Accessible Services for Disabled People – an empirical study on disability related discrimination in bulk business
Director: Prof. Dr. Anne Waldschmidt
Term: February 2011 – January 2012
Funding: Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency, Berlin
In Germany the General Equal Treatment Act (German abbreviation: AGG) entered into force in 2006, however its routine implementation is still a major concern. In the field of civil law, this act concerns bulk business and insurances under private law. Bulk business is defined as a commercial transaction that is concluded irrespective of the person involved and in a large number of cases. Bulk business is involved in everyday matters such as shopping or going to restaurants.
This study investigated current practices of discrimination against disabled people in Germany. It focused on the barriers that disabled people experience when they act as consumers in the market of mass products and private services. This funded project was divided into three work areas: First, it reviewed the current state of research and produced a systematically annotated bibliography. Secondly, it collected reported cases of discrimination against disabled people in Germany and systematically analysed this data. Thirdly, for the purpose of data validation, expert interviews were conducted.