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diversity
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- Access to premises - disability
- Access to products and services - disability
- Continue to modify the branch network to ensure that The Co-operative Bank's premises comply with the Disability Discrimination Act's requirement to overcome physical barriers by October 2004. ACCEPTABLE PROGRESS
- Complete implementation of the staff training programme on the Disability Discrimination Act. TARGET NOT ACHIEVED
- Evidence accessibility improvements in The Co-operative Bank and smile websites. TARGET ACHIEVED
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performance & commentary
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Background The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995
makes discrimination on the grounds of disability unlawful in
most circumstances. From October 1999, service providers,
such as banks, were required to take reasonable steps to
change any policies, procedures or practices which make it
impossible or unreasonably difficult for disabled people to
make use of their services.
Management system Chaired by Ken Lewis, Executive
Director, Resources, the bank's Disability Steering Group aims
to ensure that the requirements of the Act are understood and
appropriate measures are introduced throughout the business.
The Steering Group also liaises with the Co-operative Group's
Access and Equal Opportunities Working Party, which
examines best practice throughout the Co-operative
movement. During 2002, the Employers' Forum on
Disability ranked the bank as second in the world in terms of
its commitment to disabled people, as communicated through
social reporting. This 'Global Inclusion Benchmark' i sets out a
13 point check list for assessing the extent to which disability
is on the corporate responsibility agenda and the extent to
which organisations are truly inclusive. In addition, the United
Nations Environment Programme biennial assessment of
sustainability reporting ranked the bank as the world's best in
terms of 'Accessibility and Assurance'.
Staff training A programme of staff training commenced in
2002. 83% of staff have now been trained on the requirements
of the Disability Discrimination Act. All remaining staff will have
been trained by June 2003. For further information on the
bank's approach to disability and staff, follow this link for the Diversity: Staff section and follow this link for the Community section.
Premises The DDA requires that any 'removals of' or
'alterations to' physical features of buildings (e.g. providing
ramped access) are completed by October 2004. 64 bank
branches, covering 70% of the network, require modification
to ensure they comply with the DDA. During 2002, work was
completed on a further 10 branches, which means that
modification is now complete on 61% of those branches
requiring it. Alterations have included the installation of ramps,
new counters and automated doors. The bank will modify a
further 15 branches during 2003. This ongoing programme of
work is on target to ensure that the bank's network will be
compliant by October 2004. The bank has commissioned
accessibility studies of its main office sites and will now extend
its premises' modification programme to include these.
Products and services The bank's commitment to 'remote'
banking via the telephone and Internet removes the physical
barriers that may make it difficult for some disabled customers
to access services through branches. The bank has a range of
facilities available for customers. These include: induction
loops and microphones in branches; Typetalk and Minicom
communication with Telephone Banking and smile; and
cheque book and paying in book templates. As required by the
DDA, the bank offers customers the opportunity to receive any
literature produced by the bank, e.g. account statements, Visa
statements and marketing literature, in large print, Braille or on
audio tape. 70 customers currently make use of this service.
Websites During 2002, smile improved the accessibility of its
website, which now meets the W3C Level I Accessibility
Guidelines ii. This helps screen-reading software, e.g. JAWS
(Job Access With Speech), to read the smile website. During
2002, the Co-operative Bank Financial Advisers (CBFA) site
was awarded the 'See it Right' logo by the RNIB iii for its
accessible website. The Co-operative Bank's website has
been redesigned and relaunched with enhanced navigation
and accessibility for customers with disabilities. For example,
the site has been constructed so that screen-reading software
can read the site logically. Alternative text 'tags' have been
provided behind all graphics, enabling screen-readers to give
explanations of the graphics to the user. Users have control
over their path through the site; at no point are they
automatically transferred to pages within (or indeed outside)
the site. In addition, customers can change the text size using
a built-in feature of web browsers. This provides enhanced
accessibility, particularly for blind and partially-sighted customers.
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- www.efd.org.uk/www/press3.htm
- www.w3.org/WAI/about.html
- www.rnib.org.uk/digital/siraccess
To follow any of the links mentioned within the Partnership Report 2002, please visit the links page.
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new targets
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- Continue to modify the bank's branch network and main offices to ensure that its premises comply with the Disability Discrimination Act's requirement to overcome physical barriers by October 2004.
Alan Green, Operations and Compliance Property Manager/Andy Farrell, Facilities Manager
- Evidence accessibility improvements in the banking functions of The Co-operative Bank and smile websites.
Mark Byrne, Head of Banking Products/Phil Garlick, Director of Operations, smile
- Develop and launch a Disability Policy.
Jayne Beer, Partnership Manager/Alison Booth, Human Resources Development Manager
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