Image courtesy of Government Digital Services.
Our Unlocking Accessibility series focuses on asking various professions or teams specific questions about digital accessibility.
In the second instalment of this series, we asked user researchers from various government departments and public sector organisations about their role in making digital services accessible, recruiting people with access needs, and sharing best practices for integrating accessibility into the user research process.
Traditionally, User researchers plan, design and carry out research activities with users that help teams get a deep understanding of the people that use public services.
Question 1 - What do user researchers do to help make digital services accessible?
Jenifer Klepfer, Senior User Researcher, Ministry of Justice
“We advocate for all users - especially those with access needs. We help teams understand the impact of design and development decisions on the people who use our services. We help teams gain empathy for users of our service and ensure digital products and services are designed to be truly inclusive and everyone can use them with ease - and we conduct research with users with access needs to ensure this is the case.”
Sally Rogan, User Researcher Lead, Registers of Scotland
“Here at Registers of Scotland our user research team takes a wide range of actions to make our digital services accessible.
“We regularly raise awareness inside teams and across the business about the legal requirements. On hearts and minds we work collaboratively across multi discipline teams to support and build knowledge around accessibility. Our User Research team gathers insights into the diverse needs of our public and business customers. Then work closely with our testing community to understand how our services interact with common assistive tools.”
Priyanca Dsouza, Senior User Researcher, Department for Business & Trade
“Service design is incomplete if it doesn't consider the needs of disabled people. Accessible services are better services.
“We can use our positions in teams to represent and advocate for users, leading to better public services and experiences for users. Retrofitting accessibility can be expensive and time consuming; early user research can help identify gaps and challenges before they become larger problems.
“We can challenge assumptions of who our users are and their needs. Internal or specialist services often assume that they don't have disabled users. Anyone can have or develop access needs, including scientists! Some services are used by millions of people so it's highly likely that a variety of access needs will be present in this population.
“The team may not initially understand why we need to do research 'with deaf people' or 'users of assistive technology' but we can show them why it's important. We bring our teams closer to our users.
“We can enable our team to observe the experiences of a person who needs to use a screen reader or speech recognition. UR can inspire people to problem solve and see the impact of their work on real people. Listen to your users and your user researchers!”
Kirsty Agyemang, User Researcher, Delivery and Schemes, OfGem
“User researchers ensure that accessibility is considered from the start by identifying the barriers that users with access needs face. These needs are identified through various methods like accessibility testing and co-design. We use these to gather insights into how people with access needs interact with our services. Researchers also work closely with designers and technical roles to ensure findings are actionable, aligning with accessibility standards and regulations such as WCAG and PSBAR to create inclusive experiences for all.”
Sian Dunn, Senior User Researcher, Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs
“User researchers ensure accessibility is proactively thought about throughout, we begin by recruiting a range of users including those with varying access needs. In addition, we can do some accessibility testing ourselves like relying on plug-ins like WAVE or screen readers to immerse ourselves as much as possible on the users behalf while also continuously testing our prototypes with users with access needs and sharing the findings. One of the most powerful things a user researcher can do is ask the question ‘is it accessible?’ throughout the development of a digital service, this organically encourages other team members to keep thinking about accessibility in a proactive way.”
Natasha Peters, Senior User Researcher, Home Office
“I currently work with our internal digital services at the Home Office to ensure we deliver accessible products and services for both the public and our colleagues. By conducting user research with members of staff, some of which have access needs or use assistive technology, I am able to capture real user experiences and understand how staff interact with our digital services. This supplements the theoretical accessibility testing taking place in earlier phases of delivery. Having these real-life insights helps our delivery teams empathise with a diverse set of users, enabling them to deliver more accessible digital services.”
Scarlett Rowland, User Researcher, HM Revenue and Customs
“As a researcher, I am responsible for making sure that the user group I am testing with is as representative of the real population of end users as possible. I also help connect my team to the feelings and experiences of users who have access needs by inviting my team to watch sessions in real time, and include video and audio clips during playbacks. Our role is to ensure that all users are considered within the lifecycle of a project so that we can ultimately build something that meets the needs of our users.”
Abhilaasha Kaul, User Researcher, Hackney Council
“Good digital services are born from a deep understanding of the diverse needs and challenges faced by their users, service providers, and people affected by them. User researchers play a critical role in uncovering this understanding and weaving it throughout the design process—from defining the problem to crafting the solutions.
“On a strategic level, user researchers foster a shared understanding among their teams and organisations about who their users are, how they interact with services, and what factors enable or hinder their experiences. On a more granular level, they can create an empowering environment where every individual who needs and wants to engage can do so.”
Question 2 - How do you go about recruiting people with access needs/disabilities?
