Disability Equality Scotland

19/09/2025

Have your say on Accessible Travel in Scotland!

We’re setting up a national pan-disability consultation group to review the Accessible Travel Framework and help shape its successor. This work will be undertaken jointly with Transport Scotland.

Four sessions will be held between Late Oct 2025 – Feb 2026 (4 sessions).

You will receive a thank you payment of £25 each time you attend a session.

We want disabled people from across all of Scotland.

Apply now to take part! 👉 https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/TS-ATFConsultationApply/

Or get in touch with us at admin@disabilityequality.scot or call us on 0141 370 0396 for more information.



Image description: A loudspeaker, and the words Have your say on Accessible Travel in Scotland! The logo of Transport Scotland. The logo of Disability Equality Scotland.

18/09/2025

Thank you BBC Radio Scotland for inviting Disability Equality Scotland to discuss the Audit Scotland's report on Adult Disability Payment (ADP) published today: https://bit.ly/ADP_2025

This continues our work on the 'Cost-of-Living' crisis for disabled people. How will The Scottish Government manage the identified funding gap moving forwards? Importantly how will they ensure that the lives improved and changed by this payment allows disabled people more independence?

12/09/2025

During Scottish Learning Disability week, we are supporting the Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland campaign calling for a right to communication for all.

Communication is at the heart of being included.

Most of us will need communication support at some point in our lifetimes. However, because there is a lack of good support, people frequently encounter problems.

Our team has created Easy Read materials to help more people take part in the campaign. We are proud to partner with the Alliance to make sure as many people as possible can join in.

Sign up to ensure equal rights for everyone - because communication is about more than just words: https://www.alliance-scotland.org.uk/more-than-words-communication-for-all

11/09/2025

Scottish Learning Disability Week is celebrating the message “I Am Here”.

That message is important in everyday life, including in places like galleries, museums, and exhibitions. Everyone should feel welcomed, represented, and included.

We have worked with many organisations through Easy Read and Inclusive Communication training, supporting them to create accessible resources.

It is exciting to see these organisations produce inclusive and accessible communications.

Here is an example of accessible and clear communication from an organisation we worked closely with last year.

Wellcome Collection visual story for an exhibition called 1880 THAT. This is about sign language and the right to communicate.

Lots of galleries and museums use visual stories so that people can see what is in an exhibition before they visit, and understand what the exhibition is about.

If you scroll up from the written document in this link, you can also see a video visual story of the same information.

Visual stories and other accessible formats are useful for lots of different people, for many different reasons.

https://wellcomecollection.org/exhibitions/1880-that/visual-stories

10/09/2025

The theme of Scottish Learning Disability Week is “I Am Here”. Being safe in your community is a vital part of being included and respected.

Everyone has the right to feel safe. We host a website that uses Easy Read images and text to help people understand hate crime and how to report it.

On the website you can:
• Learn what hate crime is and how it can affect disabled people
• Find out how to report hate crime safely
• Access advice and support for staying safe in your community
• Understand your rights and where to get help

Easy Read resources make this important information clear and accessible for everyone.

Learn more and explore the website: https://disabilitysafety.scot/ 💜



Scottish Commission for People with Learning Disabilities

09/09/2025

During Scottish Learning Disability Week, we are celebrating our Easy Read User Feedback group!

Their feedback has helped us make important changes to our Easy Read materials, making them clearer and more accessible.

We are delighted to welcome the group to our Edinburgh office today!

Read our Easy Read blog to see the changes the group recently helped to make:https://inclusivecommunication.scot/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Easy-Read-Changes.pdf

08/09/2025

It is Scottish Learning Disability Week!

This year the theme is “I Am Here” – a powerful reminder that people with learning disabilities deserve to be seen, heard and included in every part of life.

Easy Read was originally developed so that people with learning disabilities could access information in a clear and meaningful way. Today, it benefits many different people, making services, resources and communities more inclusive.

At Disability Equality Scotland, we are proud to create Easy Read documents and deliver Easy Read training. Throughout the week, we will be sharing examples of our work to show how inclusive communication makes a real difference.

Today we are sharing an Easy Read fact sheet we produced for Lead Scotland about Transport and Education.

It explains the funds and support available to help disabled students travel to college or university in Scotland.

The fact sheet also covers:
• Travel training and how to access it
• Help with travel costs at college or university
• Support from social services
• Shared transport options

Read the Easy Read fact sheet here: https://www.lead.org.uk/travel-funding-factsheet/

Scottish Commission for People with Learning Disabilities

06/09/2025

Great news from Tweeddale Access Panel. Can't wait to go exploring to see them in action!

A successful outcome for the Access Panel—"assistance bells" now in place on some shops in the High Street

03/09/2025

Applications close this Friday!

We are recruiting a new Engagement Team Lead to support Scotland’s Access Panel Network.

Access Panels are groups of volunteers who work to improve access and inclusion in their local communities. They influence planning, transport, services and more.

As Engagement Team Lead, you will:
✨ Lead and co-ordinate our Engagement Officers
✨ Support Panels across Scotland
✨ Ensure high quality engagement and support is delivered

📅 The closing date is Friday 5 September 2025.

Apply now: https://goodmoves.org/vacancy/a4sP10000015zIPIAY/access-panel-network-engagement-team-lead

29/08/2025

One week to go! 🚨

We are recruiting a new Engagement Team Lead to support the Access Panel Network.

Access Panels are groups of volunteers working to improve access and inclusion in local communities — influencing planning, transport, services, and more.

In this role, you will:
✨ Lead and co-ordinate our Engagement Officers
✨ Support Panels across Scotland
✨ Make sure high-quality engagement and support is delivered

The closing date is 5 September 2025.

Apply here: https://goodmoves.org/vacancy/a4sP10000015zIPIAY/access-panel-network-engagement-team-lead

28/08/2025

Rail travel should be accessible to everyone, every time.

Do you know how to book assistance? Or how to apply to a Disabled Persons Railcard?

Our Accessible Travel Hub has all the resources to help you travel by train with confidence.

👉 Visit: http://accessibletravel.scot

26/08/2025

What makes a font accessible? At Disability Equality Scotland, we train people in:

• Inclusive communication awareness workshop

• Easy Read training

On those courses, we say that generally speaking a good accessible font has

• clear letter forms, e.g. capital is different from lower-case , and is different from the digit and from the vertical bar

• good spacing, e.g. does not look like

• a good contrast between the text and the background colour

We tell our participants to choose non-serif fonts, like:

• Arial

• Calibri

• Helvetica

• FS Me

• Open Sans

• Verdana

And avoid serif fonts, like:

• Baskerville

• Garamond

• Times New Roman

• Sabon

For more in-depth information, find specialist advice from organisations that support people with

• dyslexia, e.g. Dyslexia Scotland

• low vision, e.g. Sight Scotland

• learning difficulties, e.g. Mencap

🟰 Want to know more about inclusive communication, accessibility, or Easy Read? Visit our website’s training page: https://disabilityequality.scot/easy-read-training