Disability Discrimination Act 1995, as it applies in Northern Ireland.

The Equality Act 2010 consolidated discrimination law in Great Britain, and almost none of it extends to Northern Ireland. In NI, disability discrimination in services, premises, employment and education is still governed by the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, applied with the modifications in Schedule 8 and amended by Northern Ireland legislation over the years. The Equality Commission for Northern Ireland is the body that advises on and enforces it.

On legislation.gov.uk the revised text carries extent notes because many provisions were repealed for Great Britain but remain in force in Northern Ireland. Read the NI version, with the extent shown, when quoting it.

Section 21 sets three duties for service providers. The first covers practices, policies and procedures. The second covers physical features, with building design, construction and approaches given as examples, and lists four responses: remove, alter, provide a means of avoiding, or provide the service by a reasonable alternative method. The third covers auxiliary aids or services. Nothing requires a step that would fundamentally alter the nature of the service or business.

The trigger is that the service is impossible or unreasonably difficult for disabled people to use. That wording differs from the substantial disadvantage test in Great Britain, and NI government guidance gives physical changes to premises and auxiliary aids as part of what providers must consider.

For a new building or fit-out, design signage to Technical Booklet R and BS 8300, record the decisions in the access statement, and check that the wording of tender documents refers to the DDA. For existing premises, a signage and wayfinding audit identifies features that make a service unreasonably difficult to use, and the adjustment options can then be costed and prioritised.