Since October 1, it has been illegal for any business to discriminate against disabled people, either during the recruitment process or at work, and disability rights campaigners says that employers must make better use of new technology to help them fulfil their new obligations.

Amendments to the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) require all businesses, not just those with more than 15 employees as previously, to make "reasonable adjustments" to workplaces to accommodate the disabled. Such adjustments include buying new equipment or modifying existing systems so that disabled people can use them.

But many employers are failing to investigate potentially useful changes or upgrades to systems. They are also failing to claim generous Access to Work grants from the Government, designed to cover the cost of adapting or re-equipping a workplace, extra training or hiring human assistants like sign language interpreters.

Ruth Loebl, a senior ICT development officer at the Royal National Institute for the Blind, says: "The technology is there and the funding is there. But many employers and employees don't know what's available. It's patchy across the country." Access to Work grants can cover up to 100 per cent of the cost of new or adapted equipment, says Ms Loebl. "You shouldn't have to pay any more to employ a blind person."

Lynne Nelson, employment co-ordinator for the Royal National Institute for the Deaf agrees: "Technology is very much underused. Employers are not aware of what's available and they're more reactive than proactive."

Complying with the act could be as easy as rearranging an office so that the light is better for a deaf person to lipread. At the other end of the scale, it could mean investing in a cutting edge messaging system which combines computers and phones, converting text messages into voice messages for blind or partially sighted employees and incorporating voice recognition software for people unable to use a conventional keyboard and mouse.

Changing font sizes and shapes and using different backround colours can all help to make computer screen displays more legible and accessible for visually impaired users. Screen magnifier programmes are available to enlarge text. Screen reader software will read out the content of email boxes or websites.

Commercial websites now incorporate alt.tags, phrases or sentences which describe images on sites to blind and partially sighted users through screen readers. But some sites still carry images described simply as "corporate logo" or "image". A survey by the Disability Rights Commission earlier this year found that 81 per cent of websites were inaccessible or difficult to use, often because of badly worded alt.tags or because the software was blocking attempts to change fonts or colours.

One of the most useful technological advances for deaf people in recent years has been the growth of mobile phone text messaging. Small outlays like company mobile phones allow deaf employees to keep in touch by text if they are away from the office.

The RNID has also teamed up with mobile phone operator Vodafone to introduce a mobile textphone with a screen and keypad. Unlike mobile phone texting, where the sender has to complete and send a text before the receiver can reply, textphones are interactive, more like an internet chatroom.

Meanwhile, the Disability Rights Commission, where around one-third of employees have disabilities, has installed a state-of-the art messaging and communication system. Instead of running office telephones via a conventional exchange, the phone system is integrated into the computer network and e-mail systems to create a "soft phone" system.

Blind and partially sighted people can use screen readers on their computers to tell them the telephone numbers of people who are calling or to allow them to transfer calls. People who cannot use conventional keyboards or phones to dial numbers can use their computer's voice recognition system to ask for numbers or e-mail addresses. Staff working from home or away from the office can pick up voicemails which can be forwarded as email attachments and played as audio files.

Julian Massel, head of ICT at the DRC says: "We wanted to be accessible but we were also doing it for cost savings. The system is very modern, very cutting edge. But more will come. The technology has come on so much and it's getting better as standards are unified."