Three decades from the introduction of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) CAE’s Head of Business Development, Fara Muneer, looks back on what was a landmark moment for CAE and the UK’s in the journey toward equality and accessible environments.
From 1973 to 2017, CAE’s Access by Design (AbD) journal chronicled the evolution of inclusive design in the UK. Across 148 issues, the publication captured legislative milestones, including DDA, shifting attitudes, new technical standards and the lived realities of disabled people — making it one of the longest-running records of accessibility practice in the country.
AbD became a trusted source of expert commentary, case studies, research, and design insight. It charted the journey from the early campaigning years, through the arrival of the DDA in 1995, introduction of Part M and the Equality Act 2010, and the gradual mainstreaming of inclusive design across the built environment.
ABD’s visual identity
Its visual identity was shaped for decades by the instantly recognisable cartoons of Louis Hellman, whose illustrations were both political and sharply observant, capturing the sector’s progress with wit and honesty.
Newspaper shows an article – with simple sketch – on the Disability Discrimination Acts with wit and honesty.
In the 100th issue – produced in the year the DDA’s reasonable adjustments duties on buildings came fully into force – a special Hellman cartoon was featured. It was a symbolic moment that reflected how far the field had come and how much more there was to do.
Excerpts above from CAE’s Access By Design (ABD) journals, 1995 and 1996- note; the language and images reflects the period in which they were written. The excerpts preserve historical accuracy and the ABD archive reflect the change in awareness that occurred across four decades.
AbD’s legacy is significant. For many readers, the journal was a primary source of education, a connector of networks, and a record of collective progress. It influenced professional practice, supported legislative change and kept the conversation about inclusive environments alive for nearly half a century.
Final edition and legacy
When CAE prepared the final edition of ABD in 2017, it was with a heavy heart, recognising the end of a
Access by Design front cover sketch shows a Policeman with a dog standing in front of a wheelchair user
publication that had followed the access movement for over 44 years. Looking back through the archives revealed not just the milestones of accessible design, but also the evolution of language, attitudes and culture.
A shared mission
CAE continues that commitment today: advancing guidance, training new generations of access professionals, and pushing for inclusive design to be mainstreamed, embedded and championed — just as ABD advocated from its very first issue. But it doesn’t do it alone.
In 2014, CAE became part of Habinteg Housing Association, strengthening a shared mission to create accessible, inclusive homes and neighbourhoods. This partnership reflects a core message of the DDA: access starts with the places where people live.
DDA’s legacy and the future
Front cover of Access by Design is yellow with images of the front of various other front covers from the past
By influencing building standards, strengthening rights, creating an entire profession dedicated to removing barriers, the DDA reshaped the UK’s built environment.
However, the momentum of the DDA has been lost to a degree, even with the Equality Act taking its place and the loss of the Disability Rights Commission was a setback.
Many premises and organisations think they are fully accessible, but many aren’t. The main problem is lack of widespread access education and knowledge, and no proper enforcement regime. In the end it comes down to a lack of funding and resources, but we live in hope.
“Clients still say ‘DDA compliance’ today — that’s how deeply it shaped expectations. The Act helped professionalise the sector and drove the creation of NRAC. While there’s still progress to make around neurodiversity and sensory design, the DDA has laid the foundation,” says Teresa Rumble, CAE Senior Access Advisor
Thirty years on, CAE is proud to have played its part in the inclusive environments journey — but there’s much more to be done and the work continues for inclusive design to become the norm, not a retrospective fix.
Top image: A cartoon by Louis Hellman shows a wheelchair user in various scenarios