Accessibility needs

Types of accessibility needs

Accessibility needs can be permanent, temporary or situational. Remember to not consider those with 'accessibility needs’ as a defined group of people with 'disability and impairments'.

Anyone can have a different set of needs at any time. We've curated some information to get you started, but this is by no means an exhaustive list of the types of experiences people can have.

Designing for accessibility

Have a look at the best practices for designing for accessibility needs and explore how different accessibility needs require unique design considerations.

Government Digital Service Accessibility Personas

The GDS Accessibility team has created seven different accessibility personas .

Each persona has different access needs. They are:

Claudia – a sight impaired screen magnifier user.
Ashleigh – a severely sight impaired screenreader user.
Ron – an older user with multiple needs.
Chris – a user with rheumatoid arthritis.
Pawel – a user with Aspergers.
Simone – a dyslexic user.
Saleem – a profoundly deaf user.

Feedback

The Design System aims to introduce disability, impairments and difference in an inclusive and accurate way. Please check for an existing issue or let us know if you can help us improve our language.

Last reviewed 21 October 2024 .