Access

for Everybody

Award-winning Universal Design and Accessibility experts. Led by disabled people.

Direct Access has led the accessibility and inclusion field since our inception in 2004. We are a DOBE™ certified Disability Owned and Operated Business Enterprise providing accessibility consultancy based on our real lived experience of disability.

With consultants across England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland – we enable organisations to create inclusive environments that meet and exceed accessibility standards and building regulations across the UK and mainland Europe.

We work with clients, architects and design teams working on everything from small community venues, to UNESCO heritage sites, to world famous museums.

A Selection of

Our Work

A close up photograph of an open gate leading to a walkway surrounded by a lush green garden. On the gate is a square sign displaying a white capital T, representing the Tullie Museum and Art Gallery.

Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery

Direct Access are the Accessibility Consultants for the Tullie House Museum & Art Gallery, helping Cumbria become a thriving place for everyone through the development and implementation of an accessibility Read More

A proof of concept photograph of the proposed new design of Chichester Street in Belfast showing a bustling street front with new modern buildings.

The 5 C’s Public Realms Project – Belfast

Direct Access were the accessibility consultants for the 5 C’s Project in Belfast, providing a review of 5 proposed street refurbishments for The Department for Communities (DfC) Belfast Regeneration Directorate. Read More

A photograph of an exterior pathway at the Sewerby Halls & Gardens on a sunny afternoon, to either side a mixture of white, pink, and purple flowers are scattered from one end to the next, with larger plans and trees further back on each side. At the furthest end of the path, there is a sheltered garden gazebo with two trees adjacent to the left and right.

East Riding Museums

Direct Access provided accessibility audits to the East Riding Museums Group to ensure that its sites are fully accessible and inclusive to disabled visitors and staff. The initial site audits Read More

A proof of concept photo of the V and A East museum, showing a large, baige building that looks like an upside down crown. A large V and A sits on the top. Outside crowds of people commute on the open plan path space. At the forefront, a set of stairs lead down to a nearby canal with a red, white, and blue coloured boat passing by.

V & A East

Image © O’Donnell + Tuomey / Ninety90, 2018. The Victoria and Albert Museum, more commonly known as the V&A is the world’s largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and Read More

A render of the upcoming United Nations International Center for Migration, a building with large glass windows that is generally see-through. On the street front is a black car, a flagpole with a blue UN glad and people dressed in suits walking along the pavement.

United Nations International Organization for Migration (Geneva)

Direct Access has provided Universal Design and accessibility consultancy services for the new International Organization for Migration Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. Working with the Architectural and design teams at each Read More

Ellison Institute for Transformative Medicine

The Ellison Institute is an interdisciplinary, patient-centered research center that provides cutting-edge cancer care and wellness services, undertaking research initiatives that span the scientific spectrum to change how cancer and Read More

More Case Studies

Latest

News

A pretty young woman wearing dark glasses and headphones in a sensory room, which is lit up purple.

News

The Crucial Role of Sensory Accessibility in Environmental Design

Sensory accessibility is a crucial facet which we advocate to be embedded into every element of our built environment. It ensures that all individuals, regardless of their condition, can fully participate in their environment, whether that’s at school, college, the workplace, or in leisure settings. Yet within our particular line of

March 5, 2025

Two male engineers wearing hi-vis jackets and white hard hats have a discussion on a building site on a sunny day.

News

Direct Access celebrates World Engineering Day 2025

World Engineering Day 2025 is about celebrating the contributions of engineers in shaping a sustainable future. This year’s theme, “Shaping Our Sustainable Future Through Engineering,” highlights the essential role that engineering plays in achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) At Direct Access, our team of dedicated access

March 4, 2025

A young Caucasian man in a wheelchair takes cutlery items out of a split-height counter dishwasher in his home kitchen.

News

Building a Better Future: The Importance of Accessible Housing for All

Ever since the pandemic occurred half a decade ago, the way we use our homes has shifted significantly. That is to say, in addition to being our nest, the global shift in attitude towards working from home has transformed our personal sanctuaries into workplaces. For disabled people across the country, this

February 18, 2025

A close up narrow focus photograph of a red bus stop button with raised braille printed to the face.

News

Driving Inclusion – How Greater Manchester’s Bus Network is Leading the Way in Accessible Transport

As of 6 January 2025, Greater Manchester has fully returned its bus services to public control, representing a major change in the region’s transport strategy and the first time in 40 years that a major transit system in England will operate in such a way. And with this change, increased

January 15, 2025

A blind middle-aged man with gray hair and beard wearing sunglasses holding cane and phone using text-to-speech function.

News

How Accessible Technology investment is transforming the lives of disabled people

Accessible technology is a growing trend among businesses that are helping to change the lives of disabled people for the better. Whether adapting their premises with an evolved understanding of individual access requirements, to the adoption of inclusive policies, to greater diversity levels among the workforce, perhaps the most influential

January 9, 2025

A close up photo of a hand placing a Euro coin into a turquoise blue piggy bank. The face of the bank has a smiling pig's face.

News

Barclays Bank backfire: Why Businesses should commission authentic Mystery Shoppers with Disabilities

Barclays Bank is currently facing scrutiny for its recent advertisements promoting paid “mystery shoppers” to feign blindness in order to identify accessibility issues at their walk-in branches. Shoppers were invited to tell staff members that their eyesight was “becoming increasingly blurry and/or spotty and the situation is not going to

January 7, 2025

An office desk has two cardboard cubes (the top is red, the bottom is green) stacked on top of each other. These are to represent the question of what makes something accessible. The red one has an image of a question mark on it, while the green one features the international symbol of access.

News

Unlocking Inclusive Design: Mastering the Key Principles of Accessibility

Offering accessibility as a service has been a cornerstone of our work for nearly two decades. Our philosophy is straightforward: we help organisations—whether public or private—move away from exclusive design practices and become more inclusive for people with disabilities. But the real challenge lies in recognising that accessibility is not

January 3, 2025

A classic London Black Cab on a high-street city road during the daytime.

News

Decades of Delay – Why North Yorkshire’s Accessible Taxi Debate Demands Real Solutions

Opinion: Decades of Delay – Why North Yorkshire’s Accessible Taxi Debate Demands Real SolutionsNorth Yorkshire’s proposed changes to taxi licensing rules have sparked a heated debate. The council aims to increase the number of wheelchair-accessible vehicles (WAVs) to comply with equality legislation, but the plan has drawn sharp criticism from

December 19, 2024

An unhappy young Black Woman in a wheelchair looking fed up in front of a staircase with no ramp access. She is holding her head in her hand.

News

Why the inevitability of disability means we should demand more from built environments

As a team of disabled people, Direct Access is of the view that urban infrastructure throughout history has favored the convenience of a wholly inaccurate and idealistic idea of what a society “should be”. Put simply, most human settlements are largely discriminatory toward people with disabilities, favoring the needs of

November 21, 2024

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