A customer finds your business, chooses what they need, then gets stuck. The menu is an image they cannot read. The booking form cannot be used with a keyboard. An error at checkout gives them no useful way to continue.

Accessibility work starts with these everyday tasks. ShapeA11y helps businesses identify digital barriers, prioritise improvements and check that changes work.

Starting in Northern Ireland, open to businesses everywhere

We’re focusing our initial outreach on businesses across Northern Ireland. Businesses elsewhere are welcome too. The starting point is the same: understand what customers need to do and what gets in their way. Legal responsibilities depend on where and how your business operates.

For a café, that might mean a readable menu and clear access information. For accommodation, it might mean helping visitors find room details and complete a booking. For a shop or professional service, it could mean an accessible checkout or enquiry form. These are examples of work to consider, not claims about businesses we have reviewed.

Choose one important customer journey

Start with a task people depend on. Follow it from finding information through to confirmation, including errors and requests for help.

  • Find information: can customers read prices, opening hours and access details, including when they enlarge the text?
  • Book or buy: can customers complete the process using a keyboard or assistive technology?
  • Get help: is there a clear, accessible way to ask a question or report a barrier?

Your website is part of the wider service. Accessible premises, customer communication and staff practices matter too; agree which areas need specialist support beyond a digital review.

Turn findings into practical changes

An accessibility review gives you prioritised findings, supporting evidence and recommended fixes for an agreed set of journeys. We confirm scope, timing and cost before work starts.

If you have barriers to address, an accessibility fix sprint helps your team implement and verify changes. Ongoing release reviews help check important journeys as your website or product changes.

Combine automated checks with manual review, assistive-technology testing and participation by disabled people. Agree testing coverage and resource participants’ time and expertise. Keep a record of what was tested, what improved and what still needs attention.

Understanding responsibilities in Northern Ireland

The Disability Discrimination Act 1995, as it applies in Northern Ireland, places duties on service providers to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people. Those duties are relevant to services delivered online. Great Britain has a different framework under the Equality Act 2010. Government guidance on accessibility responsibilities.

WCAG provides a technical reference for reviewing digital accessibility. A failed WCAG check does not by itself decide whether unlawful discrimination has occurred, and passing checks does not guarantee legal compliance. UK public sector bodies have additional website and app requirements under the 2018 accessibility regulations, subject to their scope and exemptions. Public sector requirements.

For practical NI guidance, the Equality Commission’s Every Customer Counts resources include guides for retail and hospitality, a customer service policy template and an accessible business action plan. These are independent resources; linking to them does not imply a partnership or endorsement.

For other markets, read our overview of accessibility as a business responsibility, with jurisdiction-specific sources.

Find out where to start

Bring a website address and one task you want customers to complete more easily. We’ll discuss the barriers you know about and help identify a useful first step.

Discuss an accessibility review, or contact us if you prefer to start in writing.

Legal information reviewed on 21 September 2026. This guide provides general information, not a legal assessment of an individual business.