Jenifer Klepfer, Senior User Researcher, Ministry of Justice
“This is a real challenge - especially when your service is designed for people with a certain type of specialist domain knowledge (for example an understanding of legal terminology). There are many great professional networks for people with access needs - we have found connecting with these really effective. Sometimes it takes creativity to connect with the right people.
“Another thing we have found is that sometimes people are reluctant to self-identify as having an access need but once you are in a session they disclose that they need to make adaptations to do their work. This gives you an opportunity to dig deeper and try to understand a bit more.
“In user research sessions we discuss being inclusive in how we design and ask not only about whether a participant has accessibility needs, but also whether anyone they work with needs to make any adaptations or has any accessibility needs. This can lead to useful connections, further user research sessions, and invaluable insights.”
Sally Rogan, User Researcher Lead, Registers of Scotland
“For internal systems we’ll work with colleagues that may be using assistive technology, or neurodiverse colleagues who are comfortable participating in user research. We have a colleague within IT enablement who supports our work, coaching colleagues that may require Teams accessibility tools. This helps us get closer to colleagues inside our business we may not be aware of. For public customers we use a participant recruitment agency to help us find people with accessibility needs. We also try to use a variety of platforms to reach people on social media.”
Priyanca Dsouza, Senior User Researcher, Department for Business & Trade
“Identify the criteria of the people you need and anticipate how these needs may interact with your research tasks or stimuli.
“You could use screening questions that pick up on barriers people face, challenging interactions as an alternative to specifying participants have 'X medical condition'. Something like brain fog can be experienced by people going through many different situations. Successfully recruited participants via specific forums and groups. Also provided briefs to agencies.
“On GOV.UK One Login, we tested complex journeys where navigation and orientation were challenging. So screened for working memory and executive function issues to stress test our designs.”
Kirsty Agyemang, User Researcher, Delivery and Schemes, OfGem
“I ensure people with access needs are included in every round of the research. I do this by involving target user groups of our service, which I identify through optional questions added to the consent forms about needs and capabilities, in addition to partnering with specialist recruitment agencies. I ensure research materials are inclusive to different access needs, provide multiple contact methods and offer accommodations like flexible scheduling. Being transparent about how their insights will be used helps build trust and encourages participation.”
Sian Dunn, Senior User Researcher, Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs
“It’s important to establish who will be using the service first, to then hone into that user group. Once we have a pool to recruit from, we’ll then start to recruit so that we ensure we have representation of users with access needs (at least 1/5). It’s often the case that some people might have faced poor accessibility from services or workplaces and therefore they’re not part of those groups. In that case, we outsource recruitment to specialist agencies who work with users with access needs and disabilities.”
Natasha Peters, Senior User Researcher, Home Office
“By collaborating with our department’s fantastic accessibility specialists, we continue to understand how we can quickly and effectively reach participants with access needs. For example, I often share research opportunities in our internal staff disability networks, or in wide-reaching communication channels like our staff newsletters. Both approaches enable me to reach staff with a variety of access needs, as well as ensuring representation across other relevant aspects. I find explaining the benefits clearly to staff helps recruit participants - so for example, how my research will help drive change, and how getting involved can have a positive impact for staff with access needs across the organisation.”
Scarlett Rowland, User Researcher, HM Revenue and Customs
“My favourite way of diversifying my participant group is by getting out into the community. You’ll often find me scrolling event websites, or looking on local notice boards to try and find places my users might be going. If I find one that seems right, I’ll get in touch with the organiser to see if it’s okay for me to come along to the event. Depending on the structure of the event, you may be able to do recruitment or pop up research too.”
Abhilaasha Kaul, User Researcher, Hackney Council
“A great starting point is tapping into existing organisational touchpoints with individuals who have additional needs. As a researcher at a Local Authority, I have the unique advantage of collaborating with both internal teams and external partners (like charities and community organisations) dedicated to supporting those with additional needs. Involving partners who have specialised knowledge and established trust within these communities, allows me to prioritise the safety and comfort of all participants.
“Additionally, our organisation has invested in creating online forums where we can share lighter touch research methods like surveys and communicate upcoming research projects with residents. This helps us offer participants greater flexibility in how they engage with the research and also encourages wider participation.”
Question 3 - Can you share any best practices for incorporating accessibility into the user research process?
Jenifer Klepfer, Senior User Researcher, Ministry of Justice
“Normalise talking about accessibility and inclusion. Accessibility and inclusion start at the very beginning of a project and continue throughout all phases of the design cycle - not as an afterthought.
“We have checklists on all our Jira tickets - one of these is about whether accessibility has been considered and if it is impacted by changes being made, ensuring this is an ongoing discussion for the team for every ticket we create.
