Accessibility

Reinvention should be accessible to everyone. That is not a design principle, but a founding commitment.

1. Scope & Purpose

This Accessibility Policy ("Policy") sets out the commitment of WORK-SELF Ltd ("WORK-SELF", "we", "us", or "our") to making our Services accessible to the widest possible range of people, regardless of ability, disability, neurodivergence, sensory need, or circumstance.

This Policy applies to:

  • the WORK-SELF platform, SELFWARE products, and Maya AI Career Companion (digital consumer Services);

  • the WORK-SELF Enterprise Services, including the Workforce Reinvention Intelligence platform, CHRO dashboards, and API integrations;

  • the WORK-SELF website (www.work-self.com) and all associated subdomains;

  • physical products including the WORK-SELF Ritual Kit; and

  • customer support, coaching, and communications across all channels.

This Policy applies to both Consumer users and Enterprise Customers, including all Authorised Users accessing the Enterprise platform. Enterprise Customers are additionally subject to the enterprise-specific provisions in Section 9 of this Policy.

Legal Framework

This Policy is designed to be consistent with the Equality Act 2010 (which places a duty on service providers to make reasonable adjustments for disabled persons), the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations 2018 (where applicable), the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2, and applicable EU accessibility legislation where we serve EEA customers. Nothing in this Policy limits WORK-SELF's obligations under applicable equality and anti-discrimination law.

2. Our Commitment

WORK-SELF's mission is to help people realign their careers and reconnect with their sense of direction during periods of transition and uncertainty. We recognise that this work is most powerful when it is genuinely inclusive — which means ensuring that barriers of ability, neurodivergence, sensory experience, language, or circumstance do not prevent any person from accessing the support they need.

Our commitment to accessibility operates at three levels:

  • Digital accessibility: ensuring that the platform, tools, and content meet recognised technical standards and work for people using assistive technologies.

  • Physical accessibility: ensuring that physical products and materials are designed with sensory inclusivity and physical usability in mind.

  • Emotional and cognitive accessibility: ensuring that our AI interactions, coaching frameworks, and content are paced, structured, and communicated in ways that reduce cognitive load and accommodate a wide range of processing styles and mental health needs.

For Enterprise Customers, our commitment extends to ensuring that the tools deployed across their workforce are usable by all employees — including those with disabilities, neurodivergent conditions, or other access needs — and that enterprise deployments can be configured to meet the Customer's own equality and inclusion obligations.

3. Digital Accessibility

3.1 Technical Standards

The WORK-SELF platform and website are being developed to meet or exceed the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 Level AA. These guidelines cover four core principles:

  • Perceivable: information and interface components must be presentable in ways users can perceive.

  • Operable: interface components and navigation must be operable by all users.

  • Understandable: information and operation of the interface must be understandable.

  • Robust: content must be robust enough to be interpreted reliably by a wide range of assistive technologies.

We conduct accessibility audits of the platform on at least an annual basis, or following any significant product update that materially changes the user interface or interaction patterns. Audit findings are triaged and addressed according to severity, with critical barriers prioritised for immediate remediation.

3.2 Specific Digital Accessibility Features

We are committed to implementing and maintaining the following accessibility features across the platform:

  • Screen reader compatibility: the platform is designed to be compatible with leading screen reader technologies, including JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver (macOS and iOS), and TalkBack (Android).

  • Keyboard navigation: all core platform functions are accessible via keyboard, without requiring the use of a mouse or pointer device.

  • Colour contrast: text and interface elements maintain a minimum contrast ratio of 4.5:1 (WCAG AA) for normal text and 3:1 for large text and UI components, with enhanced contrast modes available.

  • Resizable text: text can be resized up to 200% without loss of content or functionality.

  • Alt text and image descriptions: all meaningful images, charts, and visual content include descriptive alt text.

  • Captions and transcripts: all video content includes accurate closed captions, and audio content includes transcripts.

  • Focus indicators: visible focus indicators are provided for all interactive elements.

  • Error identification and guidance: form errors are clearly identified in text and include descriptive guidance on how to resolve them.

  • Timeout warnings: where sessions time out, users are warned in advance and given the opportunity to extend their session.

  • Reduced motion: users who have enabled a preference for reduced motion in their operating system will experience a version of the platform with minimised animation.

3.3 AI Interaction Accessibility

The Maya AI Career Companion and other AI-powered features are designed with the following accessibility considerations:

  • Flexible pacing: AI interactions are not time-pressured. Users may take as long as needed to complete assessments, respond to prompts, or review recommendations.

