From the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Working Party
Late last year, the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Working Party (DEIWP) surveyed members about their experiences of accessibility at IPEd.
We received around 100 responses and we’ve since spent some time collating and analysing the data to share with IPEd’s staff and volunteer teams. Our goal is to improve the way we operate so everyone can access our services, events, resources and opportunities.
The good news is that 57% of the survey respondents reported high or very high accessibility across IPEd’s services overall, based on their personal experience. Several acknowledged IPEd’s efforts over recent years to become more accessible and inclusive.
Nobody reported very low accessibility. However, this might mean that they have already been locked out. Indeed, this is one limitation of the survey: it will not capture the perspectives of members who have already cancelled their membership due to a lack of access, or any editors who were not able to access membership in the first place.
In between the 2 ends of this spectrum, 34% of respondents rated IPEd’s accessibility as “medium (partly accessible)”, which shows us that we have significant room to improve. IPEd’s services certainly present access barriers to large portions of some demographics.
Common concerns related to:
- in-person events, particularly conferences, due to distance, timing, cost, physical barriers and the lack of livestreams or recordings
- the website, member portal (MemNet) and other online content, due to usability issues.
From respondents’ feedback, we’ve identified a series of recommendations that IPEd can adopt over the short and longer term, including some everyday essentials that need to be embedded in our processes.
We invite you to read all our findings and recommendations in the attached report (available in Word and PDF).
- IPEd accessibility survey report, September 2026 (Word)
- IPEd accessibility survey report, September 2026 (PDF)
Our thanks go to everyone who completed the accessibility survey.
A fresh look for IPEd
The accessibility survey told us that colour contrast, font size and alt text for images can affect how people interact with our online content. To help address this, we are planning a refresh of IPEd’s visual identity, including colours, fonts and templates. We aim to begin introducing the new look in January 2027. We will share more as plans are confirmed.