Compliance should be the floor – not the ceiling

At Tilting the Lens, we occasionally get asked if our auditing of buildings and public realm can provide or come with an accessibility accreditation or rating. In the sustainability sector, accreditations and ratings are designed to assess how green or sustainable a building is, which can be measured by the materials, energy, or engagement with the supply chain. In sustainability, there is great nuance, but some solutions can easily be assessed as sustainable, or not sustainable. 

In terms of accessibility, we feel it’s more challenging to gauge. Accessibility is individual and collective, universal, and contextual. Even within one disability grouping, the access accommodation for one person, may be the opposite of what another person requires for comfort and safety. To grade something as ‘accessible’ risks creating a hierarchy of accessibility. We understand why companies feel compelled to seek an accreditation or rating, but in our practice, it’s something we push back on.   

Accreditation can provide a sense of reassurance, particularly in demonstrating compliance, but it is important to recognise its limitations. Frameworks of accessibility accreditation are often rooted in legislation and therefore reflect minimum thresholds to achieve ‘compliance’, rather than what might support the full diversity of lived experience. It can frame accessibility as a checklist of requirements, when in practice fairness, equity and access are much more nuanced and dynamic. What is positioned as ‘best practice’ can be subjective, sometimes resulting in a hierarchy where certain access needs are prioritised while others are overlooked. This can leave multiply-marginalised communities behind, and create a perception that accessibility is ‘finished’ once certification has been achieved, when in reality it is a continuous evolving process.

Frameworks of accessibility accreditation are often rooted in legislation and therefore reflect minimum thresholds to achieve ‘compliance’, rather than what might support the full diversity of lived experience. 

Accessibility as an ongoing practice

At Tilting the Lens, we take a different approach. We believe accessibility not to be a fixed endpoint but an ongoing practice of iteration, fairness, equity, and access. Our process is underpinned by intersectionality, recognising that accessibility must respond to the complex and overlapping experiences of identity, power and marginalisation. As a majority-Disabled team, we bring both professional expertise and lived experience to this work, ensuring that accessibility is embedded with authenticity and accountability at every stage.

Central to this is our co-design process with Disabled employees and Disabled customers. By creating space for lived experience to guide solutions, we ensure accessibility is not just technically compliant but practically relevant, equitable, and responsive. Through collaborative workshops and continuous feedback loops, organisations uncover barriers they may not have anticipated or recognised, while also gaining deeper insights into how fairness, equity, and access can positively shape both the workplace and customer experience. This not only builds more welcoming environments but also fosters trust and belonging.

A multi-height bar with red Smirnoff branding, supporting different access needs. On the lower part of the bar in front of glasses and cocktail paraphernalia is a cocktail menu in both print and braille.
A multi-height bar, on which sits a cocktail menu in both print and Braille at the “We Do Us” event in London, November 2023. The event was created in partnership between Tilting the Lens and RanaVerse, an accessibility-focused activation for the Smirnoff We Do Us campaign. Photo by Tilting the Lens.

Considering the approach to use

Your focus may be on embedding accessibility as a cultural value shaped by co-design with Disabled people and responsive to the built environment. Perhaps you are ambitious to ensure your recruitment, meeting, communications, services, products, and organisational processes are accessible. Then working with Tilting the Lens may be your ideal approach. We would be glad to begin with a conversation to explore where you are on your accessibility maturity model, and to learn more about your priorities and objectives.

However, we understand that depending on where confidence and comfort with accessibility sits within your organisation, an accreditation or a rating may be a necessary starting point. In order to move forward strategically, a calculation of the current baseline could be essential, especially to your leadership team. In order to create a broader definition of accessibility, we may need to understand where we are positioned solely in proximity to compliance.

If this is the path your organisation or practice is taking, there are a few thoughtful pathways and partners you may wish to consider:

  • If you are looking for a clear, standardised scorecard of your built environment with an accessible dashboard to track progress, an Irish-based company, Mobility Mojo may be a strong fit.
  • If your priority is to understand accessibility within a wider Diversity, Equity and Inclusion context, and to be benchmarked against an organisation-wide DEI framework, the Irish Centre for Diversity accreditation of Gold, Silver or Bronze, could provide that perspective.

Each of these potential partners offer something of value, and in some cases a combination may serve you best. We have relationships with these great Irish organisations, and admire their work and impact. 

We would be delighted to support you in identifying the approach that most meaningfully aligns with your goals.

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