JISC Legal : Accessibility Law

A checklist of questions for institutions to consider when updating or framing an e-safety policy.

The legal issues which arise when using e-assessment in UK FE and HE.

When developing e-learning environments or authoring elearning materials, it is important that educational institutions and e-learning authors bear in mind the institution’s obligations under disability discrimination legislation.

A JISC study to explore the Legal and Records Management Issues relating to the concept of the Lifelong Learner record.

A Briefing Paper on the legal implications under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 of provision by education service providers of digitised materials to colleges and universities. ARCHIVED

Presentation by Jackie Milne on Legal Aspects of Web 2.0 and Social Networking to the 'Scottish Web Folk Group'.

A consultation by the GEO seeks views on proposals for draft regulations on the new public sector equality duty.

On 8 April 2010 the Equality Act received royal assent after completing its parliamentary process.

The Digital Economy Act 2010 was given royal assent late on Thursday, 8 April 2010, following the final reading of the Digital Economy Bill in the House of Commons, the previous night.

The Royal Bank of Scotland recently lost their appeal against the decision that they were in breach of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.  

On the 24 April 2009 the Equality Bill was introduced in the House of Commons and was published on 27 April with a view to achieving Royal Assent in the spring 2010.

The House of Lords, in the case of London Borough of Lewisham v Malcolm [2008] UKHL 43, clarifies the meaning of "less favourable treatment" in relation to disability discrimination.

The European Commission has published a draft report called "Conformity assessment systems and schemes for accessibility requirements" .

These questions are based on queries posted to our enquiry service.

The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 at S28R (2) states It is unlawful for the body responsible for an educational institution to discriminate against a disabled student in the student services it provides or offers to provide.

Yes, if you are using your website to provide a service for example information to students or other third parties the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 states that you should not discriminate against disabled persons in the provision of the service.

The Copyright (Visually Impaired Persons) Act (CVIPA) 2002 amended the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA) by creating exceptions for making copies in alternative formats for visually impaired people.

The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act (CDPA) 1988 grants some exclusive rights to the owner of a copyright work which include the right to copy, issue copies, the right to communicate a work to the public and also the right to make an adaptation of it.

The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995 (as amended) places an obligation on educational service providers not to discriminate against students in the provision of its student services which would include resources and teaching.

Guidance for public sector organisationsaims to make current equality law more consistent, clearer and easier to follow in order to make society fairer.

Guidance for organisations and employers on the implications of the Equality Act 2010 available at: http://www.equalities.gov.uk/equality_act_2010/equality_act_2010_what_do_i_n.aspx. 

JISC TechDis, a JISC Advance service, works with the HE and FE sector in the UK in the field of accessibility and inclusion. http://www.techdis.ac.uk

Revised code of practice relating to disabled students in UK higher education institutions.

The CAST mission is to expand educational opportunities for individuals with disabilities through the development and innovative uses of technology.

An online staff training package on libraries and disability produced by the MLA

An archive of discussion and research on disability

Action on Access co-ordinates projects promoting inclusion and diversity in higher education.

A list of ways in which the needs of disabled students could be sensibly anticipated.

Disability and the Law - Useful Links

A section of the general government site focusing on the issue of disability.

These draft guidelines produced by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), explain how to make Web content accessible to people with disabilities

The ECU supports the HE sector in addressing equality and diversity issues

This article looks at the need for developers of institutional and educational web sites to have a strategy for ensuring optimal accessibility of online content.