Home > Public Services
What Are Public Services?
Any organisation offering shared computers to the public (many users for each computer) is one that we define as a public service. There’s a huge variety from community and learning centres, to libraries, rehabilitation units and nursing homes.
Public Services and the Law
The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) makes it illegal to unreasonably discriminate against existing and potential service users on the basis of their ‘disability’. To stay within the law providers have to make ‘reasonable adjustments’.
The definition of disability is very broad and includes people with physical, sensory and reading and writing difficulties.
Complying with the DDA offers more inclusive services
Staff in public services are not usually computer specialists, so AbilityNet offers a range of training and support to help you comply with the DDA and offer a better service to your computer users.
Computers can be adjusted very easily for free and the cost of adaptive software and hardware is often low cost. So ‘reasonable adjustments’ are affordable when your staff have a little knowledge.
Our clients include:
- adult community education
- day and residential care centres
- individual health professionals
- libraries
- learning centres
- learndirect, UK Online
- work based learning centres
- local authority facilities
- museums
- voluntary sector organisations
AbilityNet services
All our services are designed to ensure users with health conditions and disabilities (many of which they will see as minor problems or be reluctant to reveal) enjoy using their computer rather than see it as something too difficult to master – because they can’t read the screen easily or find controlling the mouse difficult.
We wish to support users and staff to make public access to computers something that everyone can enjoy. Our services include:
- staff training and support
- user assessment services
- technology updates
- information on free resources
- hardware and software solutions
- disability awareness and latest updates on the DDA