Steps at the door. Gaps at the platform. Bar stools and nothing else. Cars parked across the bus stop. Millions of people are turned away every day — not by their disabilities, but by decisions other people made.
We’re here to help you push back.
disabled people in the UK — about 1 in 4 of us
of Tube stations still have no step-free access — 153 of 270
mainline stations outside London aren’t step-free to every platform — from National Rail’s own data
the estimated annual spending power venues turn away
What makes Access Matters different
Opinion is easy to ignore. Evidence is not. Every tool on this site exists to turn "it was hard to get in" into something on the record.
Photo: Matt From London, CC BY 2.0Mapped
3,265 stations graded
Every UK rail, Tube, tram and metro station, graded for step-free access from official data. In London we go further: measured step and gap heights, so you know if you can roll straight on.
Check your station
Photo: UnsplashExplained
64 plain-English guides
What the law actually says, what to say on the day, and the exact letter to send when you are ignored. Grounded in the Equality Act, not wishful thinking.
Know your rights
Photo: Roger Blackwell, CC BY 2.0Chased
In public reports and replies
Pin a barrier to the map. It stays visible, turns black if nobody fixes it, and the business gets to answer publicly. No more problems quietly forgotten.
Pin a barrierOur access grades, used across the site
Most barriers aren’t dramatic. They’re ordinary things nobody thought about: the single step into a theatre, the “level access” train with a 20 cm gap, the bar with only high stools, the bus stop nobody can reach because a car is parked across it. Ordinary for some. Impossible for others.
Theatres, clubs, pubs and shops that a single step — or a "cosy" basement loo — puts out of reach. What venues must do, and how to ask.
Step-free that isn't, ramps that never arrive, assistance that doesn't show. Your rights on buses, trains and the Tube.
Bus stops used as parking, dropped kerbs blocked, councils that shrug. How to document it and force the issue.
Hundreds of London train and tube stations still have no wheelchair access at all — and it gets worse the further you go from the capital. We’re based in Yorkshire, where even catching a local bus can be a battle: our own village stop sits on a main road, and on bad days parked cars block it so completely that nobody can board.
We started Access Matters because we were tired of being told these are small problems. They aren’t small. They decide whether people can work, see friends, or leave the house.
Practical, plain-English help — what the law says, what to say on the day, and how to escalate when you’re ignored.
A thin layer of ice can turn a dropped kerb into a wall and a trip to the pharmacy into house arrest. Councils have a legal duty to keep highways safe from snow and ice. Here’s how to hold them to it, and claim the winter payments you’re owed.
Declare a medical condition and many travel insurers refuse you, exclude it or hike the price. The Equality Act says they need relevant, reliable evidence to do that, and FCA rules say they must point you to specialist cover. Here’s how to insure yourself, and your wheelchair, without being fleeced.
In June 2026, up to 959,662 referrals that may be for an ADHD assessment were open in England, and waits run to years. If you live in England, the law lets you choose who assesses you. Here’s how to ask your GP, and what to do when they say no.
The UK’s access record, pinned to a map. Gold for places that get it right, Silver for those that try, Red for those that need a push — and a live map of reported barriers, with companies answering in the open. On your phone, one tap pins a report exactly where you’re standing.
Every unreported barrier is recorded as a day when nothing went wrong. Tell us what happened — we’ll point you at the right next step.