CollectivAlly Wins the 2nd Accessibility Innovation Prize by the Contentsquare Foundation

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CollectivAlly is the AI platform democratizing inclusive user testing based on the lived experience of disabled and neurodivergent people.

Paris, December 4, 2025 – The Contentsquare Foundation unveils the 2025 winner of its Accessibility Innovation Prize: CollectivAlly. A UK-based initiative, this solution uses AI personas trained on data derived from the lived experience of people with disabilities and neurodivergence to democratize inclusive user testing at scale. Concretely, CollectivAlly allows teams to verify their sites and apps as if they were used by people with disabilities and immediately spot what blocks them.

The Accessibility Innovation Prize comes with a grant of €10,000 and personalized mentoring provided by several partners, including Skyscanner, eBay, and Snowflake. The winner also benefits from reinforced support to accelerate their R&D, as well as privileged access to the network of allies of the Contentsquare Foundation and Prize partners.

For Marion Ranvier, Executive Director of the Contentsquare Foundation: “With this Prize, we want to reward innovations that go beyond simple compliance and put the lived experience of people with disabilities back at the center. CollectivAlly checks all these boxes: by transforming years of research and testimonials into AI personas accessible to all product teams, the solution concretely brings the voice of the concerned individuals into every digital decision.”

AI personas bridging the empathy gap in accessibility testing

CollectivAlly bridges the critical gap between basic automated checklists and expensive live user testing. Powered by over 20 years of qualitative research, the platform uses AI personas—like “Ashleigh” (who uses a screen reader) or “Christopher” (who navigates via keyboard)—to simulate real-world barriers. Crucially, these personas are trained on ethically sourced data from disabled contributors who are remunerated for their expertise, ensuring the “human” is put back into the digital loop.

Concretely, CollectivAlly makes it possible to:

• Simulate user journeys with different profiles (visual impairment, DYS conditions, motor difficulties, etc.) thanks to an AI engine trained on this field data;
• Dialog with these personas via a chat interface to understand, in natural language, their needs, frustrations, and recommendations;
• Complement automated audit tools by bringing an experience-centered vision and helping to prioritize tests with real users with disabilities.

For example, instead of just flagging an “unlabeled form field,” the persona Ashleigh explains the real-world impact: “I couldn’t buy my sister the present she really wanted… because none of the fields were labeled for screen readers… I had to navigate blindly.”

The solution is currently in the prototyping phase, with a first functional demonstrator showing the reporting dashboard, the 7 personas with their specific needs, as well as a testing module on real websites.

For Lucy Collins, Co-Founder of CollectivAlly: “CollectivAlly was created from real frustration. Too often, tests with users with disabilities are the first sacrificed due to lack of time or budget. Winning this award confirms our belief that lived experience belongs at the heart of digital design. Our goal is not to replace real users, but to amplify their voices, give concrete insights, and embed empathy into every digital decision–making inclusive thinking possible for every organization.”

Support for scaling impact

As the winner, CollectivAlly receives a €10,000 grant to accelerate their development from the prototyping phase to a full market launch. Additionally, the team will receive tailored expert mentoring from the Foundation’s 2025 partners: eBay, Skyscanner, and Snowflake.

The winner was selected by a panel of industry leaders dedicated to digital inclusion. The 2025 jury included:

• Heather Hepburn, Head of Accessibility at Skyscanner
• Mark Lapole, Director of Accessibility at eBay
• Karen Beaune, VP EMEA Marketing and Data for Good at Snowflake
• Marie-Valentine Gallon, Design Operations Manager at Accor
• Mike Hazlewood, CEO & Co-Founder of SensePilot (2024 Winner)
• Marion Ranvier, Executive Director of the Contentsquare Foundation

The announcement was made during the Contentsquare Foundation’s annual event in Paris on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. CollectivAlly joins last year’s winner, SensePilot, in a growing ecosystem of European innovators supported by the Foundation to foster a more inclusive digital world.

For more information, please visit https://contentsquare-foundation.org/