Built Environment, Wayfinding and Transport Accessibility Services

Our work is led by National Register of Access Consultants (NRAC) accredited professionals and rooted in RNIB’s long‑standing expertise in supporting blind and partially sighted people. We combine best practice guidance, a strong understanding of accessibility legislation and many years of hands‑on experience to help organisations create environments that are safer, easier to use and more inclusive for everyone.

• Access Audits
• Access Strategies
• Statutory Advice and Legislative Consultancy
• Inclusive Design Reviews
• Wayfinding and Orientation
• Digital Wayfinding
• User Testing
• Accessible Signage, Maps and Images

An Access Audit is the appraisal of a building or space against best practice guidance rooted in the principles of Inclusive Design. They are an essential tool for organisations to fulfil their duties under the Equality Act 2010.

• We carry out detailed audits of buildings and surrounding environments to identify physical, sensory and wayfinding barriers for people with disabilities.
• Our Access Audits reports provide clear, prioritised recommendations that are practical and proportionate.
• We have extensive experience of auditing in a wide range of settings including offices, retail, healthcare, transport facilities, streetscapes, residential environments, heritage sites, countryside and educational buildings.

• Embedding accessibility at an organisational level helps ensure inclusion is not dependent on individual projects or people.
• We support organisations to develop robust Access Strategies that set clear expectations for inclusive design, service delivery and decision‑making.
• Our strategies help build consistency, demonstrate commitment to equality and ensure accessibility is considered thoughtfully across all activities.

• Our consultants are specialists in accessibility‑related legislation affecting the built environment and transport, including the Equality Act 2010 and the Bus Services Act.
• We work with local authorities, transport bodies and public organisations to support:
  • Bus Network Accessibility Plans
  • Accessibility policies and action plans
  • Public Sector Equality Duties
  • Research, engagement and evidence‑gathering

Our end‑to‑end consultancy helps ensure statutory documents are robust, compliant and informed by real‑world experience.

• We review design proposals at all stages, including early concepts and detailed designs, to identify potential barriers and opportunities for inclusion.
• By assessing plans, layouts and drawings, we help teams comply with regulations, avoid costly retrofitting and build accessibility into projects from the outset.

We provide specialist wayfinding consultancy, including:

• Accessibility reviews of wayfinding briefs for signage and design contractors
• Wayfinding audits of existing environments
• Advice on digital wayfinding solutions and consultancy on their implementation, helping ensure systems that are genuinely useful, intuitive and inclusive.

RNIB’s built environment user testing focuses on how people with sight loss actually move through your space, including:

• Wayfinding & Orientation
• Signage & Information
• Routes, Layouts & Circulation
• Lighting & Visual Contrast
• Arrival & Reception

Our expert consultants observe participants from our user panel, representing a range of sight loss, as they complete realistic journeys through your environment. User insights are then translated into clear, practical and prioritised recommendations, presented in a focused user testing report.