150 thousand public sector jobs withheld from people with disabilities

Jobsgopublic, the UKís largest public sector e-recruitment service, has published today a report entitled, The jobsgopublic Survey of Disability Discrimination in Employment, 2004.

According to the report, the failure of 370 public sector authorities to ensure that their online recruitment pages meet Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) code of practice criteria could mean that 150 thousand jobs are being withheld from people with disabilities due to ëinaccessible employment practicesí.

It finds that over 90% of surveyed central government web sites fail to reach the minimum standards required by DDA code of practice guidelines.

Local government is much better prepared, although nearly 80% of surveyed websites fail to reach the same minimum standards required by DDA code of practice guidelines

Richard Tyrie, director of jobsgopublic says, This shows that the public sector has a long way to go before it meets all the responsibilities laid at its door by the DDA and related initiatives.

All is not doom and gloom though. The public sector is way ahead of the private sector in its preparedness. A recent survey of all UK FTSE company websites by Sitemorse found that only one out of 92 sites achieved the required DDA code of practice standards of compliance.

It does seem that the public sector is showing the way for private sector organisations to follow. And that does not happen very often.

The jobsgopublic Survey of Disability Discrimination in Employment, 2004 also found that:

Only one central government site achieved a Triple AAA rating for its job pages. That was the Child Support Agency. And only six achieved a Double AA rating for their job pages. They were The Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, The Crown Prosecution Office, The Department for Transport, The Government Actuaryís Department, The Learning and Skills Council and HM Prison Service.

Fourteen local authority sites achieved a Triple AAA rating for its jobs pages. And 63 achieved a Double AA rating for their job pages.

The fourteen top ranking local authority websites are Daventry District Council, Kerrier District Council, Leeds City Council,North Tyneside Council, Penwith District Council, Restormel Borough Council, Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council, Tynedale District Council, London Borough of Haringey, Lincolnshire County Council, Dacorum Borough Council, Rushmoor Borough Council, Sheffield City Council and Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council

The publication of The jobsgopublic Survey of Disability Discrimination in Employment, 2004 is timed to coincide with The (DDA) coming into full force on Friday October 1st 2004. The act encourages the public sector to lead the way in ensuring that people with disability are no longer excluded from employment through discriminatory practices. Access to jobs through public sector online recruitment pages is an important element of this requirement.