Disability Essentials
Welcome to Business Disability Forum’s Disability Essentials range.
This collection of resources contains essential, free disability guidance and resources for business. There are also links to additional content which is available to BDF Members only.
Guidance covers areas including advice and information around the law about disabilities, managing adjustments, guide dogs and assistance animals, disabled customers, and accessibility.
If you are not a BDF Member and would like to know more about the benefits of Membership, find out more here or contact David Goodchild at davidg@businessdisabilityforum.org.uk
Resources
These resources explain the different types of animals that some disabled people rely on. They also explain businesses’ legal duties towards disabled employees and customers, as well as how to work out what adjustments can be appropriate to make.
- What are guide dogs, assistance animals and emotional support animals?
- Assistance animals – Deciding what’s reasonable
- Supporting employees with guide dogs, assistance animals and emotional support animals
- Welcoming customers with guide dogs, assistance animals and emotional support animals
- Welcoming guide dogs, assistance animals and emotional support animals to events and meetings
These resources cover the essential information organisations need to know about how to welcome disabled customers. This includes advice about how particular conditions or disabilities may affect a customer’s experience with your organisation, and what you can do to remove barriers for your disabled customers.
- Getting started: Quick tips
- Delivering inclusive and accessible customer service
- Communicating effectively
- Welcoming disabled customers: Introduction
- Talking to disabled customers on the phone
- Providing services to disabled customers in their home
- Arranging appointments with disabled customers
- Good customer service
BDF Members can also access guidance about welcoming customers with the following disabilities:
- Customers who are blind or who have sight loss
- Customers who are deaf or have hearing loss
- Customers with conditions affecting speech
- Customers with conditions affecting mobility
And many more – available on our Knowledge Hub.
These resources provide guidance about how to manage workplace adjustments. This guidance is intended to help employers understand the law and best practice.
- Tailored Adjustments Plans, Passports and Agreements
- Managing adjustments – Scenarios (part 1)
- Managing adjustments – Scenarios (part 2)
BDF Members can find out more on how to manage the situations mentioned in these scenarios by contacting the Advice Service.
People management is an essential part of being an inclusive organisation and meeting employment law requirements. These resources will help people managers know how to be an inclusive manager and get the most out of their teams.
- Redundancy and Redeployment Toolkit
- Managing performance scenarios
- Managing attendance scenarios
- Grievance, disciplinary and capability proceedings – Scenarios in the workplace
BDF Members can find out more about how to manage the situations mentioned in these scenarios, contact the Advice Service.
These resources provide facts and figures about specific disabilities and health conditions. This includes information about common workplace adjustments and advice for managers.
- Factsheet – Vertigo
- Factsheet – Sickle cell disease
- Factsheet – Schizophrenia
- Factsheet – Respiratory diseases
- Factsheet – Multiple sclerosis (MS)
- Factsheet – Migraine
- Factsheet – Inflammatory bowel disease
- Factsheet – Gynaecological conditions
- Factsheet – Fibromyalgia
- Factsheet – Diabetes
- Factsheet – Cluttering
- Factsheet – Cerebral palsy
BDF Members can access addition condition-specific guidance on sight loss, hearing loss, musculoskeletal conditions, and many more on our Knowledge Hub.
These resources outline what organisations need to know to become accessible. This includes inclusive communication, inclusive design and built environments.
BDF Members can access our ‘Premises accessibility checklist’ for assessing the accessibility of your physical premises on our Knowledge Hub.
Advice and guidance on what the law says about disability and your organisation. This includes the Equality Act, adjustments for employees and customers, and how to avoid discrimination.
What your organisation needs to know about attracting and hiring disabled employees. This guidance includes advice about adjustments, language, asking about disability, and the law.
If you require this content in a different format, contact enquiries@businessdisabilityforum.org.uk.