Little Journey®, the platform changing the future of paediatric care with personalised preparation and psychological support for families, is proud to announce the launch of its Accessibility Centre of Excellence. This new initiative prioritises inclusivity across the product offering, with a focus on improving accessibility for neurodivergent children and users with disabilities. To coincide, Little Journey has released an enhanced version of their family psychological preparation app, with new features designed to ensure broader accessibility for all users.
1 in 5 people in the UK have a disability1, they are twice as likely to face barriers to accessing digital services than people without disabilities2. Within paediatric medicine, this creates a divide in quality of care, where many families miss out on important health information and support because they are delivered through inaccessible digital services. Neurodivergent children are also impacted by healthcare systems and services that haven't been designed to meet their needs. Little Journey's research finds that neurodivergent children are twice as likely to experience situational anxiety in healthcare settings. To address these inequalities, Little Journey has established its Accessibility Centre of Excellence (ACE) to ensure that neurodivergent children and users with disabilities are included in product development.
ACE brings together passionate accessibility champions across Little Journey’s key functions. These individuals work to ensure that accessibility and inclusion become a natural part of the company's processes and product development. There are representatives across the design, commercial, engineering, product, operations, and science departments.
"The vision is that these champions will work together, share knowledge and solidify accessibility and inclusion as our way of working,”
said Joshua Elliff, Design Lead and ACE Chair at Little Journey,
"The Accessibility Centre of Excellence allows us to focus not only on meeting established standards but also on creating meaningful features that support neurodivergent children."
In the short term, Little Journey aims to achieve AA compliance under the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) to align with the incoming European Accessibility Act (EAA, 2025). However, the company’s long-term focus is on building beyond basic compliance, creating tailored features for users’ unique needs, all while maintaining their commitment to family-centred care.
Alongside the ACE launch, Little Journey has rolled out several new accessibility features in its app, designed to support a broader range of users:
- Compatibility with assistive technology like screen readers and keyboards.
- Support for dynamic text size to improve readability.
- Improved navigation and home screen making it easier for families to find what they need while using the app.
- Scan bars and transcript for tours and videos for better understanding of content.
These features will enable more families to access tailored psychological and emotional support during clinical trials and hospital procedures.
The recent developments have been supported by partnerships with leading organizations such as SBRI Healthcare, The LEGO Foundation, Autistica, and Hassell Inclusion, which have provided both funding and expert guidance to make this progress possible.
“Accessibility is essential to our mission. These product improvements allow us to provide more meaningful support, tailored to the unique needs of each user. I’m proud of the ACE team and the incredible partnerships we’ve built. Together, we’re working hard to create a better paediatric care experiences for all children and families"
said Sophie Copley, Co-founder and Chief Product Officer at Little Journey.
With the launch of the Accessibility Centre of Excellence and the rollout of these new features, Little Journey is reaffirming its commitment to supporting all children to better health. Usability testing of the updated app is now underway with children aged 3-12 with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis, and feedback from this study will shape future accessibility enhancements.
To explore the new accessibility features, download the Little Journey app for free from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store.
To learn more about accessibility at Little Journey visit our accessibility hub.
References: 1 Disability, England and Wales - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk). 2 https://business.scope.org.uk/accessibility-and-disability-facts-and-figures/.