Business Disability Forum has unveiled the finalists for its Disability Smart Impact Awards 2026, marking the twelfth year of the programme and placing a fresh spotlight on disability inclusion across workplaces, products, services, and customer environments. The membership organisation said this year’s shortlist recognises organisations and practitioners that are removing barriers and delivering measurable improvements for disabled employees, consumers, and service users.
The annual awards are designed to highlight projects that make a practical difference, while encouraging more organisations to strengthen their own approach to disability inclusion. According to Business Disability Forum, this year’s finalists range from a global network created for people who stammer to a small, family-owned shop that has made neurodivergent and disabled people feel safe and welcome in a retail setting. Other shortlisted work includes product and service design developed with disabled people, rather than for them, alongside campaigns using storytelling across five continents to challenge harmful and stereotypical assumptions around disability.
Diane Lightfoot, CEO of Business Disability Forum, said: “This year’s finalists are raising the bar on what genuine disability inclusion looks like. The 2026 shortlist showcases a diverse range of organisations and individuals working to overcome barriers and improve outcomes for disabled employees, consumers, and service users.” She added: “They all reflect an extraordinary standard of innovation, ambition and action. Their work proves that when organisations prioritise disability inclusion, everyone benefits. We are delighted to amplify their leadership and hope it inspires more businesses to accelerate their own inclusion journeys.”
The shortlist spans 14 categories, alongside an additional Lifetime Achievement Award, and covers areas including leadership, recruitment, workplace experience, technology, inclusive communication, customer experience, product design, procurement, and the built environment. Finalists named this year include Unilever, BBC, Barclays, Bupa, Tesco, ServiceNow, KPMG LLP, Lloyds Banking Group, Durham University, Amazon Italy, and a wide mix of smaller organisations and specialist initiatives. The spread reflects how disability inclusion is increasingly being addressed through employment, service design, physical access, and communications, rather than being treated as a narrow compliance issue.
Several categories separate smaller organisations from larger ones, allowing the awards to recognise both scale and ingenuity. That structure matters because some of the strongest examples of inclusion work on this year’s list come from small teams and highly focused projects, while others come from multinational organisations reshaping systems at much broader scale. The balance gives the awards a practical edge: they are not only celebrating formal policy commitments, but showing how changes in design, adjustments, culture, and leadership can produce tangible results in everyday settings.
Winners will be announced at the Disability Smart Impact Awards Ceremony 2026, which will be hosted by HSBC on 29 April 2026. Business Disability Forum is also directing readers to its awards page for further information and to register for the ceremony livestream. For employers and service providers watching the shortlist, the finalists offer a snapshot of where disability inclusion work is moving — towards more measurable outcomes, more co-designed solutions, and a broader understanding of what accessible, inclusive practice looks like in action.
