Beyond compliance: embedding accessibility into EDF's digital culture

EDF Energy is one of the UK's largest energy suppliers, providing energy services to millions of homes and companies.

As more customers manage their energy online, EDF wanted to make sure its digital services could be used independently by as many people as possible.

Understanding where improvements were needed

EDF's website was already considered to meet WCAG 2.1 AA when the company began working with us in 2019. But its Digital and Design Team wanted to go further.

EDF is one of the UK's largest energy suppliers, providing energy services to millions of homes and companies.

With more customers managing their energy online, making its digital services accessible was an important part of delivering a better customer experience.

Looking beyond compliance

When EDF first approached us in 2019, its website was already considered to meet WCAG 2.1 AA. But the Digital and Design Team recognised that meeting a standard didn't necessarily mean every customer could use its services without difficulty.

The team wanted to understand the barriers people might still encounter and make accessibility a more consistent part of how its digital services were designed and developed.

That meant looking beyond a single audit. EDF needed independent insight into where improvements could be made, alongside the knowledge to make better accessibility decisions in future.

Turning insights into improvements

We worked with EDF to understand how accessible its digital services were in practice, examining key customer journeys across 20 website templates, followed by areas including My Account, the Help Centre and global navigation.

Testing against WCAG 2.1 AA, including the use of screen readers and speech recognition software, revealed opportunities to improve how customers interacted with the website.

The findings gave EDF's team a clearer understanding of where barriers existed and how to prioritise improvements. Importantly, the work also helped the team look at accessibility through the experiences of people using its services, rather than solely through technical requirements.

Building a culture of accessibility

EDF wanted those improvements to last beyond the initial testing. Alongside our audits, we delivered practical workshops and training to help its Digital and Design Team bring accessibility into everyday decisions.

This gave the team greater confidence to recognise potential barriers, consider different user needs and make accessibility part of the design process from the outset.

For EDF, the lasting impact was a change in how accessibility was approached.

Rather than relying on individual audits to identify problems, its digital teams had developed the knowledge and awareness to consider accessibility as part of their ongoing work, helping create more inclusive experiences for the customers who depend on its services.