Digital Accessibility and the Case for a Disability Passport

Every time a disabled person books a ticket, arrives at a venue, calls a helpline or boards a train, there's a reasonable chance they'll be asked to explain their access needs again. The same needs, the same explanation, the same starting from zero. For millions of people, that's not an occasional inconvenience. It's the standard experience.

On 15 September, Future Ticketing announced its integration with Nimbus, allowing participating clients to check Access Cards and Digital Access Passes within the online checkout. Meanwhile, NHS England's Reasonable Adjustment Digital Flag standard lists 30 September 2026 as its full conformance date for organisations within scope. These developments belong together. They both address the difficulty of getting a person's access requirements to the organisation that needs to act on them.

The NHS flag is designed to help health and care professionals record, see and share reasonable adjustment information across services. Its deadline is specific to that system in England. It doesn't introduce a September deadline for every theatre, stadium or business, and the published date shouldn't be mistaken for confirmation that every provider is technically ready.

This is a problem I've encountered in cases I was involved in. Hospital ophthalmology departments were sending printed appointment cards to visually impaired patients who couldn't read them. The department treating the person's sight condition was still communicating in a format that person couldn't use.

During the pandemic, I was also involved in cases concerning shielding letters sent in inaccessible print to people already recognised as blind. These were communications about protecting someone's health. Sending the letter didn't mean its recipient could read the advice or act on it independently.

Those experiences are part of why I'm interested in the NHS flag and the wider question of how access requirements travel. Recording a diagnosis is only a starting point. The service needs to establish how that person can receive information, record the requirement and make sure it changes what happens when an appointment card, letter or digital message is sent. An accessible email, large print, Braille, audio or a telephone call may be appropriate, depending on the person. The requirement has to carry through to the team or system actually sending the message.

The case for a Disability Passport

What interests me is where Nimbus could take this next. It's well placed to build a voluntary Disability Passport usable across public services and businesses alike. A Disability Passport doesn't define someone by their condition. It tells a service what that person needs in order to access it. Someone might need written communication rather than phone calls, a seat when queuing, a step-free route from the car park, or a companion's support at the entrance. The business gets the information it needs to do its job. The medical detail stays private.

Nimbus is already trusted by almost one million users. It's founded and led by disabled people, staffed by disabled people, and its social enterprise model channels surplus profits to disability charities through Disability Direct. That combination of lived experience, established technology and commercial credibility is rare. The trust disabled people have placed in Nimbus reflects who built the system and why.

What a Disability Passport should deliver

The Future Ticketing announcement describes real-time validity checks and the recognition of access symbols within the booking process. That's a practical example of access information becoming usable at the point of purchase. The wider opportunity is to connect recognised requirements to the decisions that follow: which booking options appear, what staff need to prepare, and how the customer receives confirmation.

The passport can travel; the operational response still needs to fit the service.