Equality Act 2010
Equality Act 2010.
The Equality Act 2010 is the anti-discrimination law of England, Wales and Scotland. Its duty to make reasonable adjustments (section 20) requires service providers and employers to remove barriers for disabled people, and signs count as both a physical feature and an auxiliary aid.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Always check the official page for a newer edition.
For signage and wayfinding
What it asks of your signs
- 01Section 20 has three limbs: change a provision, criterion or practice, deal with a physical feature, and provide an auxiliary aid. Signage can engage all three.
- 02Physical features include fixtures, fittings, furnishings, materials and equipment. The 2026 Services Code lists signs among them, so poor existing signage is a feature you may have to alter or replace.
- 03The 2026 Services Code also gives signage or notices as an example of an auxiliary aid.
- 04For services the duty is anticipatory and owed to disabled people generally. You plan for visual, cognitive and hearing impairments before anyone complains.
- 05Where the adjustment concerns information, reasonable steps include providing it in an accessible format: tactile, braille, audio or easy-read alongside printed signs.
- 06An access feature that accords with Approved Document M (or the Scottish Technical Handbook) cannot reasonably be required to be altered for 10 years after completion. The protection does not apply if it does not accord with that guidance.
- 07The cost of an adjustment can never be passed to the disabled person.
Scope
The Act received Royal Assent on 8 April 2010 and forms part of the law of England, Wales and Scotland. It does not extend to Northern Ireland, where the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 still governs disability rights. The reasonable adjustment duty applies across services and public functions (Part 3 and Schedule 2), premises, work, education and associations. For most wayfinding work the relevant duty-holders are service providers and public bodies: hospitals, universities, councils, transport operators, shops, offices open to visitors.
The duty in section 20
Where a provision, criterion or practice, a physical feature, or the lack of an auxiliary aid puts disabled people at a substantial disadvantage compared with non-disabled people, the duty-holder must take such steps as it is reasonable to have to take to avoid the disadvantage. For physical features, avoiding the disadvantage includes removing the feature, altering it or providing a reasonable means of avoiding it, and for services, adopting a reasonable alternative method of providing the service.
Physical features are defined widely: anything arising from the design or construction of a building, approaches, exits and access, fixtures, fittings, furnishings, furniture, materials and equipment, and any other physical element or quality. The EHRC's 2026 Services Code, which replaced the 2011 code, lists signs among physical features and signage or notices among auxiliary aids. Courts and tribunals must take relevant provisions of the Code into account. We republish it below under the Open Government Licence.
The design standards defence
The Equality Act 2010 (Disability) Regulations 2010 say it is not reasonable to require a service provider to remove or alter a feature provided to help people access or use a building if it meets the relevant design standard: Approved Document M in England and Wales, or the Technical Handbook in Scotland. That protection lasts 10 years from completion. It is a strong reason to specify signage to Approved Document M from the outset and to keep the compliance record.
Common mistakes
- Treating the Act as satisfied by building control sign-off. Building regulations apply to new work; the adjustment duty is continuing and covers existing buildings too.
- Thinking only of wheelchair users. Low vision, sight loss, dementia, learning disability, autism and deafness all create wayfinding barriers.
- Relying on a single channel. A sign that only works visually may need a tactile, audio or staff-assisted alternative.
Editions and history
The Equality Act 2010 replaced the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and other discrimination legislation in Great Britain. The EHRC Code of Practice for services, public functions and associations 2026 came into force on 5 August 2026, replacing the 2011 Code.
Sources checked
- legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/section/20
- legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/schedule/2
- legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/section/217
- legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2010/2128/regulation/9/made
- legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2010/2128/schedule/made
- gov.uk/government/publications/equality-act-2010-code-of-practice-for-services-public-functions-and-associations-2026
- businesswales.gov.wales/news-and-blog/services-code-practice-comes-force
A summary in our own words, checked on 16 October 2026. It is not the document itself and not legal advice.
Equivalents and related
The same ground, elsewhere.
- Disability Discrimination Act 1995, as it applies in Northern IrelandN. Ireland
- Disability Act 2005 (Ireland), Part 3: Access to buildings and servicesIreland
- Equal Status Acts 2000 to 2018Ireland
- Approved Document M: Access to and use of buildings, Volume 2: Buildings other than dwellingsEngland
- Approved Document M: Access to and use of buildings, Volume 1: DwellingsEngland
- Building Standards Technical Handbooks (Domestic and Non-domestic), Section 4: SafetyScotland
- Design of an accessible and inclusive built environment. External environment. Code of practiceUK
- Design of an accessible and inclusive built environment. Buildings. Code of practiceUK
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Working to Equality Act 2010 on a live project?
Wayfinding design, compliance, manufacture and installation, with the signage certificates signed off by us.