Largest survey of its kind in the UK invites 10,000 disabled people to share their everyday barriers to create urgently needed fairer design

One in five people in the UK are disabled. Many face multiple unnecessary barriers every single day. The Unfair Index by UK charity Designability has a plan to change that.

UK charity Designability has launched a major survey calling on 10,000 disabled people across the UK to take part. The Unfair Index: Designing a Fairer Future gives disabled people the chance to share the everyday barriers they face – at home, work, online, in public spaces and in their communities. The findings will be used to create the UK’s first Unfair Index, highlighting the most unfair barriers in everyday life, focusing on those that are urgent, harmful, and possible to fix through better design.

Highlighting why this work matters, Saida, a powered wheelchair user taking part, said: “at the moment I’m being met with performative talk, people say they will do it but they don’t. We don’t want slow changes. We want to live like everyone else. Why does it have to be an add-on thought? I’m a human being. Treat me like one and I’ll treat you like one.”

The project has been co-designed with a pan-disability Lived Experience Advisory Panel, made up of people with a wide range of experiences and impairments, ensuring disabled people’s voices are central. With over 900 disabled people applying to take part, Norin, a panel member from London, said: “As a person with lived experience facing challenges and barriers in everyday life, and coping with so many inaccessible facilities, services, products, design and transport, I joined the panel to contribute my experiences.”

Designability’s Chief Executive, Jim Bowes, explained why this large-scale survey is significant: “Millions of disabled people face barriers every day that stop them fully participating in daily life. Whether that’s financially, socially or academically, we’ve designed the world to be unfair for so many people – and we believe with good design we can do better. This survey is about listening at scale and then identifying what practical solutions could make a real difference to everyday barriers.”

The Unfair Index survey covers a wide range of areas, including health and wellbeing, life at home and managing money, getting out and about, social and community life, technology and learning and work.

The survey is one of the largest of its kind in the UK. The findings will help Designability shape its priorities over the next three to five years and provide actionable insights for designers, organisations, and policymakers — challenging people to think, design and build differently. Where barriers fall outside the charity’s expertise, insights will be shared with other companies and organisations to help drive wider societal change.

Jim Bowes added: “We know some of the barriers raised will need policy change or wider behaviour change. Where that’s the case, we’ll make sure the evidence is shared with those best placed to act, so it can still help drive real-world change. The scale of unfairness means action is needed now”

Disabled people, people who are neurodiverse, unpaid carers and parents of disabled children across the UK are now being invited to take part in the survey until the end of April and share their experiences to help inform future action. The Unfair Index will be published later in 2026.

ENDS

Notes to Editors
About the survey:
The Unfair Index – Designing a Fairer Future is a UK-wide survey run by Designability, aiming to reach 10,000 disabled people.
The survey covers all aspects of daily life, including health and wellbeing, life at home and finances, getting out and about, social and community life, technology, learning, and work.
Findings will be used to create an index of the most unfair barriers, highlighting areas that are urgent, harmful, and fixable through design or intervention.
The findings will drive Designability’s future work as well as creating design challenges for other organisations and charities.

About Designability:
Designability is a UK charity focused on inclusive design, innovation, and improving accessibility for people with disabilities.
The charity works closely with disabled people, designers, and organisations to develop practical solutions that improve daily life.
The charity’s Chief Executive is Jim Bowes.

Key UK disability facts:
Approximately one in five people in the UK lives with a disability (ONS, 2023).
Disabled people are more likely to face barriers in employment, transport, public spaces, technology, and social participation.
Inclusive design and accessible solutions have been shown to significantly improve independence and quality of life.

Advisory panel:
The survey was co-designed with a pan-disability Lived Experience Advisory Panel, made up of disabled people and carers of disabled people from across the UK to ensure lived experience informs every stage.
Survey participation:
Disabled people across the UK are encouraged to take part.

Link to survey: www.theunfairindex.designability.org.uk
Deadline for submissions: End of April
The survey is fully accessible, and Designability can provide additional support or alternative formats on request.

Media contacts:
Press enquiries: Genevieve Arney, Director of Income and Engagement
Email: communications@designability.org.uk or genevievearney@designability.org.uk
Phone: 01225 824103
Website: www.designability.org.uk
Available spokespeople for interview/comment:
Jim Bowes, Designability, Chief Executive
Paul Fairhurst, Designability, Trustee with lived experience
Saida Ahmed, a powered wheelchair user