Accessibility isn’t a checklist: what we learned about truly accessible participation

One colleague said something in a workshop that has stayed with us ever since:

 

“I only feel disabled when my technology doesn’t work.”

 

This simple sentence reframed everything. Accessibility isn’t about compliance with standards or ticking boxes. It’s about lived experience - whether people feel empowered or excluded in the moments that matter. 

Our work with the BBC began as a review of digital accessibility provision for staff using Assistive Technology. For some time, staff who use assistive tech had expressed that support didn’t fully meet their needs. Our aim was to bring their lived experience into decision-making in order to help deliver our scope - a strategic action plan for digital accessibility. 

We’ve long facilitated design research, workshops and participatory sessions that seek to create safe, inclusive spaces - particularly for adults often described as ‘vulnerable’. This project, however, challenged us to look deeper at what accessible participation truly means, and how to make our practice more inclusive for people whose needs or disabilities are often hidden. 

A BBC accessibility expert observed that accessibility discussions often feel like a bubble  - plenty of needs identified, but hard to achieve change. Our service design approach helped to change that, moving the focus from compliance to culture, where standards set the floor but culture creates transformation.

 

“It’s not just about digital accessibility. It’s about being more kind and understanding people in general.”

 

Before diving into what we did, it helps to explain our approach. At Transform, we use our Head, Hearts and Hands method to frame research and design. With our Head, we make sense of complex systems and uncover hidden barriers. With our Heart, we commit to empathy, listening and valuing lived experience. And with our Hands, we test, adapt and co-design practical changes that make participation real. This project wove all three together. 

Our client described the start of the project as a moment of relief and optimism. For years, teams had been stuck reacting to problems with little time or investment. This was a chance to finally take a bold step forward and build something different.

 

Truly accessible participation comes with experience

 

When designers talk about inclusion, they often focus on getting the right people in ‘the room’: inviting people into workshops, consultations or user testing. But you can invite people in and still design them out. 

At the start of our work, we did take extra measures to increase the accessibility of our methods for workshops, interviews, surveys and open design sessions. But listening closely revealed barriers built into our own formats. 

One participant said:

 

“I need more time to process the questions before I can contribute. Otherwise, I just stay quiet.”

 

If participation isn’t designed inclusively, it risks reinforcing exclusion. 

As an accessibility expert put it plainly:

 

“If the way we run workshops isn’t accessible, then we’re shutting people out before they’ve even had a chance to contribute.”

 

“In the past, people used to think accessibility advice from one disabled person was enough. But everybody’s experience is different. You can’t just take one person’s opinion - you need to canvas across the board.”

 

Designing accessible participation

 

Heading into a series of co-design engagements with people who had hidden disabilities, we worked with BBC colleagues, especially those with digital accessibility needs, to iterate and enhance our workshop methods so people could contribute on equal terms.  We invested more time testing, adapting and facilitating tangible ways to make our approaches truly accessible.

 

a. Tools & Materials

• Use digital platforms that work seamlessly with assistive technologies. 
• Provide pre-read, guidance and workshop materials in multiple formats, not just visual ones. 
• Always describe visuals: name key elements, explain relationships, note limits. Add alt text, captions and text equivalents.

“People exclude without thinking. In a meeting, someone will show a graph and say, ‘As you can see…’ and I’ll have to say, ‘Actually, can you talk through the graph because I can’t see it.’ It happens every single day.”

 

b. Timings & Facilitation

• Allow reflection time so the quickest voices don’t dominate. 
• Create deliberate moments for quieter contributions. 
• Build in check-ins to ensure everyone can engage.

 

c. Communication

• Share clear summaries of timings and key details in advance. 
• Help participants plan breaks and quiet time. 

These adjustments were small but powerful. They showed how accessible participation emerges when we bring our Head to make sense of systemic barriers, our Heart to listen deeply to lived experience, and our Hands to create tangible changes in practice. Workshops became calmer, more thoughtful and more productive. This principle of good design stands out as an outcome: when you design inclusively from the margins, everyone benefits. 

Our client highlighted that the real difference was not one-off consultation but ongoing co-design of our methods. “This wasn’t talk once and fix,” he said. “It was an ongoing cycle of listening, prototyping and refining - co-design all the way through.”

 

“I felt very included. It valued everybody’s opinions. That flexibility meant you actually cared, and people felt valued - you get a more authentic answer that way.”