The Personas
Meet the Collectivally personas
Our eight personas represent different patterns of functional needs. They are informed by inclusive research with disabled and neurodivergent people and designed as structured provocations: perspectives to pressure-test your work and help you ask better questions.
Before you meet the personas…
What the personas are, and what they aren't
A quick note on the methodology, so you can get the most out of what follows.
These personas are
- Designed around patterns of functional needs
- Informed by years of inclusive research
- Grounded in the Functional Performance Criteria of the European Accessibility Act
- Intended to broaden thinking and uncover assumptions
These personas are not
- Simulations of disabled people
- Representations of everyone with a particular disability
- Replacements for inclusive research
- Compliance tools
Persona cards
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Aisha · Output
Aisha: Screen reader
Usage without vision
Aisha works in policy and likes to get things done quickly. She navigates digital services without relying on vision, using a screen reader and keyboard. When content is structured well, she can move through it extremely efficiently.
What matters
Clear structure, meaningful labels, predictable navigation and information that can be understood without seeing the screen.
Watch out for
Poor heading hierarchy, ambiguous controls, unannounced content changes, focus traps and inaccessible errors.
- Without vision
- Screen reader
- Keyboard
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Daniel · Output
Daniel: Magnification
Usage with limited vision and without perception of colour
Daniel works in finance and prefers to take a methodical approach. He uses zoom, increased contrast and larger text to make digital content easier and more comfortable to perceive.
What matters
Content that remains readable and usable when enlarged, strong contrast and information that is not communicated through colour alone.
Watch out for
Fixed layouts, horizontal scrolling, poor contrast, content that breaks at high zoom and colour-only cues.
- Limited vision
- Colour perception
- Magnification
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Sofia · Output
Sofia: Captions and BSL
Usage without hearing
Sofia works in marketing and communicates primarily through BSL and written English. She accesses digital experiences without relying on audio.
What matters
Accurate captions and transcripts, visual equivalents for audio information and choice in how to communicate.
Watch out for
Uncaptioned video, audio-only alerts, inaccurate automated captions and services that require a phone call.
- Without hearing
- BSL
- Captions
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Marcus · Input
Marcus: Voice control
Usage with limited manipulation, strength, or reach (voice)
Marcus likes technology that lets him get on with things. He primarily navigates and enters information using voice control rather than precise hand movements.
What matters
Clearly named controls, interactions that can be completed without precise gestures and enough time to complete tasks.
Watch out for
Duplicate button labels, drag-and-drop-only interactions, small targets and restrictive time limits.
- Limited manipulation
- Voice control
- Reduced strength
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Hannah · Input
Hannah: Keyboard only
Usage with limited manipulation, strength, or reach (keyboard)
Hannah is analytical and efficient. She navigates digital services entirely by keyboard, so she needs to be able to understand where she is and move through an interface without using a pointer.
What matters
Logical navigation, visible focus and complete keyboard operability.
Watch out for
Missing focus states, unexpected tab order, hover-only interactions and keyboard traps.
- Limited manipulation
- Keyboard
- Focus
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Lewis · Understanding
Lewis: Plain language
Cognitive processing & attention
Lewis is creative and entrepreneurial. He processes information most comfortably when it is clear, structured and easy to work through at his own pace.
What matters
Plain language, clear structure, manageable chunks of information and helpful guidance.
Watch out for
Dense text, jargon, long instructions, unnecessary cognitive load and unexpected errors.
- Cognitive processing
- Attention
- Text-to-speech
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Priya · Understanding
Priya: Calm and predictable
Predictability & sensory load
Priya is detail-oriented and prefers digital experiences that are calm and predictable. Unexpected movement, changes or time pressure can make an otherwise straightforward task much harder to complete.
What matters
Predictable journeys, consistent structure, control over movement and enough time to process information.
Watch out for
Auto-rotating content, flashing elements, sudden layout changes, unnecessary animation and countdown timers.
- Sensory processing
- Reduced motion
- Predictability
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Michael · Input
Michael: Low effort
Combined access needs & fatigue
Michael is retired and values being able to manage things independently. He experiences several overlapping access needs and prefers digital services that do not demand unnecessary precision, speed or physical effort.
What matters
Comfortable target sizes, simple journeys, flexible timing and information available in more than one form.
Watch out for
Small controls, long forms, unnecessary time pressure, complex journeys and audio without captions.
- Limited vision
- Limited hearing
- Limited dexterity
- Fatigue
How the Personas Were Built
Informed by inclusive research
The Collectivally personas are built on qualitative research with disabled and neurodivergent people who use digital services every day. Contributors are paid for their expertise. Their experiences are anonymised, analysed, aggregated, and translated into personas that reflect genuine patterns of interaction, not stereotypes or assumptions.
The research behind the personas is ongoing. As assistive technology evolves, as digital environments change, and as we conduct more sessions with more participants, the personas are updated and refined. They are living tools, not static documents.
Each persona is also mapped to the functional performance criteria of the European Accessibility Act, grounding them in the outcome-focused direction of travel for accessibility standards across the UK and Europe.
How to Think About the Personas
Focused on outcomes, not conditions
A common challenge with accessibility is that it gets framed around diagnoses. We talk about blind users, deaf users, users with dyslexia. These descriptions have their place, but they can lead to a narrow and simplified view of what really matters when someone is trying to use a digital service.
What matters is whether the service works.
Can it be used without sight? Does it still function when zoomed to 400%? Can someone complete a journey using only their voice? Is the content understandable without relying on complex language?
The Collectivally personas are built around these questions. Each one reflects a distinct way of accessing digital services, shaped by different input methods, output needs, and patterns of use. This approach also reflects the social model of disability: people are not disabled by their condition alone, but by digital environments that haven't been designed to include them.
A note
What personas can and cannot do
We are open about the limitations of this approach, because we think that honesty matters.
Lived experience is complex, contextual, and deeply individual. Two people with the same diagnosis may interact with the same digital service in completely different ways. Assistive technologies are used differently depending on confidence, experience, and environment. Cognitive load varies. Fatigue fluctuates. Circumstances change.
The Collectivally personas are designed to be illustrative, not representative. They are structured provocations that help teams ask better questions: what happens if this is how someone accesses our service? Where might barriers occur? What assumptions have we made?
They are a bridge, not a destination. And the destination, for every organisation, should be direct involvement with disabled and neurodivergent people throughout the design and development of their services.
Ready to start reviewing with the personas?
Choose a website, define a task, and find out how your digital service performs for people who experience it very differently from your core team.