The challenge
When the website became a burden, the brief was bigger than a redesign.
Access Your Life did not need another agency promising a shinier website. After years of disappointing experiences, significant investment and systems that were difficult to manage, they needed a digital partner they could trust.
Their existing website had become a drain on a small disabled-led team. Simple changes took too long, information fell out of date, support had been unreliable, and a previous hacking incident had compounded the feeling that the platform was working against them rather than for them.
We rebuilt the website from the ground up around the people who actually had to use it, both the team managing the platform and the community relying on it.
Rebuild trust
Listen first, explain clearly, and replace uncertainty with a project the team could understand and shape.
Make accessibility structural
Accessibility had to sit inside the information architecture, interface decisions and day-to-day content workflow.
Give the team control
Create a backend the whole team could manage without turning routine edits into technical jobs.
Build for the long term
Security, forms, integrations and ongoing support needed to feel dependable rather than fragile.
Design system
A brighter, human visual language.
Rather than flattening Access Your Life into a generic accessibility aesthetic, the interface leans into the brand already trusted by its community: bold colour, generous curves, direct language and legible typography. The website feels lively without becoming noisy.
Typography
Atkinson Hyperlegible
Aa
Clear letterforms and generous spacing support readability without making the brand feel clinical. Weight does the hierarchy work, rather than tiny text or low-contrast decoration.
Interface principles
Friendly without sacrificing clarity.
- Rounded, generous containers that visually group related tasks.
- Strong contrast and obvious interactive states.
- Colour used as reinforcement, never as the only way to communicate meaning.
- Plain-language navigation designed around real mobility journeys.
Design in action
Designed around real journeys, not backend gymnastics.
The team needed to publish, update and support people without wrestling with the CMS. Visitors needed to move through a large amount of guidance without feeling lost. Those two needs shaped the build equally.
Clearer journeys
Information architecture and page structures were rebuilt around the questions people actually arrive with.
Manageable content
The backend was simplified so the AYL team could keep information current without depending on a developer for routine edits.
Safer foundations
Security measures were put in place across key touchpoints including forms and integrations, alongside continued support after launch.
What changed
From fragile to dependable.
Momentum returned quickly. The team began receiving regular messages through the site, while community feedback repeatedly highlighted how clear, accessible and easy the new experience felt to use.
Accessible and easier to manage
A platform designed to work for the disabled-led team running it, not just the people visiting it.
Improved visibility and engagement
The rebuilt site gave Access Your Life a stronger digital presence and a practical tool for reaching its community.
Confidence restored
Instead of avoiding the website, the team could use it again as part of how they grow, connect and support people.
Support beyond launch
Inkfire stayed involved after launch, resolving bugs, refining accessibility and helping the platform settle into everyday use.
“For us, this project is a perfect example of what happens when accessibility, trust, and listening come first. We couldn’t be prouder of the end result or the timeline in which we achieved such a phenomenal project within!”
Lauren, Co-Founder, Access Your Life
Built to keep working
A platform they can own, with a relationship built to last.
Access Your Life needed more than a launch day. The project was built around a sustainable working relationship: a site the team can manage, support when something genuinely needs technical attention, and space for the platform to evolve with the community it serves.
Project focus
Ground-up WordPress rebuild, accessible UX, security, content architecture, simplified editorial workflows and ongoing technical support.
