The Coronavirus crisis saw thousands of disabled people struggle to buy food online or in-store. Supermarkets rushed to prioritise those on the government’s clinically vulnerable list, leaving millions of disabled and older people without online delivery slots or assistance in shops.
New guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission published this week reminds retailers that the Equality Act requires them not to discriminate on the basis of disability and to provide required reasonable adjustments.
The guidance also asks them to plan ahead for the needs of disabled shoppers, to communicate effectively with disabled customers and to ensure all staff are properly trained.
Fazilet Hadi, DR UK’s Head of Policy said “The EHRC guidance is very welcome and we hope that big and small retailers will take note. This year marks 25 years since the Disability Discrimination Act and it is hugely disappointing that retailers need to be reminded of their equality obligations.”
“Whilst the experience of disabled people trying to purchase food during the early months of the Coronavirus crisis was appalling, there is now no excuse for supermarkets and other shops not to improve services to disabled customers and to plan for the future.”