(Updated 21/07/2023)
What counts as disability discrimination?
It is against the law to discriminate against disabled people in various areas of their lives.
If disability discrimination takes place in any of the following situations, you may be able to take action about it:
- at work
- when providing goods, facilities and services
- when renting or buying property
- in education
There are some important areas where it is not against the law to discriminate against disabled people, for example, in access to public transport services.
Direct discrimination is where you are treated less favourably because of your disability than someone without a disability would be treated in the same circumstances.
Indirect discrimination is where there is a rule, policy or practice which seems to apply equally to everyone, but which actually puts disabled people at an unfair disadvantage compared with people who aren't disabled.
There is another kind of discrimination which is called discrimination arising from disability. This means that someone is treated unfavourably because of something connected to their disability and there is no good reason for doing this. For example, they may need to use a guide dog but no adjustments are made to allow for this.
It is also disability discrimination if someone does not make adjustments to allow disabled people to access a service or carry out a job. For example, providing an information leaflet in Braille. This is called the duty to make reasonable adjustments.
It is also disability discrimination:
- to harass you if you are disabled, for example, by making jokes about your disability
- to victimise you if you take legal action because of discrimination against you, or if you help someone else to take legal action because of discrimination
- not to take steps to make sure that disabled people can have access to things like goods, facilities and services, a workplace, an educational establishment, an association, or a public building. This is called making reasonable adjustments
- if someone discriminates against you because of someone you have a connection to who is disabled, such as your partner or child. This is known as discrimination by association
What counts as a disability?
There are rules about what the law counts as a disability, when considering whether or not discrimination has taken place.
Find out what counts as disability under the Equality Act 2010
