First Company Prosecuted in the UK

Imagine the National, no, International, press coverage your business could get, if your business is the first business in the UK to appear in court over the inaccessibility of the company website.

Could your business be the first company in the UK to be prosecuted for failure to comply with the UK DDA (Disability Discrimination Act)?

Although unlikely, the answer is yes, you can be prosecuted. A disabled person can make a claim against you if your website makes it impossible or unreasonably difficult to access information and services. If you have not made reasonable adjustments and cannot show that this failure is justified, then you may be liable under the Disability Discrimination Act, and may have to pay compensation and be ordered by a court to change your site!

A useful reference is the case brought against the Sydney Olympics Committee in Australia in 2000. This resulted in a landmark decision against the website owners, requiring them to pay $20,000 Australian dollars.

"This response, I am satisfied, was very hurtful for him; the suggestion that he enlist the aid of a sighted person to assist him was wholly inconsistent with his own expectations and what he himself, unaided, had been able to achieve, both at university level and in business, in spite of his disability. To dismiss him and to continue to be dismissive of him was not only hurtful, he was also made to feel, I am satisfied, various emotions including those of anger and rejection by a significant statutory agent within the community of which he himself was a part."

Judge Hon. William Carter QC 2

What we do

As a website design consultancy we can offer advice on how to make your website more accessible to all your website visitors. We're happy to submit tender proposals and development costs for any website design project you may have. Please contact us to arrange a visit to your office or to submit a website design tender.

This content is not an authoritative statement of the law and the information is not a substitute for obtaining legal advice. Whilst we have made every effort to ensure that the information we have provided is correct, we cannot accept any responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions.

Information provided by RNIB