.
Complying with the legislation
The DDA requires service providers to take such steps as are reasonable in the circumstances to ensure that disabled people have access to the services. The Disability Rights Commission has issued a Code of Practice under the DDA giving some guidance as to what is meant by 'reasonable steps'. This Code does not impose any legal obligation, but can be referred to in proceedings under the DDA. According to the Code what is a reasonable step will depend on a number of factors, including the financial resources of the service provider, the extent to which it is practicable to take the steps and the cost of making adjustments.
The Disability Rights Commission have stated that they believe that much of what is established as good practice relating to website accessibilty within the industry is likely to ensure compliance with the law. However they also state that the industry itself should aim to promote best practice standards that do not just follow the letter of the law but also the spirit of the DDA. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are not referred to in the DDA but a minimum standard of web accessibility is widely interpreted to mean compliance with all Priority 1 checkpoints of the WCAG.
Excerpts from Disability Discrimination Act 1995 Chapter 50
Section III Provision of Goods and Services
Discrimination in relation to goods, facilities and services
19.
(1) It is unlawful for a provider of services to discriminate against a disabled person-
(a) in refusing to provide, or deliberately not providing, to the disabled person any service which he provides, or is prepared to provide, to members of the public;
(b) in failing to comply with any duty imposed on him by section 21 in circumstances in which the effect of that failure is to make it impossible or unreasonably difficult for the disabled person to make use of any such service;
(c) in the standard of service which he provides to the disabled person or the manner in which he provides it to him; or
d) in the terms on which he provides a service to the disabled person.
(2) For the purposes of this Section and Sections 20 and 21
(a) The provision of services includes the provision of any goods or facilities
(b) a person is "a provider of services" if he is concerned with the provision, in the United Kingdom, of services to the public or to a section of the public
(c) it is irrelevant whether a service is provided on payment or without payment.