For many disabled people – particularly people with sensory impairments or learning disabilities – much of the information that comes our way is not accessible, because of one or both of the following:

• the language used
• the way in which information is presented

This may include information on the television, the radio, the internet, in a newspaper or in a leaflet, as well as many other sources. When people fail to receive information, they are put at a disadvantage, because they may be unaware of issues, products and services or legislation that affect their lives.

Information providers often forget that disabled people are consumers, employers, employees, parents, drivers, holiday-makers, and so on. Despite the introduction of the Disability Discrimination Act and a plethora of guidelines on accessible information, it is still rare to find commercial firms offering information on services and products in Braille, on audiotape and in other accessible formats.

How can access groups help?

One of the roles of access groups is to promote the idea that all services – including the information that is provided as part of the services – should be accessible to everybody who wants to use them.

If information is not accessible to certain service users, they may be excluded from being able to use part of a service. Access to information may be particularly problematic for people with sensory impairments. The term ‘sensory impairment’ includes:

• people who are blind and partially sighted
• people who are deaf or hard of hearing
• people who are deafblind

Information in standard print formats is also often inaccessible to people with literacy problems and people with learning disabilities. Very often, by making information more accessible to one group of people, it immediately becomes more accessible to a whole host of other people, too, because the information is presented in a much clearer, more logical fashion.