Viki Galt, Disability Information Officer, Information Services Sheila Williams, Director, Student Disability Service

 The Equality Act aims to simplify and consolidate previous anti discrimination laws such as the DDA, Sex Discrimination Act etc  Replaces Disability Discrimination Act and the Disability Equality Duty  Most of the act came into effect October 2010  Covers 9 protected characteristics

 Age  Disability  Race  Religion/belief  Gender/sex  Gender reassignment  Pregnancy and maternity  Marriage and civil partnership  Sexual orientation

 A person has a disability if: - they have a mental or physical impairment - and it has a substantial and long term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day to day activities  Slightly different from DDA as no list of capacities.

 Substantial – more than minor or trivial  Long term – more than 12 months  Medical treatment – effect of disability without medication  Recurring and progressive conditions – specific provisions  Passported conditions – sight impairments, HIV, cancer, Multiple Sclerosis  Exclusions – hayfever, non prescribed drug addiction, alcohol addiction, tendency to set fires, steal, exhibitionism, voyeurism, tendency to physical or sexual abuse of others.

 Who? - All Higher education institutions - Staff, students, potential staff and students - Visitors if meet definition  What? - Pretty much everything! - Admissions, exclusions, Library services and policies, computer facilities, cafes, research facilities, the physical environment etc

 Direct Discrimination - Now includes discrimination by perception and association - combined discrimination  Indirect Discrimination  Harassment  Victimisation  Discrimination arising from a Disability  Failure to make reasonable adjustments Types of Discrimination

 Direct Discrimination - Where A treats B less favourably because they are disabled - Now includes discrimination by association and by perception  Indirect Discrimination - Where a practice, policy or procedure is applied to everyone and puts disabled people at a disadvantage - And this can’t be shown to be a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim

 Discrimination arising from Disability - Where A discriminates against B because of something arising in consequence of B’s disability - and cannot be shown as a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.

 Harassment - Where A harasses B if A engages in unwanted conduct related to B’s disability which violates B’s dignity or creates a intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment  Victimisation - Where a subjects B to a detriment because A does a protected act or A believes that B has done or may do a protected Act.

 Necessary to maintain academic standards  Necessary to maintain other prescribed standards  Is of a prescribed type  Occurs in a prescribed circumstance  Reasons are both material to the circumstances of the particular case and substantial

 Failure to make reasonable adjustments - Three requirements: 1. Where a provision, criteria or practice puts a disabled person at a substantial disadvantage there is a duty to take reasonable steps to avoid the disadvantage 2. Where a physical feature puts a disabled person at a substantial disadvantage there is a duty take such steps to avoid the disadvantage 3. Where a lack of auxiliary aids puts a disabled person at a disadvantage there is a duty to provide for them to avoid the disadvantage.

University of Edinburgh: numbers of students disclosing a disability

-1424 students with active Learning Profiles recommended adjustments for disabled students

Top ten adjustments Provide OUTLINE or Powerpoint presentation for lecture/seminar at least 24 hours in advance 1089 Give permission to record lectures923 25% additional time in examinations900 Student has SpLDs. S/he should incur no penalties for poor spelling, grammar, punctuation and structure in examination scripts, unless these are being directly assessed and are core to an understanding of the course. 836 Provide double loan time on reserve/short loan books774 Student is permitted to use coursework stickers724 Student requires prior sight (15 minutes) of the (exam) paper for the purposes of reading and highlighting 683 Provide reading lists to be ordered by priority/relevance646 Student not to sit 2 3 hour exams in one day (where possible Registry will schedule examinations to avoid this; however where not possible, additional adjustments may be required) 446 Provide copies of any additional written materials used or created in class411

The student perspective  “Part of my learning profile says that lecturers are supposed to provide notes. However, many of them do not think it necessary and sometimes scoff at being asked to do such a thing.”  Quote from University of Edinburgh Disability Office Student Evaluation

The School of Medicine excludes a student with Asperger Syndrome for saying inappropriate things to a tutor. The student does this because he doesn’t realise that he shouldn’t say these things. The School has excluded other students for similar behaviour. Is this discrimination under the Equality Act? Case study

A student is admitted to study biochemistry. The student has dyspraxia and this has a significant impact on her ability to undertake written work, therefore she has difficulty with maths, reading and spelling, as well as writing up her experiments. She is also having problems following instructions, has difficulty with concentration and is easily distracted. Her poor motor co-ordination may put other students at risk during practical experiments and she is finding it difficult to undertake the practical work. Despite a number of adjustments it is considered that she is not able to continue on the course as it is not possible for her to maintain the necessary academic standards. Is this discrimination under the Equality Act? Case study

What is reasonable? Factors which can be taken into consideration are; - the need to maintain standards - size, resources and nature of the institution - types of services being provided - effect of disability on disabled person - how practical the adjustment is - health and safety - cost of adjustment - extent to which it resolves the issue - relevant interests of other people.

Single Equality Duty  Duty on all public sector bodies including universities  Comprises General and Specific duties  General duties: - Public authorities to have due regard to eliminate discrimination, harassment or victimisation. - To advance equality of opportunity - To foster good relations  Specific Duties – situation unclear – single equality schemes. Impact assessments, employment data duty, publish equality outcomes