S27 Working with Disabled Clients
Many disabled people run their own businesses, and self-employment can offer control over hours, place and pace of work that employment does not always give. Disabled people include people with physical impairments, d/Deaf people and people who are hard of hearing, blind people and people with sight loss, people with mental health conditions, people with learning disabilities, and people with long-term or fluctuating health conditions. Many impairments and conditions are not visible, and some people covered by this Standard, such as many Deaf British Sign Language users and many people with long-term health conditions, do not describe themselves as disabled. This Standard follows the social model of disability: people are disabled by barriers in the way services, places, information and systems are designed, more than by their impairment. Business support can create those barriers itself, through inaccessible venues, materials, online platforms and processes, or help to remove them. This Standard is about making your own support accessible, working with each client's circumstances, helping them build a business that fits their life and reaches disabled customers, and connecting them with the funded and specialist support available. It does not involve giving clinical or welfare benefits advice.
Who it's for
Business advisers, mentors, coaches, trainers and other business support professionals who work with disabled people, including people with long-term or fluctuating health conditions, who are starting or running businesses, and with businesses that employ disabled people or serve disabled customers.
What you need to show
Making your support accessible
- S27.1
Ask every client what would help them take part fully in the support, without expecting them to disclose an impairment or condition, and act on what they tell you
- S27.2
Make meetings, events and online sessions accessible (for example step-free venues, accessible toilets and parking, hearing loops, live captions and accessible online platforms), and check arrangements with the client in advance
- S27.3
Provide information in formats the client can use, such as large print, Easy Read, audio, or digital documents that work with screen readers and other assistive technology
- S27.4
Book British Sign Language interpreters, other communication professionals and support workers in good time where they are needed, agree roles with them in advance, and speak directly to the client rather than to the person supporting them
- S27.5
Plan support around fluctuating and long-term conditions, including flexible timing, the option to rearrange without penalty, and a pace that suits the client's energy
- S27.6
Keep anything the client tells you about an impairment or health condition confidential, record it only with their agreement and only where it helps you support them, and handle it in line with data protection requirements
Building the business
- S27.7
Help the client design a business and working pattern that fit their circumstances, including hours, place of work, pace, and what to delegate, outsource or automate
- S27.8
Help the client understand, at an awareness level, how starting or running a business may affect any disability benefits they receive, and refer them to specialist welfare benefits advice
- S27.9
Help the client find and apply for funded workplace support, equipment, adaptations and assistive technology, including what is available to self-employed people, and plan for the time applications can take
- S27.10
Help the client make their products, services, premises and online presence accessible to disabled customers, and see the market opportunity in doing so
- S27.11
Help the client decide whether, when and how to tell others, such as customers, funders, partners or staff, about an impairment or condition, leaving the decision with them
Wider support and organisations
- S27.12
Connect the client with disabled people's organisations, specialist charities, peer networks, role models and mentors, where they would value this
- S27.13
Help clients who employ, or want to employ, disabled people to understand good practice in recruitment, reasonable adjustments and funded support, and refer them to HR or legal advice where needed
- S27.14
Seek feedback from disabled clients on how accessible your support is, and raise with your organisation the parts of its venues, platforms, materials, processes and eligibility rules that create barriers, suggesting changes
What you need to know and understand
- S27.K1
The social model of disability and how it differs from the medical model, and how barriers in services, environments, information, attitudes and systems disable people
- S27.K2
Respectful language, including "disabled people" and "non-disabled people", the terms d/Deaf, British Sign Language user, hard of hearing, blind and sight loss, terms to avoid (for example "the disabled", "handicapped", "wheelchair-bound" and "suffers from"), and why to follow each person's own preference
- S27.K3
The range of impairments and conditions (physical, sensory, mental health, learning disability, and long-term and fluctuating conditions), how many are not visible, and why not to make assumptions from a label
- S27.K4
Equality legislation as it applies across the UK nations, including the legal definition of disability, the duty of service providers to make reasonable adjustments (including anticipating the needs of disabled people), the duties of employers, and the legal recognition of British Sign Language
- S27.K5
Accessibility good practice and standards for venues, events, documents, digital content and online meetings
- S27.K6
How to work with British Sign Language interpreters, other communication professionals, personal assistants and support workers
- S27.K7
How fluctuating and long-term conditions, pain and fatigue can affect running a business, and how to plan for them
- S27.K8
How self-employment can interact with disability benefits, at an awareness level, and where to find specialist welfare benefits advice
- S27.K9
Funded workplace support, equipment, adaptations and assistive technology for disabled people in work and self-employment, and how to keep up to date with changes to schemes
- S27.K10
The data protection requirements for information about a person's health or disability, including the extra protection for special category data
- S27.K11
Disabled customers as a market, and the principles of inclusive design for products, services, premises and online presence
- S27.K12
Disabled people's organisations, specialist charities and peer networks; good practice for employers in recruiting and supporting disabled staff, at an awareness level; and when to refer
Evolved from
New Standard. Builds on Business and Enterprise Support (2013) unit 9 (knowledge item 8, the effects of disability on the client moving from opportunity to action) and unit 5 (knowledge item 26, the business benefits of engaging with equality and diversity), and on the behaviour common to many 2013 units of recognising the opportunities presented by the diversity of people. The professional behaviours (B3 and B10) and the Core Standards (C1.K2, C1.K3, C3.K7 and C7.5) set out the inclusive practice every practitioner shows; S27 covers working with disabled clients in depth. S26 covers working with neurodivergent clients, and S24 covers reaching groups that are under-represented in business support.