Our mission
We're working to ensure that as AI reshapes our world, disabled people are not left behind — and are, in fact, empowered by it.
Accessible Thinking is a research, training, and consulting firm focused on two connected areas: Responsible AI, which helps organisations build, buy, and govern AI that works for everyone, and Applied AI, which expands disabled people’s participation in government, work, education, the arts, and public life.
Our vision
A future where AI removes barriers rather than perpetuates them — where disabled people's participation in industry, arts, education, and public life is enhanced and expanded by AI.
Our values
How we work.
Inclusion by design
Accessibility isn't an add-on. It's how we think, and how we work, right from the start.
Rigour
Evidence and real-world experience underpin all our advice. We know what works—and we can prove it.
Nothing about us without us
Disabled perspectives are integral to all our work — they don’t just inform it, they are woven into it.
Urgency
AI is moving fast, and those traditionally excluded pay the highest price when we delay making it responsible and inclusive.
Progress you own
Our goal is to move your business forward and, ultimately, make our own role unnecessary.
Building solutions
We don't just find problems. We build solutions that last, and leave your team stronger.
The team
Founded by practitioners.
Gareth
Co-founder / CEO
Gareth founded Accessible Thinking to address a gap he observed: organisations building AI systems lack the expertise to understand how their products land with disabled users, while accessibility practitioners lack the AI literacy to engage meaningfully with these systems.
His background spans digital accessibility, public sector technology, and entertainment industry accessibility initiatives. He founded BBC’s first Digital Accessibility Team, led accessibility for BBC iPlayer’s launch, and co-authored Gamesaccessibilityguidelines.com. Evidence-based practice — “Nothing about us without us” — is the operating principle behind every engagement.
Michael
Co-founder / CTO
Michael co-founded Accessible Thinking after seeing accessibility work in education and employment settings that wasn’t connecting to the AI conversation happening in parallel.
His background spans hands-on digital development and education. Thirteen years at the BBC — as Senior Software Engineer and Senior Research Engineer in Accessibility — building production web frameworks at scale. That same depth informs his training work: delivering programmes, including teaching accessibility apprenticeships at Purplebeard, that leave teams genuinely capable.
He has built accessibility research tools for Ab11y.com and The Readability Group.
How we compare
We make accessibility stick.
| Competitor type | Their claim | We deliver |
|---|---|---|
| Established accessibility consultancies | We know WCAG | We've worked across the entire landscape of accessibility, including AI |
| AI ethics firms | We care about fairness | Beyond caring, we apply an evidence and lived-experience standard for accessibility |
| Checkbox auditors | We audit and report | We transfer knowledge and leave your team capable of working for themselves |
| Research institutions | We publish papers | We build tools that measure accessibility performance as evidence, not theory |
Ready to work with us?
Training, consulting, or research — let's find the right fit.
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