Resource guide
Digital Accessibility and the Equality Act 2010
What organisations need to know about websites, forms, portals, staff systems, cognitive accessibility, and the place of reasonable adjustments in digital delivery.
By Calling All Minds·Last updated April 2026
digital means more than websites
Staff systems matter too.
both are needed
One does not replace the other.
clarity and usability matter
Not only technical pass or fail.
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Digital accessibility and reasonable adjustments are closely related, but they are not the same thing.
Accessibility aims to remove barriers as part of the normal design of a website, portal, or system. Reasonable adjustments then help deal with individual disadvantage that remains. Good organisations think about both.
Core
Why digital accessibility matters
A poorly designed digital journey can create just as much disadvantage as a badly designed physical process.
If someone cannot understand a form, recover from an error, use a key workflow, or access a support route, the problem is real even if the barrier sits inside software rather than a building. This applies to public websites, customer portals, booking systems, learning platforms, intranets, and internal dashboards.
Core
Websites, forms and portals
Digital barriers often show up in forms, navigation, content, and process design.
Common barriers
Poor labels, weak error messages, inaccessible documents, unclear steps, missing captions, or unpredictable navigation.
Better practice
Plain language, stronger headings, clearer actions, accessible documents, structured forms, and calmer page layouts.
Core
Cognitive accessibility and neurodiversity
Some digital journeys are technically available but still mentally exhausting, confusing, or hard to finish.
That is why cognitive accessibility belongs in this conversation. Reading complexity, weak support, unclear progress, distracting layouts, and overloaded task flows can all create real disadvantage for neurodivergent people and for many others too.
Core
Where adjustments meet accessibility
Accessibility and adjustments should work together, not compete.
A well-designed digital service removes many barriers for everyone. But some people will still need individual support such as alternative communication routes, longer time, accessible formats, or a different way through a process. The point is not to choose one approach over the other. It is to make the baseline better and then respond well where personal support is still needed.
Practice
How AXS Audit and AXS Passport help
Calling All Minds is building both sides of this picture.
AXS Audit
AXS Audit is designed to help teams review digital barriers more thoroughly, including cognitive accessibility through AXS Cognitive AI, so issues become more visible and more actionable.
AXS Passport
AXS Passport helps organisations handle the individual side of support more clearly, reducing repeated disclosure and improving continuity when adjustments are needed.
Turn reasonable adjustments into a clearer process
Good adjustment practice depends on listening well, recording clearly, reviewing regularly, and avoiding repeated disclosure. AXS Passport is designed to help organisations manage that process more consistently and with more dignity for the individual.