  • Plain language: AI-generated content is calibrated to use clear, accessible language. Users may request simplified explanations at any time.

  • Reading level adaptability: content difficulty and vocabulary can be adjusted to suit different literacy levels and language preferences.

  • Multimodal access: where technically feasible, AI interactions are accessible via text, voice input, and alternative input methods.

  • Memory and context: Maya AI retains context across sessions, reducing the need for users to repeat information — a feature of particular benefit to users with cognitive or memory-related needs.

  • Crisis and emotional safety: AI interactions are designed to detect distress signals and respond with appropriate care, including signposting to professional support resources where relevant.

3.4 Mobile Accessibility

The WORK-SELF mobile application (iOS and Android) is designed to comply with the accessibility guidelines of each platform, including Apple's Human Interface Guidelines and Google's Material Design accessibility standards. Mobile-specific features include support for Dynamic Type (iOS) and font scaling (Android), VoiceOver and TalkBack compatibility, and touch target sizing compliant with WCAG 2.2 criteria.

3.5 Third-Party Tools

Where the platform incorporates third-party tools or integrations (including payment processors, analytics tools, and AI infrastructure providers), we select and configure them with accessibility in mind. However, we cannot guarantee the accessibility of third-party interfaces that are wholly outside our control, and we encourage users to report any third-party accessibility barriers encountered through the platform so that we may raise them with the relevant provider.

4. Physical Accessibility – Ritual Kit

4.1 Inclusive Product Design

The WORK-SELF Ritual Kit is designed to support calm, focus, and intentional growth. We are committed to ensuring that the physical product experience is inclusive and accessible to users with a range of physical, sensory, and cognitive needs:

  • Legibility: all printed materials, including the journal, clarity card deck, and 90-day roadmap poster, use clear typography, high-contrast ink, and sufficient font size to support readability for users with visual impairments.

  • Sensory inclusivity: we are actively exploring scent-free and low-fragrance formulations for scented components, and will clearly label all products with their sensory properties to allow users to make informed choices. Customers with specific sensory sensitivities are encouraged to contact us in advance to discuss customisation options.

  • Physical usability: product components are designed to be usable by people with a range of physical abilities, including limited dexterity or grip strength. Packaging is designed to be openable without tools or fine motor precision.

  • Digital equivalents: digital versions of all printed Ritual Kit materials (including the journal prompts, card deck content, and roadmap framework) are available for download at no additional charge, ensuring that the full ritual experience is accessible to users who cannot use physical materials.

  • Large print and alternative formats: large-print versions of key printed materials are available upon request at no additional cost. Contact accessibility@work-self.com to arrange.

4.2 Packaging

Ritual Kit packaging is designed to minimise excess materials and to be openable without specialist tools. All outer packaging carries clear product descriptions and sensory information in legible print. We are working towards including QR codes linking to accessible digital descriptions of all packaging contents.

4.3 Feedback on Physical Accessibility

We recognise that physical accessibility in ritual and wellness spaces is an emerging and evolving area of practice. We actively welcome feedback from users with lived experience of disability, sensory difference, or neurodivergence to help us improve and expand our approach. Please share your insights at accessibility@work-self.com.

5. Cognitive & Emotional Accessibility

Career transition and reinvention work engages people at moments of significant personal change. We are committed to designing experiences that are emotionally safe, cognitively manageable, and supportive of a wide range of mental health and neurodivergent needs.

5.1 Cognitive Load

  • Platform interfaces are designed with clean, spacious layouts that minimise unnecessary visual complexity.

  • Information is presented in digestible segments, with clear progress indicators and the ability to save and return to work in progress.

  • The Career Audit and other structured tools allow users to pause and resume at any point, without loss of data or progress.

  • Instructions and guidance copy are written in plain, direct English, with jargon avoided wherever possible.

5.2 Neurodivergence

We are actively working to ensure the platform is welcoming and effective for users who are neurodivergent, including those with ADHD, autism spectrum conditions, dyslexia, dyspraxia, and related conditions:

  • Text formatting options (including font size, line spacing, and contrast) can be adjusted through accessibility settings.

  • The platform avoids flashing or rapidly-changing visual elements that may trigger photosensitive responses.

  • Where possible, multiple modes of engagement (text, audio, visual) are offered for key content and tools.

  • We are consulting with neurodivergent users and specialists to incorporate their insights into product design on an ongoing basis.

