About
CollectivAlly was born from a simple frustration: too many digital services are built without ever involving disabled and neurodivergent people. We use AI personas grounded in real research to bridge that gap, one digital decision at a time.
How CollectivAlly came to be
CollectivAlly is built by Lucy, James and Dave. It all started with a conversation in a corridor.
As MD of Web Usability, an inclusive user research agency, Lucy has heard time and again the same thing from clients on the topic of inclusive research: we don't have the time, and we don't have the budget. The barriers were persistent. And the gap between what organisations wanted to do and what they could realistically achieve wasn't closing.
Then came the AI wave. And with it, a question: what if we could use this technology not to replace human insight, but to scale it? To bring lived experience into the rooms and processes where decisions get made, for teams who couldn't otherwise access it?
Lucy mentioned the idea to James, a friend and founder of Bodkin Studio who works just down the corridor at their shared co-working space. James thought they could build it. They went upstairs and, working together with Bodkin's Lead Developer, Dave, they started sketching out the first iteration of CollectivAlly.
Award winner · 2025
Judged by panels including eBay, Skyscanner, and the Accor Hotel Group.
"By transforming years of research and testimonials into AI personas accessible to all product teams, CollectivAlly brings the voice of disabled people into every digital decision."Read the press release
Taking away the fear around accessibility
For many, accessibility is driven by legislation and regulation and so organisations often approach it defensively. The goal becomes avoiding a penalty rather than building something genuinely useful. Tick the boxes. Pass the audit. Move on.
The problem with that approach is that it forgets there are real human beings at the other end of digital services who are just trying to live their lives and get things done online.
CollectivAlly exists to shift that. To help teams move from fear to curiosity. From compliance to genuine inclusion. Not by ignoring standards, but by remembering why those standards exist in the first place.
With, not for
Within the disability and accessibility world, there is a phrase that matters: with, not for.
It means that the best way to build something that serves disabled and neurodivergent people is to build it alongside them, not on their behalf. This is a core value of CollectivAlly.
The data that powers the AI personas comes from research with real people who have lived experience of a diverse range of disabilities and neurodivergence. Those contributors are paid for their expertise. The research is ongoing, not a one-time exercise.
We want to go further. We want a panel of lived experience experts involved in the ongoing development of the platform, and paid opportunities for disabled and neurodivergent people to contribute to and shape the AI model over time. So that it remains robust, current, and as representative as possible.
Three founders. One shared belief.
Co-founder · Web Usability
Lucy's background is in user research and accessibility. She leads Web Usability, an inclusive research agency with 25 years of experience, and has spent her career helping organisations understand what their digital services are really like for the people who use them. She came to CollectivAlly because she kept hearing the same thing from clients: we want to do inclusive research, but we can't find the time or the budget. She built CollectivAlly to close that gap.
Co-founder · Bodkin
James runs Bodkin, a design and development studio. He is the person who heard Lucy's idea in a corridor and said: I think we can build that. He brings deep experience creating accessible, scalable digital products for public and private sector organisations, and a genuine commitment to design that works for everyone, not just most people.
Lead Developer · Bodkin
Dave is Lead Developer at Bodkin and the technical heart of CollectivAlly. A full-stack software engineer with a specialism in AI and digital product development. Working closely with James, Dave is the person who turned the idea into something real, including together building the first working prototype at a conference in San Francisco in a single day.
Where CollectivAlly hands off
CollectivAlly is a bridge. When you're ready for the next step, these are the people we'd send you to.
Inclusive research
When you're ready to talk to real people, Web Usability runs inclusive research sessions with disabled and neurodivergent contributors. 25 years of experience, paid participants, and the research that grounds our personas.
Visit webusability.co.ukDesign and development
Need a digital service that puts inclusion first? Bodkin is the studio that built CollectivAlly. They design and build accessible, scalable products for public and private sector teams.
Visit bodkin.studioWhat we stand for
The platform is designed to encourage exploration rather than box-ticking.
Technology should serve people, not the other way around.
We're transparent about being a bridge, not a destination.
Moving forward matters more than waiting until everything is perfect.
Genuine co-creation with the disabled community at every step.
We build with accessibility in mind in everything we do, not just the product.
Whether you're a potential customer, a researcher, or someone with lived experience of disability or neurodivergence who wants to get involved, we'd love to hear from you.