Legal

Accessibility Statement

Last updated: 15 January 2025

RideDirect transports people with a wide range of needs every day — passengers travelling to and from hospital, NDIS participants, people recovering from workplace and motor vehicle injuries, frail older Australians, and people with permanent or temporary disability. Accessibility is core to how we operate, not a feature we retrofit. This statement covers our vehicles, our drivers, our communications, and our website.

1. Our commitment

We are committed to providing a service that is fair, dignified, and accessible to all passengers, consistent with the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth), the Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport 2002 (DSAPT), and the Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 (NSW). Where we provide supports to NDIS participants we deliver them in line with the NDIS Code of Conduct — including acting with respect for the individual rights of each participant to freedom of expression, self-determination, and decision-making.

We aim to meet recognised web accessibility principles across this website. We use person-first language — “person with disability”, “participant”, “passenger” — and we treat accessibility as ongoing work, not a one-time check.

2. Vehicle accessibility

• Wheelchair-accessible vehicles with side-loading ramp access, available across the Sydney metropolitan area.
• Range of aids supported — manual and powered wheelchairs, mobility scooters (subject to vehicle dimension and weight limits), walking frames, walking sticks, and transfer boards.
• Assistance animals are welcome at no extra charge, consistent with the Disability Discrimination Act.
• Carers and support workers travel free of charge alongside the booked passenger.
• Climate control and quiet rides — drivers will adjust temperature, radio, and conversation on request, including for passengers with sensory needs.

3. Driver conduct

Drivers are screened and hold the driver authorisations required to operate passenger-transport vehicles in NSW. They are briefed on each booking before pickup, including any accessibility, mobility or communication preferences you tell us about.

4. Communication preferences

If the website is not the easiest way for you to reach us, we also offer:

• Phone bookings Mon–Fri 8am–5pm on 02 9052 6042. After-hours dispatch operates via the online booking form.
• Email bookings and enquiries at Admin@ridedirect.com.au.
• SMS updates for confirmed bookings, where you provide a mobile number.
• Plain English and large-print versions of key documents on request.
• Bookings on your behalf by a plan manager, support coordinator, insurance case manager, hospital ward clerk, family member, advocate, or carer.
• National Relay Service for callers who are Deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech impairment — accesshub.gov.au/about-the-nrs. You can ask the NRS to connect you to 02 9052 6042.
• Auslan and language interpreting — on request, we will arrange interpreting through a recognised service such as TIS National.
• Easy Read formats for booking confirmations and key documents on request.

5. Website accessibility features

This website is designed and built with the following in mind:

• Keyboard navigation — every interactive element is reachable and operable without a mouse.
• Screen reader support — semantic headings, landmarks, alt text for meaningful images, and ARIA labels where they add value.
• Colour contrast — body and interactive text are tested for readability.
• Visible focus rings on links, buttons, and form fields.
• Responsive layout that supports browser zoom up to 200 percent and reflows on screens down to 320 px wide without loss of content or function.
• Forms with clear labels and inline error messages associated with the field they describe.
• Skip-to-content link at the top of each page.
• Reduced motion — animations are gentle and respect the user’s “prefers-reduced-motion” setting.

6. Ongoing improvement

Accessibility is something we keep working on. If a barrier is preventing you from booking, please contact us and we will help you complete the booking by phone or email while we fix the underlying issue.

7. Feedback

If you encounter an accessibility barrier on this website or in our service, please tell us — we will work to resolve it for you and use your feedback to improve.

• Email: Admin@ridedirect.com.au
• Phone: 02 9052 6042 (Mon–Fri 8am–5pm)
• Post: [TBC postal address]
• Formal complaints — see our Complaints & Feedback page.

We aim to acknowledge accessibility feedback within 2 business days and respond with a plan within 10 business days. If you are not satisfied with our response, you can escalate to:

• The Australian Human Rights Commission for disability discrimination complaints — humanrights.gov.au/complaints.
• Anti-Discrimination NSW — antidiscrimination.nsw.gov.au.
• The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission for issues affecting NDIS participants — ndiscommission.gov.au.