5.3 Mental Health & Emotional Safety

WORK-SELF is not a mental health service and the Services do not constitute clinical care. However, we recognise that career reinvention work can surface difficult emotions and that our platform must be designed with appropriate emotional safeguards:

  • Maya AI is designed to respond with care when users disclose distress, and will signpost to professional support resources (including crisis lines) where appropriate.

  • Coaching partners engaged through the platform are required to maintain appropriate professional boundaries and to refer users to specialist support where mental health concerns arise.

  • Users may pause or exit any AI interaction or assessment at any time without consequence.

  • The platform does not use dark patterns, artificial urgency, or emotionally manipulative design techniques.

6. Accessible Communications & Support

6.1 Customer Support

WORK-SELF is committed to providing accessible customer support across all channels:

  • Email support is available at support@work-self.com. We aim to respond to all accessibility-related enquiries within 2 business days.

  • Where a user requires support in a format other than written email (for example, due to a visual impairment or dyslexia), we will make reasonable efforts to accommodate alternative communication formats.

  • Users who require additional time, patience, or alternative communication styles when engaging with our support team are encouraged to let us know, and we will adapt our approach accordingly.

6.2 Documentation & Help Content

Platform documentation, help articles, and onboarding content are written in plain English, structured with clear headings, and available in digital formats compatible with screen readers. We are working towards providing video tutorials with closed captions and audio descriptions for all key platform features.

6.3 Marketing & Communications

We are committed to making our marketing communications accessible:

  • Email communications use accessible HTML formatting with sufficient contrast, resizable text, and alt text on images.

  • Social media posts are published with image descriptions and captioned video where applicable.

  • We aim to make all downloadable marketing assets (PDFs, guides, reports) compliant with PDF accessibility standards (PDF/UA).

7. Organisational Commitment

7.1 Internal Accessibility Culture

We are committed to building accessibility considerations into every stage of product development, content creation, and business operations, rather than treating it as a retrospective compliance task. This includes:

  • incorporating accessibility requirements into our product roadmap and engineering sprint criteria;

  • including accessibility review as part of the quality assurance process for all new features and content;

  • providing accessibility awareness training to product, engineering, content, and customer success team members; and

  • setting measurable accessibility targets and reporting on progress at regular intervals.

7.2 External Expertise

WORK-SELF consults with accessibility specialists, inclusive design practitioners, and users with lived experience of disability and neurodivergence in the design and evaluation of our platform and products. We are committed to compensating accessibility consultants and community testers fairly for their time and expertise.

7.3 Continuous Improvement

We acknowledge that accessibility is a journey and that our current provision is not perfect. We commit to:

  • publishing an updated Accessibility Statement on our website at least annually, setting out our current compliance status, known limitations, and improvement roadmap;

  • responding to accessibility feedback within 2 business days and providing a substantive resolution or update within 28 days;

  • tracking and reporting on the number and nature of accessibility complaints and feedback received; and

  • progressively improving our WCAG compliance over time, with a target of achieving WCAG 2.2 Level AA across all core platform journeys by the end of 2025.

8. Known Limitations

We are transparent about the areas where our current accessibility provision falls short of our target standard. The following known limitations are being actively addressed:

  • Some legacy pages on the marketing website have not yet been fully audited for WCAG 2.2 compliance. A full audit is scheduled for Q3 2025.

  • Complex data visualisation components in the CHRO analytics dashboard (Enterprise) are not yet fully navigable by keyboard or screen reader. We are prioritising accessible alternatives (including data tables as fallbacks) in our Q3 2025 engineering sprint.

  • Some third-party embedded content (including video embeds and social proof widgets) may not meet our accessibility standards. We are auditing third-party dependencies and replacing or configuring them as feasible.

  • Large print versions of all Ritual Kit materials are available on request but are not yet included as standard in the product box. We are reviewing packaging options to include accessible format inserts by default.

We will update this section following each accessibility audit. If you encounter a barrier not listed here, please report it to accessibility@work-self.com.

9. Enterprise Accessibility Provisions

9.1 Enterprise Platform Standards

The WORK-SELF Enterprise platform (including the Workforce Reinvention Intelligence tools, CHRO dashboard, Maya AI Workforce Transition Agent, and associated APIs) is designed to the same WCAG 2.2 Level AA standard as the consumer platform. Enterprise Customers deploying the platform to their workforce are entitled to:

  • request an Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR) in VPAT (Voluntary Product Accessibility Template) format documenting our current WCAG compliance status, on written request to enterprise@work-self.com;

  • raise platform-specific accessibility requirements during implementation, which WORK-SELF will endeavour to accommodate within the scope of the applicable Order Form;

  • receive advance notice of any product update that materially affects the accessibility characteristics of the platform; and

  • access dedicated enterprise support for accessibility-related issues, with response times in accordance with the applicable Service Level Agreement.

