FIRMS rushing to comply with Friday's Disability Discrimination Act deadline may have forgotten one vital part of their business - their websites.

Your legal duty to make your business accessible to disabled people also includes your online presence, warn IT experts.

"All companies and organisations are covered by the Act, no matter how large or small, including those businesses that publish, advertise or trade via their website," warned a spokesman for Enhanced Computer Solutions in Ferndown.

"Accessible websites are not solely an issue for blind or partially sighted people.

"Many blind internet users have special text-to-speech readers and the web is a massive resource of information.

"But equally frustrating, there are also those with mobility, hearing, cognitive and learning problems that can also be affected by poor web design."

The Disability Rights Commission (DRC) identifies that there are 8.5 million disabled people in the UK with an annual spending power of £50 billion pounds: "That's a lot of people and a lot of money."

Last April the Disability Rights Commission published a study which found many websites were "impossible" for disabled people to use. It found that many disabled people could not book a holiday, open a bank account or buy theatre or cinema tickets online.

Only 20 per cent met the basic requirements of the Act and only one in 1,000 sites surveyed met all the requirements.

Even during the Sydney Olympics in 2000 the organisers were subject to a legal test case.

A partially sighted Australian took the Olympic committee to court and won for not being able to use its website effectively, at a cost of 20,000 Australian dollars (£7,914).

Dorset-based Refreshed Media's Simon Melaniphy warned: "There are very real threats of legal action and unlimited compensation payments."

Meanwhile, from tomorrow businesses will also have to deal with a raft of other new legislation:

the National Minimum Wage - piece-rate workers now included. New hourly rates - £4.85 for adults; £4.10 for workers aged 18 to 21; £3 for all 16- and 17-year-olds, other than apprentices.

New dismissal, disciplinary and grievance procedures. Tribunal claims will not be entertained unless these procedures have first been completed. Automatic unfair dismissal unless procedures completed (plus compensation up to 50 per cent higher).

DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION ACT: USEFUL SOURCES OF INFORMATION

The Disability Unit - Disability.gov.uk

The Disability Rights Commission - www.drc-gb.org

RNIB - www.rnib.org.uk/xpedio/groups/public/documents/publicwebsite/public_webdda.doc

World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Accessability Initiative - www.w3c.org/WAI