The Royal National Institute for the Blind has confirmed that it is assisting in the first UK court actions against companies whose web sites do not comply with the Disability Discrimination Act, according to a report at vnunet.com.

A spokeswoman for the RNIB told the publisher that the actions were ongoing, but "at the moment we are not willing to talk about the specific cases or details."

The Disability Discrimination Act was passed in 1995, and states that it is unlawful for "a provider of services" to discriminate against a disabled person. A subsequent Code of Practice issued in February 2002 removed any doubt that the law covers on-line services; but to date, there has been no enforcement action in the UK.

The Disability Rights Commission is currently checking 1,000 web sites across the public and private sectors, testing for basic compliance with recognised industry accessibility standards. It is expected to report its findings by the end of the year.

We are processing your request. \n Thank you for your patience. An error occurred. This could be due to inactivity on the page - please try again.