An accessible product or service is one that can be used by all its intended users. Products that are designed inclusively will be readily adaptable to the different needs of a wide range of users and the technologies they will be using.

Student Support and Wellbeing (SSW) and the Procurement team from Kent have been leading a project with the Southern Universities Purchasing Consortium (SUPC) to improve the accessibility of digital products and services. In collaboration with the SUPC, Jisc and the Government Digital Service (GDS) we have developed two documents: a SUPC accessibility statement and a toolkit which define the strategy going forward for all SUPC members and suppliers to apply to new purchases­­­­­­­. Both documents can be found on the SUPC website. 

The SUPC is a national buying organisation for the Higher Education sector with a framework expenditure of £412m.​ This work builds on the accessible procurement work already undertaken at Kent by the Information Services requirements team.

An example of one of the questions for suppliers in the SUPC toolkit is: Have the resources been tested with users that have a range of accessibility needs using a range of assistive technologies (AT)? Considering all users’ needs at the procurement stage is vital for instilling a culture that accessibility matters and is a key criterion that should be embedded as standard. This is in line with the Government Digital Services’ approach that: ‘Accessible design is good design’ and that products that are designed for everyone are simply better products.

To find out more about how this can help you in your role at Kent please contact Ashley Shelbrooke (a.g.shelbroooke@kent.ac.uk) and Ben Watson (b.watson@kent.ac.uk).