NHS England has launched its second Accessibility Lab, opening a new space at its Canary Wharf offices in London as part of efforts to strengthen inclusive design practices across its digital services.
The new London Lab builds on the original Accessibility Lab established in Leeds and is used by NHS England product teams, designers, researchers and developers working on digital health services.
It provides a dedicated environment where teams use assistive technologies and specialist support to explore how their services work for people with different access needs during the design and build stages.
Within the Lab, teams use assistive technologies such as screen readers, magnification tools and alternative input devices, alongside specialist guidance, to evaluate and refine digital products during the design and build stages.
This allows accessibility issues to be identified and addressed earlier in development, before services move into formal user testing with people who have lived experience of using assistive technologies.
The approach aims to help teams identify accessibility issues earlier in the design and development process, rather than waiting until later testing stages.
Over the past year, the Accessibility Lab programme has delivered in-person and online training to more than 2,500 NHS England digital staff, including product managers, designers, researchers and developers, to build capability in inclusive and accessible design practices.
Alongside internal adoption, the initiative has also supported collaboration with other public sector organisations, including the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), the Ministry of Housing and the Welsh Government, with a focus on sharing methods and improving consistency in accessibility standards across government.
The London Lab was officially opened by Helen Clifton, Executive Director of Product and Platforms at NHS England, alongside Kate Horn, Deputy Director, both of whom have supported the expansion of the programme.
The launch event also included input from the digital accessibility community, with lightning talks from accessibility and user research specialists Elizabeth Roberts and Yaa Addae on neurodivergence and accessible user research practices.
Nexer Digital, which supported the development of the original Leeds Accessibility Lab, also contributed to the creation of the London space.