AbilityNet named in Forbes Accessibility 200

AbilityNet has been named in the Forbes Accessibility 200, a global list recognising organisations driving change for disabled people through technology.

As someone who relies on accessible digital services every day, and who has worked at AbilityNet since 1998, I’m hugely proud of this recognition and the part we play in building a digital world that works for everyone.

Being recognised by Forbes, one of the world’s most trusted business media brands, puts us alongside an inspiring group.

This includes global tech leaders like Amazon, Apple, Google, Microsoft and Sony, and major brands such as EY, HSBC, Unilever and Verizon—many connected to our networks.

The list also highlights innovators we know well, including Be My Eyes, NaviLens, Signapse and WeWalk, as well as community champions like Shani Dhanda, Purple Space and ReelAbilities.

It’s fantastic to see them recognised, and an honour to be among them. More than anything, this list shows that accessibility is now seen as a driver of innovation and business value, not just compliance.

Read the full list at www.forbes.com/lists/accessibility

Recognition for staff, volunteers and our network

AbilityNet's CEO Amy Low highlighted how this recognition underlines our values:

“To see AbilityNet named in the Forbes Accessibility 200 list is a genuine honour and I would like to congratulate each and every one of our staff and volunteers for the work they do that has put us there.

Every day we see the difference accessible technology makes, working alongside clients who are putting real effort into designing services that work for more people, many of whom are also recognised in the list. We also see the impact when accessibility is not considered, through the vital one-to-one support our volunteers provide to older and disabled people navigating the digital world.

This recognition also reflects a much wider movement: disabled people, practitioners, clients and organisations who have been pushing for change for years.

We’re proud to play our part in building that movement and will continue to work towards our vision of a digital world accessible to all.”

Playing a role in a global community

The breadth of the Forbes list, and the connections between many people on it, clearly show how accessibility is built through collaboration and through listening to people with lived experience.

That's why one of the most striking aspects of the Forbes Accessibility 200 is how many on the list have been part of our annual TechShare Pro conference, whether as speakers, attendees or sponsors (or all three).

Our annual gathering for the community celebrates its 10th birthday this year and has become a fixture in many people's calendars. Based in London, it gives advocates and experts from all over the world a way to connect with the community in the UK and Europe. 

Accessibility can be a lonely business, and we want to play our role in encouraging and supporting each other to drive change, even when we feel we have a mountain to climb. TechShare Pro is a big part of our contribution to that community, and we look forward to celebrating with many others on the list when we get together on 18 and 19 November.

Inclusion and innovation

The Forbes list puts innovation at the heart of accessibility, which is one of AbilityNet’s core values and reflects our origins in the Research & Development labs at IBM in the late 1990s.

In accessibility, innovation is not only about new tools or technologies. It is also about putting disabled people at the centre of the design process, changing systems, behaviours and expectations, and reminding digital teams of the key design principle of “Nothing About Us Without Us”. The Forbes 200 list could have included many more organisations who are committed to those same principles.

So aside from pride in everything AbilityNet has done in the past 30 years, I am especially proud to be part of a global movement of people who are using technology to deliver significant opportunity for greater equity and participation for disabled people like me.

Congratulations

As well as everyone at AbilityNet I'd like to also acknowledge and congratulate others on the list who we are connected with, including:

• Amazon
• Apple
• AT4D
• ATOS
• Bayer
• Be My Eyes
• Deque
• European Commission - Inmaculada
• Evinced
• EY
• GAAD Foundation
• GitHub
• Google
• HSBC
• inABLE
• Innovating Inclusion
• Law Office of Lainey Feingold
• Meta Platforms
• Microsoft
• NaviLens
• Primark
• Procter & Gamble
• Purple Space
• ReelAbilities
• Scribely
• Signapse
• Sony
• Tobii Dynavox
• Ubisoft Entertainment
• Unilever
• Valuable 500
• Verizon Communications
• W3C (World Wide Web Consortium)
• Walmart
• WeWalk

Read the full list at www.forbes.com/lists/accessibility