Equality and Human Rights Commission

Service providers must try to make sure that all their services are provided on the same terms, to the same standard and are equally accessible to all users – whether provided online, by phone or face-to-face.

For example, if you are a customer with a hearing impairment, service providers offering phone-only services should consider providing you with textphone facilities, or offering services via another channel – such as allowing you to buy tickets online as well as over the phone.

Where services are provided online, providers must try to make their websites accessible to all. There is no single definition of accessibility, but the guidelines set out by the Worldwide Web Consortium are widely recognised and adopted, including by the UK government.

Visit the Worldwide Web Consortium website for the guidelines of the definition of accessibility.

Find out more about the legal responsibilities of service providers.

Example

The operator of the booking office of a small heritage railway decides to communicate with hearing and speech impaired passengers by exchanging written notes. This is likely to be considered a reasonable step for the operator to take. However, this would be unlikely to be considered reasonable for the operator of a ticket office at a mainline rail station, who might be required to install an induction loop system and a textphone.