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For years, the debate about disability access has become increasingly polarised.
Some campaigners argue that disabled people should never have to prove anything. Others argue that businesses should simply trust everyone who requests an adjustment. Businesses, meanwhile, worry about fraud, finite resources, GDPR, consistency, and getting the law wrong.
The result is frustration on every side.
I think we're asking the wrong question.
The Equality Act 2010 doesn't require businesses to become experts at deciding who is “really disabled.” It requires them to anticipate barriers and make reasonable adjustments so disabled people can access services without substantial disadvantage.
The real challenge is operational.
How does a business identify what support somebody needs without embarrassing them, making assumptions about them, or creating unnecessary barriers? That's a much harder problem than many people acknowledge.
Businesses Have Legitimate Challenges
Something that's often missing from public debate: businesses aren't unreasonable for wanting some framework for managing adjustments consistently. They're operating in a complex legal and commercial environment, often with limited resources and a wide range of customer needs to manage simultaneously.
The question isn't whether businesses can ask anything at all about a customer's needs. The question is what they ask, how they ask it, and what they do with the answer. A conversation focused on what a customer needs to have equal access to a service is entirely different from one that demands proof of disability before any assistance is given.
The distinction the Equality Act draws is between adjustments that address a genuine disadvantage and demands for proof that are, themselves, a barrier. Staff don't need to be trained disability assessors. They need to understand how to have a different kind of conversation.
The framework for doing this well isn't complicated, but it does require deliberate operational design. Here's how organisations in sport, music, entertainment, and live events can build it.
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The full article covers the practical conversation framework, what the Equality Act actually permits organisations to ask, how verification schemes change the picture, and a staff training approach that works without overcomplicating operations.
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What's in the full article
The conversation framework
How to shift from 'are you disabled?' to 'what do you need?' — and why the law supports that shift.
What you can and can't ask
The legal boundaries around disability-related questions, and how verification schemes like the Access Card change the picture.
Staff training that works
A practical approach to building better conversations into frontline operations without overcomplicating your training programme.
Chris Fry
Accessibility specialist and legal professional. Postgraduate legal qualifications, CEDR mediation accreditation. Contributor to House of Lords and Commons Select Committee proceedings, and Court of Appeal cases. Founder, Strategic Access Advisory Limited.
This article provides general legal and operational information and is not legal advice on the circumstances of any particular organisation.