“If new members join the team or there is a feeling the inclusive mindset has slipped, you can do cognitive walkthroughs of your service using the GDS accessibility personas. These help increase empathy and make very real the impact of design/development choices.
“We also ensure the team observes/notetakes for sessions with users with access needs which also really helps bring accessibility to life for the team.
“Best of luck!”
Sally Rogan, User Researcher Lead, Registers of Scotland
“Taking inspiration from Richard Morton and his team, we attended an accessibility clinic a few years ago. We have now set up our own clinic working alongside colleagues from the Scottish Government. We run these through our monthly Tester Community of Practice meetings where colleagues can bring us their accessibility conundrums. We also have an accessibility checklist based on Wcag 2.2 and this produces an automated report for testers that helps update our accessibility statements. Accessibility Scotland is a must for us to attend and the accessibility cross government quarterly meet ups online.”
Priyanca Dsouza, Senior User Researcher, Department for Business & Trade
“Throughout 2024 on GOV.UK One Login, each round of user research I did included people with access needs or lower digital confidence, often both. Accessibility can be something that is embedded in your research. I also ran workshops with the wider identity UR community to understand challenges URs had experienced or anticipated doing research with these groups. Captured a real variety of valuable responses ranging from practical things like recruitment briefs and prototype maturity to buy-in from teams. We generated ideas and actions of how to address these challenges and issues before prioritising next steps. You could do this in your own organisation.”
Kirsty Agyemang, User Researcher, Delivery and Schemes, OfGem
“Incorporate accessibility at every stage of research - don’t treat it as a mere checklist or afterthought. Design materials in accessible formats and ensure research tools and platforms are inclusive. Ensure diverse representation of access needs. Remember accessibility isn't just about disabilities or impairments - it's about removing barriers that exclude people, whether due to low digital capabilities, having English as an additional language, or lacking access to the internet or Wi-Fi. It's also important to create an environment where participants feel comfortable sharing their experiences and provide accommodations as needed. Lastly, involve the entire project team in accessibility discussions to embed inclusivity into research findings and subsequent designs.”
Sian Dunn, Senior User Researcher, Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs
“Ensure that accessibility is mentioned from the start, it’s important to ask the question ‘have we thought about accessibility?’ ‘is this accessible?’ so that we actively, and collectively, work on finding those answers. Ensure that we have a wide range of representation when recruiting users and this is in your research plan, if we face barriers with recruitment, look to lean into networks or agencies that’ll support you. If consent is given, bring your team along to research sessions, work on empathy maps together. Ensure that your research methods are chosen with accessibility in mind and consult an accessibility team and ethics team if available.”
Natasha Peters, Senior User Researcher, Home Office
“The best tip I can give is to consider accessibility early in the user research process. This gives you the time to ensure your participants represent not only a variety of access needs, but experiences too. Remember having an access need is personal, and two people with the same needs or conditions may use digital services differently. In terms of the research process, any accessibility defects should be identified before a product or service is used in research with users. If the issues cannot be resolved ahead of research sessions, the user researcher should be comfortable supporting participants with any workarounds. After the sessions, I like keeping participants in the loop about how their insights are used to drive change.”
Scarlett Rowland, User Researcher, HM Revenue and Customs
“Make sure that you are asking your participants for information about any support that they may need during the session in advance. Asking these questions early allows you time to appropriately prepare and make any changes you may need to.
“If you’re unsure of how best to support a particular participant's access needs, you can set up a call in advance of the session to learn more and to discuss how to make sure they can participate in the research session. Remember - your participants are experts of their own lived experiences.”
Abhilaasha Kaul, User Researcher, Hackney Council
- It Never Hurts to Ask!
Approaching people with curiosity is central to honouring their needs. I always ensure there are multiple opportunities for participants to communicate any adjustments that can enable their engagement. This can include reaching out before research sessions to confirm any necessary accommodations or sharing brief pre-engagement forms that allow participants to express their needs or ask questions. - Be Flexible
While it’s essential to have a plan for research sessions, being adaptable is equally important. Responding to the needs of participants is key; this might mean simplifying questions or activities if they require breaks or incorporating diverse research methods—for instance letting participants choose to write, create art, or share verbal feedback during sessions. Embracing this flexibility helps you be more inclusive and empowers participants by giving them more control over how they engage with you.
Read more of our Unlocking Accessibility series.
If you enjoyed reading our Unlocking Accessibility series and would like to contribute to future posts you can reach us at accessibility-in-government-blog@digital.cabinet-office.gov.uk or, if you work in government, on the UK Government Digital Slack.
Please leave a comment if you are a user researcher or just interested in the field and would like to give your thoughts on the questions above.
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