Rights for blind people strengthened
From 14 April 2003, people who are certified as blind or partially sighted will be deemed as disabled for the purposes of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995. The Disability Discrimination (Blind and Partially Sighted Persons) Regulations 2003 are in response to a Disability Rights Task Force recommendation published in From exclusion to inclusion in 1999. It proposed that people who are certified as blind or partially sighted should be conclusively presumed to meet the DDA definition of disability.
"These Regulations make it clear that discriminating against people with a visual impairment is not acceptable and that they are protected under the Disability Discrimination Act," says the minister for disabled people, Maria Eagle.
People who are certified by a NHS consultant ophthalmologist as blind or partially sighted, or registered as such by a local authority, will now be able to conclusively prove that they meet the DDA definition by using as evidence:
a copy of the certificate (BD8 in England and Wales, BP1 in Scotland) issued by the consultant ophthalmologist who examines them; or
a certificate (such as a letter or similar official document) from the relevant local authority confirming that they are registered as blind or partially sighted.
For more information contact the Department for Work and Pensions at www.dwp.gov.uk.
