Essentials of disability equality and communications

Essential information on disability equality to help ensure your communications are effective

Understanding your audiences and how to communicate effectively with them is at the heart of being an effective communicator.
Consider disabled people. They make up a surprisingly large number of the consumers of government services and information - as many as one in five. They are also more likely to be affected by government messages / users of government services.
Think about how the mix of communication channels and formats you use can reach the maximum number of people and give disabled people the vital information they need.
Most of the time, use the same channels and formats as for everyone else - but make sure they work for disabled people.
Make sure everything you produce is relevant and useable by the maximum number of people.
Produce particular formats and use a varied mix of channels when you need to reach disabled people.
Be aware of what the Disability Discrimination Act says about providing information to disabled people: service providers, including government, have to make reasonable adjustments to the way they provide services, including information.
The Disability Equality Duty means you need to take a systematic approach to promoting equality for disabled people.
Making information accessible for disabled people can also benefit other groups such as older people.

For other information resources, go to the resources section of this guidance.

Page last reviewed: 11 August 2008