Disabled people’s organisations (DPOs) are “overburdened” and struggling to fight the battle against hate crime because of a lack of funding, according to a prominent disabled activist. Ruth Bashall, a leading campaigner on disability hate crime, said disabled people and DPOs […]
EHRC equality review: RADAR criticises watchdog over pay gap omission
A disabled people’s organisation has criticised the equality watchdog for failing to call for action to close the persistent gap between the pay earned by disabled people and their non-disabled colleagues. In its major review of equality, How Fair is Britain?, […]
Government sets digital access goals for 2012
The government has laid out plans for making websites, computers and other parts of the “digital economy” more accessible to disabled people. The new eAccessibility Action Plan, published by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, calls for a “step change” […]
DPOs share grave concerns over benefit reforms
The government’s benefit reforms will have a deeply negative impact on disabled people, according to a major survey of disabled people’s organisations (DPOs). The UK Disabled People’s Council (UKDPC) survey found many of the 90 or so DPOs that took part […]
Benefit reforms ‘will cost disabled people £9 billion’
Government benefit reforms are set to cost disabled people more than £9 billion over the next five years and push them “further into poverty and closer to the fringes of society”, according to a respected think-tank. The Destination Unknown report by […]
Troubled CIL collapses after city council withdraws funding
The centre for independent living (CIL) in Britain’s second largest city has collapsed, following months of infighting. Birmingham Centre for Inclusive Living (BCIL) had been receiving more than £400, 000 a year in funding from Birmingham City Council to provide information, […]
Publishers’ signatures hold out hope for brighter e-book future
UK publishers have signed an “exciting” new agreement that should make it easier for many disabled people to access electronic books. The agreement recommends that all electronic books – e-books – should automatically allow “e-reader” machines to turn the text into […]
EHRC equality review: Watchdog’s ‘wake-up call’ on fairness
A major new review of inequality in Britain has called for action to close the most important “equality gaps” faced by disabled people and other minority groups. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said it hoped its triennial review would […]
School sports pilots ‘will include disabled children’
Disabled children are set to take part in a new school sports competition that will be trialled across England from early next year. The “Olympic and Paralympic-style” competition will be piloted in nine areas, involving schools from the Black Country, London, […]
Phone companies fail test on access
Phone companies are failing to tell prospective customers about the services they provide for disabled people, according to the communications watchdog. Ofcom described the performance of the eight companies – BT, Orange, O2, TalkTalk, T-Mobile, Virgin Media, Vodafone and 3 – […]