How do you know if you're actually accessible?
For anyone who runs a service, a website or a building the public uses.
This is for you if
Someone asks whether your website, building or service is accessible and the honest answer is "we think so"
Your accessibility statement was written by a supplier and nobody has checked it
You bought something described as accessible and a customer still can't use it
A tender or a funder asks which standard you meet
Access complaints come in but never reach the people who could fix them
Someone asks whether you're accessible. What do you actually say?
Most organisations answer with a statement, a standard, or a certificate from a supplier. None of those are evidence.
This hour is about how you'd really know.
What "accessible" means, and who gets to decide that
Which standard you're claiming, and whether anyone ever checked
Who you designed for, and who you left out without noticing
What evidence would hold up if someone challenged you on it
Who it's for. Anyone who has to answer that question. Service owners, digital and product teams, comms, procurement, HR, and senior leaders signing off claims they haven't tested. No prior knowledge needed and no law required.
Bring a claim you're not sure you could back up. Send it when you register if you'd rather not raise it live, and I'll cover it without naming you or your organisation.
45 minutes, then 15 for questions. Google Meet, live captions on. Everyone who registers gets the recording, slides and transcript, whether or not you make it.
Free, and there's no pitch at the end.
I'm Hugh O'Keeffe, a disability, access and inclusion consultant. I help employers and the organisations that serve the public, and I sit on the Civil Aviation Authority's Consumer Panel. I've supported over 400 UK employers, and I chaired the national conference Supporting Disabled People in the Workplace in 2025. I'm disabled myself.
I'm not a lawyer and this isn't legal advice.