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The Office of Public Sector Information has issued guidance on ways in which official publications should be made available in formats that enable disabled users to access them.
Official publications are produced to communicate government policies, initiatives and programmes; for consulting with people about future policy; for communicating new laws and regulations, and as a means of providing a wide range of other information.
The Government is committed to providing services which are geared to meeting the needs of all groups in the community and it is important that official publications are produced in a range of formats to ensure accessibility by all groups including disabled people.
Where publications are a service to the public there may be a requirement to make them available in alternative formats. In any case, the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) makes it unlawful to discriminate against disabled people by refusing them service, providing service on worse terms or providing a lower standard of service. It also requires service providers to make reasonable adjustments to the way they provide their goods, facilities and services to make them accessible to disabled people.
This includes the functions of public bodies. Where publications produced by departments could be held to be a public function they are required to produce documents in accessible versions if, having considered costs and resources, it would be reasonable to do so.
Departments should seek legal advice on how the duties in Part 3 of the Act affect the way they publish material. However, as a matter of good practice departments should adopt a positive approach in arranging for official publications to be made available in formats that meet the needs of disabled users.
Further advice about the production of official publications in alternative formats can be obtained COI's Informability Team.
For practical tips, visit the top tips section of this guidance.
For other information resources, go to the resources section of this guidance.
Page last reviewed: 11 August 2008