The BSI is committed to establishing standards that fulfil basic consumer principles, particularly in the area of accessibility and inclusivity. With that in mind we need to ensure that we support standards which promote the availability of products and services to all consumers, regardless of their disability or impairment.
As BSI publishes over 20,000 standards on products and services, we have created the Disabled Experts Reference Group (DERG) to provide informed knowledge on the vast number of those that have an impact on disabled people.
DERG is part of the BSI Consumer & Public Interest (CPI) Network and it comprises a diverse group of disabled people with relevant expertise and interest in disability equality, access and service provision. Its brief is to monitor BSI practice and to provide a strong presence in the development and promotion of standards that affect the disabled community.
The Group works together to advise on the preparation of standards which meet diverse requirements, based on a pragmatic approach to standardization (for example the complex standards relating to wheelchairs and lifts).
The Group’s key aims are to:
- Improve consumer awareness of standards and increase their relevance to disabled people in particular and the public at large.
- Increase collaboration with relevant external consumer and public interest organizations, particularly those in the disability sector, to influence the national and international standards development programme.
- Increase the profile of the requirements of disabled people across the BSI-CPI Consumer & Public Interest Network and maintain and improve interaction with relevant BSI departments to ensure effective input from the CPI Network into BSI standards and related products.
- Demonstrate social responsibility – with regard to creating and using Standards that are fully inclusive and available in all appropriate formats. These Standards frequently relate to Accessibility, Security, Safety, Sustainability and Services standardization.
Further information about DERG is available by phone on 020 8996 7754 or at www.bsigroup.com/consumerstandards . Email: consumer@bsigroup.com
DERG Coordinator Michelle Valentine can be contacted by phone on 01603 301358 or www.disabilityfwd.co.uk Email: michelle@disabilityfwd.co.uk
Disabled Experts Reference Group - Members
The Group was formed within the BSI-CPIN under the guidance of Michelle Valentine – Director of Disability Forward Ltd, and previously an employee of the Disability Rights Commission. Michelle says, ‘When I joined BSI, I realised that there were a lot of knowledgeable people providing input to standards. The voice of disabled experts seemed not to be present, however, so I decided to work with the BSI-CPIN to set up the Disabled Expert Reference Group. I want to see the group providing opportunities for disabled professionals who have the relevant experience and knowledge to input into the standards process, but who also bring to that the added dimension of being disabled and being committed to a disability equality perspective'.
Other DERG members have commented on their role and aims, one being Pete Wise who is an operational fire-fighter working with the department responsible for Fire Service, Communities and Local Government. He says ‘My key interests are centred on accessibility in the built environment, with a particular interest in safety, and more generally in the effects of dyslexia. Disability equality is a right and shouldn't continually need to be justified all the time by using BSI standards to promote disability within design’.
Waqas Hussain Chauhdry is a London-based management consultant specialising in disability equality. His aim is to further the understanding of practical issues and is particularly interested in making websites accessible and usable for disabled people. He wants DERG to promote the understanding and adoption of BSI standards by key public sector regulators as a benchmarking tool in promoting disability equality.
Rachel Nickless from Chester is Policy Assistant to the Chief Executive of Breakthrough UK. She says ‘The reason I joined is that I am interested in improving accessibility standards and policy for disabled people and have a passion for equality for disabled people in accessing all aspects of their daily lives. I would like to see BSI apply greater influence in the use of good practice such as PAS 88, Guidance on accessibility of large hotel premises and hotel chains, so that good practice is seen by the public and end users as the norm to be followed, rather than optional guidance. This would give BSI and its standards more authority’.
Other members are; David Quarmby – Assistive Technology Consultant for the National Offender Management Service; Ministry of Justice; David Sindall – ATOC; Dr Kevin Fitzpatrick – Self-employed consultant, Non-Exec Dir Welsh Ambulance Services Trust and board member of Consumer Focus Wales; Mic Porter – Northumbria University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne Senior Lecturer in Ergonomics; Dean Cavanagh – Access Consultant; Paul Wilgoss – HSE; Scott Westbrook – Chair, National Disabled Police Association; Duncan White – Chair National Disabled Fire Association; Nick Gradwell – Equality and Human Rights Commission; Neil Howard – Perceptions UK; Stephen Brookes – Disability Consultant and writer, Chair NUJ Disabled Members Council.
Final words are from Rory Heap. He is an Equality and Diversity Manager who says ‘I have a long-standing interest in and frustration with inaccessible systems/products/documents of all kinds’. He feels that DERG can influence clear international standards which would make it feasible to extend Part III of the DDA to manufacturers of everyday non-specialist products like TVs, domestic appliances and ATM machines. He says, ‘Disabled people encounter barriers, not only with big things, but also with the everyday, the mundane and ephemeral: these cause as much if not more frustrations than mega-systems’.
