Businesses must consider the needs of disabled consumers from the
outset when designing their products and services and not treat
accessibility as an “afterthought”, the Women and Equalities
Committee has warned.
The cross-party committee of MPs called on companies to adopt
inclusive design by default for products and services or risk
restricting disabled consumers’ options and missing out on the
spending power of disabled households estimated to be worth £274
billion per year.
The Committee’s report entitled ‘Accessibility of products and
services to disabled people’ cautioned that many private sector
websites continue to “fall short” of what is required to make
them accessible to disabled consumers at a time when online
services, information and social networks are increasing.
The report, the second of three based on its findings during an
inquiry into the National Disability Strategy (NDS) noted that
despite being recognised as an issue in the NDS published in July
2021, the Government has “still not acted on its commitment to
address the problem”.
Currently, only the public sector must follow specific
regulations that require their websites and applications to
conform to international web accessibility standards.
WEC called on the Government to “resolve this as a priority” and
make private sector websites and applications which provide
essential products and services subject to the same regulations
as the public sector.
The report recommended that ministers should work with
businesses, the Disability and Access Ambassadors and Disabled
People's Organisations (DPOs) to lay the ground for legislative
action across the other parts of the private sector, adding the
Government should provide an update on its progress on this
recommendation within six months of the report’s publication.
It also called on the Government to task the Disability and
Access Ambassadors with engaging with businesses on inclusive
design, to seek out and share best practice and to identify the
barriers to making products and services in their sectors
accessible to disabled people. The Government should then work
with each sector to discuss relevant interventions and develop
guidance on best practice, it added.
Disabled people face additional costs in their daily lives, the
report noted, recommending the Government establish an Extra
Costs Taskforce as a priority and by no later than summer 2024.
The introduction of flat bank cards and the phasing out of
embossed cards is leaving some disabled people, particularly
those who are blind or partially sighted struggling to conduct
financial tasks independently, the report warned.
While some banks and financial providers have issued debit and
credit cards with tactile indicators, this is not standard
practice across the banking sector.
WEC recommended the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) should work
with the retail banking sector and organisations such as the RNIB
to ensure all banks embrace inclusive design from the outset and
provide flat bank cards which are accessible to disabled people
with tactile indicators and a clear visual design.
Banks and providers of cash points, it added, must ensure all
machines have been approved by disabled users, are installed in
locations accessible to all and regularly checked so accessible
features are in working order.
The report also raised the inaccessibility of some food packaging
for disabled consumers and recommended the Government should
review its food labelling guidance, while considering new
technologies and tools such as NaviLens, to ensure a minimum
accessibility requirement on food packaging's essential
nutrition, health and pricing information.
Chair of the Women and Equalities Committee, Rt Hon
said:
“Disabled people shouldn’t face unnecessary barriers when using
online shopping and services. Despite the untapped potential of
the purple pound, not all businesses are considering the needs of
disabled consumers. Accessibility must be prioritised with
inclusive design by default for products and services.
“Given that access to online services, information and social
networks is increasingly part of everyday life for all, it is
imperative that the Government acts on what it has described as
the "persistently poor accessibility of private sector websites"
without further delay.
“While some banks and financial providers have innovated to
make their services accessible to blind and partially sighted
customers, such as issuing cards with tactile indicators, this
needs to be standard practice across the sector as providers
continue to phase out embossed cards and introduce flat bank
cards.”