9.2 Enterprise Customer Obligations

Enterprise Customers are responsible for ensuring that their deployment and use of WORK-SELF's Enterprise Services complies with their own obligations under the Equality Act 2010 and any applicable sector-specific accessibility regulations. This includes:

  • ensuring that Authorised Users who require workplace adjustments related to their disability or neurodivergent condition are supported in accessing the platform;

  • communicating to WORK-SELF any known accessibility requirements of their workforce that should be considered in platform configuration or support planning; and

  • not deploying the platform in ways that would disadvantage employees with disabilities relative to those without.

WORK-SELF is not responsible for accessibility barriers that arise from the Enterprise Customer's own IT environment, network configuration, or third-party systems outside of WORK-SELF's control.

9.3 Reasonable Adjustments for Enterprise Deployments

Where an Enterprise Customer identifies that a specific accessibility barrier is preventing one or more of its employees from accessing the Services, WORK-SELF will engage in good faith to identify and implement reasonable adjustments within a mutually agreed timescale. Requests for reasonable adjustments should be submitted to enterprise@work-self.com with a description of the barrier and the affected user group. WORK-SELF will respond within 5 business days with a proposed resolution or timeline.

9.4 Workforce Reinvention Assessments – Inclusive Design

The Workforce Reinvention Assessment tools used in Enterprise deployments are designed to be accessible to employees with a range of abilities and conditions. Specifically:

  • Assessments do not impose time limits that would disadvantage employees who require additional time due to disability or neurodivergent conditions.

  • Assessment questions and AI outputs use plain language and are available in text formats compatible with screen readers.

  • Enterprise Customers may request alternative assessment formats or accommodations for specific employee groups by contacting enterprise@work-self.com.

Important Note  WORK-SELF's AI-generated workforce assessments and analytics outputs are designed as tools to support human decision-making and should not be used as the sole basis for employment decisions about individuals. Enterprise Customers are responsible for ensuring that any use of assessment outputs in employment processes is consistent with the Equality Act 2010, including the duty to make reasonable adjustments and the prohibition on indirect discrimination.

9.5 Procurement & Due Diligence

We recognise that Enterprise Customers in regulated sectors (including public sector, financial services, healthcare, and education) may require formal accessibility documentation as part of their procurement or technology due diligence processes. WORK-SELF can provide the following upon written request:

  • Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR) / VPAT.

  • Summary of WCAG 2.2 Level AA compliance status.

  • Details of our accessibility testing methodology and audit schedule.

  • Information about our accessibility roadmap and planned improvements.

Please direct procurement-related accessibility enquiries to enterprise@work-self.com.

10. Feedback, Complaints & Enforcement

10.1 Reporting a Barrier

If you encounter an accessibility barrier on any part of the WORK-SELF Services — digital, physical, or in communications — we want to hear about it. Please contact us at:

  • Email: accessibility@work-self.com

  • Subject line: "Accessibility Feedback" or "Accessibility Barrier"

  • Please include: a description of the barrier, the page or feature affected, the assistive technology or device you are using (if applicable), and your contact details if you would like a response.

We will acknowledge all accessibility reports within 2 business days and aim to provide a substantive response or resolution update within 28 days.

10.2 Formal Complaints

If you are not satisfied with our response to an accessibility concern, you may escalate your complaint by writing to support@work-self.com, marked "Formal Accessibility Complaint". We will acknowledge formal complaints within 5 business days and aim to resolve them within 28 days.

10.3 Regulatory Escalation

If you are a UK consumer and remain dissatisfied following our formal complaints process, you may contact the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) or the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) as applicable. If you are a public sector body or are accessing the platform in a public sector context, you may also contact the Cabinet Office in relation to the Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations 2018.

11. Updates to This Policy

We review and update this Policy at least annually, or following any material change to our Services, product architecture, or applicable legal requirements. The updated Policy will be posted on our website with a revised effective date. For Enterprise Customers, material changes to this Policy will be communicated in writing in advance.

Our live Accessibility Statement (reflecting current WCAG compliance status and known issues) is published separately at www.work-self.com/accessibility and is updated more frequently to reflect ongoing remediation work.

12. Contact

For all accessibility enquiries, feedback, and requests:

WORK-SELF is built for transition. That means honouring where each person is and ensuring the path forward is open, welcoming, and navigable for everyone.