Last Modified: 10 May 2022
Welcome to Business Disability Forum’s Disability Essentials range.
This collection of free resources contains essential disability guidance and resources for business. There are also links to additional content which is only available to Business Disability Forum membership.
If you want to do more to attract and retain disabled employees or to better meet the needs of your disabled customers, Disability Essentials is a good place to start.
Guidance covers the law about disabilities, managing adjustments, guide dogs and assistance animals, disabled customers, and accessibility.
Business Disability Forum’s Disability Smart Awards celebrate organisations that support disability inclusion. Entries for 2025 open in December.
Contents list
- Welcoming disabled customers
- Employees – Workplace adjustments
- Employees – People management
- Condition and disability-specific
- Accessibility
- The law
- Guide dogs, assistive animals and emotional support animals
- Attraction and recruitment
The resources in this collection are free and open to all. Members and Partners enjoy exclusive access to the full range of Knowledge Hub resources plus additional membership benefits.
Welcoming disabled customers
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 of 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
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
Employees – Workplace adjustments
These resources provide guidance about how to manage workplace adjustments. This guidance is intended to help employers understand the law and best practice.
BDF Members and Partners can download our ‘Reasonable adjustment decision form‘ to help make decisions about what is reasonable.
Tailored Adjustments Plans, Passports and Agreements for Businesses
Managing adjustments – Scenarios (Part 1)
Managing adjustments – Scenarios (Part 2)
Employees – People management
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.
BDF Members and Partners can find out more on how to manage the situations mentioned in these scenarios by contacting the Advice Service.
Redundancy and Redeployment Toolkit
Managing performance – Scenarios
Managing attendance: A series of scenarios
Grievance, disciplinary and capability proceedings: Scenarios in the workplace
Condition and disability-specific
These resources provide facts and figures about specific disabilities and health conditions. This includes information about common workplace adjustments and advice for managers.
BDF Members and Partners can access additional condition-specific guidance on sight loss, hearing loss, musculoskeletal conditions, and many more.
Factsheet – Gynaecological conditions
Supporting employees with food sensitivities
Factsheet – Food sensitivities
Introduction to food sensitivities
Factsheet – Diabetes
Factsheet – Fibromyalgia
Factsheet – Cluttering
Factsheet – Cerebral palsy
Factsheet – Vertigo
Factsheet – Sickle cell disease
Factsheet – Schizophrenia
Factsheet – Respiratory diseases
Factsheet – Multiple sclerosis (MS)
Factsheet – Migraine
Factsheet – Inflammatory bowel disease
Supporting customers with food sensitivities
Blog: We’re all going on a summer holiday (and allergies won’t stop us)
Factsheet – Learning disabilities
Learning disability: shifting the dial on employment
Accessibility
These resources outline what organisations need to know to become accessible. This includes inclusive communication, inclusive design and built environments.
BDF Members and Partners can access our ‘Premises accessibility checklist’ for assessing the accessibility of physical premises.
Inclusive language: The dos and don’ts
A user’s guide to accessible video conferencing apps
The law
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.
Legal Ease – Introduction
Legal Ease – The legal definition of ‘disability’
Legal Ease – Types of disability discrimination
Legal Ease – Reasonable adjustments and employment
Legal Ease – Reasonable adjustments and goods, services, facilities and property and providers of public functions
Legal Ease – Trade organisations and qualifications bodies
The European Accessibility Act (EAA) – what businesses need to know and do.
Guide dogs, assistive animals and emotional support animals
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.
BDF Members and Partners can get support and advice on how to manage the situations covered in these scenarios by contacting the Advice Service.
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
Attraction and recruitment
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.
Asking for information about disability during recruitment
FAQs – Positive and proactive recruitment
Attracting and hiring disabled candidates
‘Offer an interview’ schemes
If you require this content in a different format, contact enquiries@businessdisabilityforum.org.uk.
© This resource and the information contained therein are subject to copyright and remain the property of the Business Disability Forum. They are for reference only and must not be copied or distributed without prior permission.