Statistics on the number of people with disabilities vary from source to source, but the Disability Rights Commission quotes a 2001 survey which found there were 6.7 million people of working age in the UK – a figure that excluded children.
The RNIB says around two million people have a sight problem, with more than 354,100 registered blind or partially sighted. The organisation also points out that if all the people who were eligible to register as blind or partially sighted did so, that figure would climb to around 715,000.
It is also estimated that there are 8.7 million people with a hearing impairment in the UK and about half a million people are wheelchair users.
And as a final, sobering statistic, it is calculated that by 2016 there
will be more people over the age of 65 in the UK than under the age of
16 – a huge slice of the population with considerable disposable
income but beset with increasing physical frailty.