Under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA), a disability
is a physical or mental impairment that has a long-term or
substantial effect on a person’s ability to carry out
day to day tasks.
This ranges from people with physical and sensory impairments
to people with diabetes, disfigurements, heart disease and
epilepsy. Not all of these affect how an individual may access
the internet however. |
Eyesight
This includes people with no vision, or some functional vision.
For example, screen readers are used by the blind to read
web pages, and someone with poor vision may use screen magnification
or adjust their browser settings to make reading more comfortable.
This group also includes people with color blindness and those
with eyesight problems related to ageing. |
Hearing
This includes people who are completely deaf or have partial
hearing in one or both ears and require the use of a hearing
aid. |
Mobility
This refers to a wide range of people with varying types of
physical disabilities. With regards to the web is refers largely
to people with upper limb mobility, manual dexterity and co-ordination
problems. This can be caused though a disability that an individual
is born with or one that develops due to illness such as Multiple
Sclerosis (MS), Parkinson’s or a stroke. People with
a broken bone would also temporarily fall into the category. |
Cognitive
Cognitive impairment refers to people with dyslexia and learning
difficulties. Dyslexia is a condition where people have difficulties
with reading, writing or spelling. Learning problems can range
from someone who has a serious mental impairment, or may be
due to more common factors as poor literacy, a low level of
skill using a computer, having to use the web in a second
language, or problems understanding information. |
