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0 comments on "Second AI and Accessibility Skills report published, June 2026"

Our new report examines critical perspectives on the impact of artificial intelligence on digital accessibility professional practice and skills development. Critical Approaches to AI and Accessibility Capacity Building was published on 1 June 2026.

The report documents insights from the second in a series of collaborative workshops on AI and Accessibility Skills, run in partnership with Jisc, and held online on 27 February 2026. It follows and builds on our first report which summarised the first workshop at Jisc London in June 2025.

The second workshop brought together 48 participants from higher education, industry, policy, governance and research organisations. The report explores insights and strategic priorities from discussions prompted by our expert speakers, who examined how AI and digital accessibility practices are shaping disability futures, fundamental shifts in accessibility skills, and the role of d/Deaf-led community engagement in development and governance. Preliminary policy/practice recommendations address human-centred AI, structural bias, and professional competencies, education and accountability.

The workshop series forms part of the UKRI-funded Teaching Accessibility in the Digital Skill Set project, with plans to run further workshops through to 2027.

Please cite the report as:
Lewthwaite, S. and Coverdale, A. (2026) Critical Approaches to AI and Accessibility Capacity Building: Insights from the Second AI and Accessibility Skills Workshop [white paper]. University of Southampton. UK. https://doi.org/10.5258/SOTON/PP0180

0 comments on "New AI and Accessibility Skills report launched, February 2026"

Our new report examines the impact of artificial intelligence on digital accessibility professional practice and skills development.

AI and Accessibility Skills: Building the Accessibility Professional of the Future was published on 5 February 2026, documenting insights from a collaborative workshop held in partnership with Jisc in 2025. The workshop brought together 40 accessibility leaders, educators, researchers and practitioners from higher education, industry, policy and governance organisations across the UK.

The report explores how AI-enabled tools are reshaping accessibility workflows in areas including design, coding, captioning and testing, whilst raising critical questions about reliability, potential deskilling, and the displacement of human engagement with disabled user communities. Expert speakers examined the distinctively human skills that AI cannot replicate, AI’s limitations in generating accessible code, and ethical concerns regarding BSL avatar technologies and community co-design.

The workshop forms part of the UKRI-funded Teaching Accessibility in the Digital Skill Set project, with subsequent workshops planned across 2025-2027 to sustain sector-wide dialogue as AI’s role in accessibility practice evolves.