Cultivating digital accessibility: lessons from Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

Accessibility isn’t just about meeting regulations - it’s about ensuring every person, regardless of ability, can use the services you provide. For public sector organisations, this is an essential part in delivering fair, inclusive access.

The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) has embraced this principle by extending accessibility from its world-renowned gardens into its digital spaces. RBGE’s journey offers valuable lessons that other organisations - from councils to cultural institutions to government agencies - can learn from.

1. Start with a clear picture of your digital estate

One of the first steps RBGE took was to audit their digital estate: websites, online shops, blogs and learning management systems. This provided a baseline view of accessibility strengths and gaps before moving forward with any new projects.

Getting started: map your organisation’s digital touchpoints, from main websites to apps and internal tools. Layer automated and manual accessibility checks and identify the critical user journeys that need the most attention first. This provides a strong baseline and highlights where interventions will have the biggest impact.

2. Bake accessibility into design from day one

When RBGE began work on redesigning their website, they brought in accessibility feedback at the design stage. By spotting potential problems early - such as colour contrast or form layout - they avoided costly rework later.

Design with inclusion in mind: integrate accessibility into your design workflow, rather than reviewing as an afterthought. Ask targeted questions about navigation, readability, and interaction. Use inclusive personas and test concepts with accessibility principles in mind before development begins to prevent costly fixes later.   

3. Test like your users – not just your developers

Once RBGE’s new site was built, it was tested against WCAG 2.2 AA guidelines through a comprehensive audit. This went beyond code checks: accessibility specialists manually tested key journeys, using screen readers and keyboard-only navigation. The process uncovered small but important improvements that made the site more usable for everyone.

Accessibility decisions made in design have a ripple effect - they influence how usable and inclusive the final product is.

Validate in the real world: move beyond automated tools by testing with assistive technologies and alternative navigation methods. Simulate real-life scenarios - completing forms, making purchases, or accessing resources - to uncover subtle barriers. Engage users with lived experience to ensure your solutions truly work in practice.

4. Treat accessibility as an ongoing journey

RBGE didn’t stop once their new site was compliant. They built accessibility into their ongoing processes: reviewing new features, training staff, and embedding accessibility into contracts with developers and suppliers. This will help ensure the site remains inclusive as it evolves.

Make accessibility part of your culture: embed regular checks, staff training, and supplier requirements into your processes. Treat each update, new feature, or piece of content as an opportunity to maintain or improve accessibility.

Accessibility isn’t a one-off project. It’s a long-term commitment that becomes easier - and more cost-effective - when woven into everyday processes.

A final thought

The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh’s experience shows that cultivating accessibility in digital spaces requires more than technical fixes. It’s about:

• Understanding your digital estate clearly
• Designing inclusively from the outset
• Testing in real-world conditions
• Committing to continuous improvement

For public sector organisations, these practices ensure that digital services are truly open to all citizens. Just as RBGE’s gardens welcome everyone, digital platforms should do the same.

To find out more about how to improve the accessibility of your digital services, speak to Zoonou at DigiGov Expo 25.