# Accessibility Audit for NEPO’s Open Platform

> Source: https://layers.studio/work/open-by-nepo

Delivering Strategic Guidance to Ensure Compliance and Enhance User Experience Across Public Sector Procurement

**Year:** 2025

**Client:** Open by Nepo

**Industry:** Procurement

**What We Delivered:** UX, Web

## Introduction

Open is NEPO’s next-generation e-procurement platform, set to replace the existing NEPO Portal in 2024. Designed to handle around 6,000 public sector procurement opportunities annually, Open will serve a wide and diverse user base of buyers and suppliers. With such scale, ensuring that the platform is fully accessible and compliant from day one wasn’t just a requirement, it was a priority.

To meet the needs of all users, including those with disabilities, Open needed to align with the Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations 2018 and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2, Levels A and AA. That’s where we came in.

## Challenge

As Open approached launch and wider adoption across local authorities and suppliers, NEPO sought expert support to audit its accessibility and identify barriers affecting usability — particularly for people relying on assistive technologies like screen readers, keyboard navigation, and custom display settings.

The platform’s functionality, spanning project creation, contract management, user registration, and more, meant accessibility couldn’t be an afterthought. It had to be deeply integrated into both design and development decisions. Our objective was to evaluate real-world user journeys and uncover any friction points that could exclude users or limit interaction.

## Accessibility Audit

We carried out a comprehensive accessibility audit of the Open platform across key user flows, including:

- Registration

- Procurement Request

- Project Management

- Contract Creation

- Navigation and search

Using a combination of automated tools (e.g. Axe, WAVE, Lighthouse) and manual testing (keyboard navigation, screen readers, zoom, and text spacing adjustments), we assessed the platform against all 53 WCAG 2.2 Level A and AA success criteria.

## Report

We wrote a detailed Accessibility Audit Report outlining:

- Which WCAG guidelines were fully met, partially met, or not met

- Severity levels for each issue

- Concrete examples and annotated screenshots

- Recommended improvements and references to relevant W3C resources

- A prioritised action list, enabling NEPO’s development team to address the most critical usability and compliance issues

- A review of key user journeys to show where accessibility improvements will have the most real-world impact

## Result

Our audit provided clear, actionable recommendations to steer NEPO toward meeting all accessibility requirements. Beyond that, it also unlocked broader UX improvements for all users — making the platform more intuitive, consistent, and inclusive.

We provided:

- A detailed accessibility report aligned with WCAG 2.2

- Practical, developer-friendly solutions to address key issues.

- Strategic input on integrating accessibility into future design sprints

- Guidance for maintaining accessibility as the platform evolves

## Why It Matters

For a platform used across the public sector, it’s crucial to ensure no user is excluded from key services. By addressing accessibility early, NEPO is now better positioned to deliver an inclusive procurement experience — one that reflects public sector values, reduces friction for users, and sets a higher standard across the industry.

> “It’s been a pleasure working with Layers on this project. The audit was meticulous and clearly demonstrated their expertise in accessible web design. They highlighted themes and issues to ensure our service complies with WCAG AA standards, as well as helpful recommendations for enhancing usability. The Layers team are professional, responsive and generally a friendly bunch of people – I couldn’t recommend them enough!”

Alia Nabi, UX Designer, NEPO