Introduction
This proposal outlines Squee’s approach to designing and developing the Access to Nature website, a project that blends storytelling, practical learning and a nature-led illustrated journey. Its purpose is to communicate why nature matters to disabled people and people with mental health conditions, highlight the barriers people often face, share tools and guidance to support better access, and showcase the brilliant work organisations are already doing to make nature more inclusive.
Squee shares a clear alignment with the vision and values behind this programme. Inclusion sits at the centre of our work, and collaboration is central to how we deliver projects. We don’t believe in one-size-fits-all solutions; instead, we focus on highly custom, accessible web design shaped through inclusive design principles.
The aims of the Access to Nature website build naturally on this alignment. The project calls for a bespoke illustrated homepage experience, a flexible learning hub and a content structure that Barnwood’s team can develop confidently over time.
The following sections set out the recommended approach, project structure, timeline, budget and how Squee will work alongside the Barnwood team to deliver the website.
Aims & Project Focus
The Access to Nature website will be designed with its own illustrated visual identity, shaped by a hand-drawn, nature-led style that complements the Barnwood brand. At its heart, the site aims to show why nature matters to disabled people and people with mental health conditions, highlight the barriers people often face, and celebrate the positive work already taking place across Gloucestershire. This will sit alongside practical tools, lived experience stories and a clear six-stop learning journey that helps organisations understand what they can do to make access to nature more inclusive.
Highlight the importance of nature for disabled people
Showcase lived experience stories, insights and examples that communicate both the value of nature and the barriers faced by disabled people and people with mental health conditions. This content forms the emotional and social foundation of the site. The website will also act as a practical hub, highlighting the great work already happening across Gloucestershire and sharing information that helps people learn about accessible outdoor spaces, projects and organisations. Being in nature can play a meaningful role in people’s wellbeing, and the site’s content and visuals will help shift the narrative by showing what inclusive access can look like in practice.
An illustrated and animated homepage journey
Develop an engaging, nature-led illustrated journey that introduces the six key areas of learning, from why access to nature matters, through to getting started, working with others, making practical changes, understanding impact and continuing the journey. Getting animation right here is pivotal to the accessibility of the project. We’ll ensure full keyboard support, provide clear options to pause, hide or mute animated elements, and respect settings such as “prefers reduced motion” so people with different access needs can move through the journey comfortably and with confidence.
A fully accessible experience
Ensure the site meets WCAG 2.2 AA standards, balancing illustration and animation with a comfortable, highly usable interface for all visitors, including those using assistive technology. This will be supported by a combination of automated checks using tools such as WAVE and Axe, along with thorough manual testing to review structure, navigation, interactive elements and real-world use across devices.
A clear and practical learning hub
Create a well-structured space for learning that supports both exploration and practical action. This includes case studies, guidance, videos and downloadable resources that help organisations take meaningful steps to improve access to nature, while supporting a range of content types in a way that remains clear, easy to navigate and accessible for different users.
Flexible content management
Give the Barnwood team complete control over the website content through a straightforward, flexible content structure. All stories, resources, media, case studies and downloads can be created, updated and expanded without technical support. We’ll code the site in a way that allows everything to be updated through simple, structured forms at either a page level or a global level, so the Barnwood team can manage content easily without worrying about layouts or design settings.
A collaborative working process
Shape the visual direction, structure and user journey collaboratively with the Barnwood team. The project will follow an agile and flexible process, with regular opportunities for feedback and co-development throughout. We will work in whatever way is easiest for the team, whether that is meeting in person, joining video calls or staying in touch through emailed updates, ensuring a close working relationship so the website develops exactly as planned.
Our Approach
Squee will approach the Access to Nature project with accessibility best practices and inclusive design principles factored in from discovery through to development. This has always been our way of working and shapes every decision we make.
The early stages are pivotal to the success of the project. Before any design takes place, we spend time building a shared understanding of what the site needs to achieve, who it is for and how the content should support them. This includes discussing accessibility considerations, reviewing illustrated and animated sequences for inspiration and exploring ideas together for how the river journey could work across devices. Moodboards, reference imagery and shared visual examples will help shape the style, interaction patterns and animation approach. Continued feedback and iterative loops are central to this stage.
Once the foundations are in place, we will plan the structure of the site in low-fidelity form. This will map out the six learning areas, the learning hub, key page types and the interactive elements that sit within them. These layouts allow us to refine the overall flow quickly before moving into high-fidelity design, where the visual direction, animation cues and content presentation are shaped in more detail.
The illustrated and animated homepage journey is a central part of the experience. To achieve the hand-drawn, nature-inspired aesthetic described in the brief, Squee would look to collaborate with Cheltenham-based illustrator Rosie Phillpot, whose work includes projects for organisations such as The Nature Conservancy, the Premier League and Apple. We will lead this collaboration to ensure the artwork is consistent, technically lightweight and balanced with accessibility requirements, creating a distinctive look that still feels connected to the Barnwood brand.
Squee’s specialist approach continues into development. The website will be built as a fully custom WordPress theme, using Advanced Custom Fields to create a clear and reliable content structure. Instead of relying on complex page builders, everything will be managed through simple, structured forms that mirror the design and layout of the site. This gives the Barnwood team full control over the content that matters most, including stories, case studies, downloads and learning materials, without needing to adjust layouts or design settings. The setup will be shaped around the six learning areas and the wider resource hub so the website can grow in a controlled and sustainable way over time.
Lived experience also informs our approach. As a parent to a daughter with Down syndrome, the realities of inclusion and barriers are part of everyday life, not just theory. This perspective helps shape decisions about language, structure and interaction so the site ensures it properly reflects the views of its audience.
Overall, the approach brings together accessibility, inclusive design, careful planning, collaborative working and a build process designed for long-term ease of use. Every step supports the aims of the Access to Nature programme and the people it is intended to serve.
Project delivery process and timescale
A structured, collaborative process that takes the Access to Nature website from early planning through to launch. Each step is designed to keep accessibility, illustration and content management front and centre while giving the Barnwood team plenty of space for feedback.
How we’ll work with you
We will work as a small, agile team made up of Squee, illustrator Rosie Phillpot and the Barnwood stakeholders, primarily Becky Fieldhouse and Holly Lovelock. This setup allows for quick iterative feedback loops so decisions can be made early and with confidence. Being based in Cheltenham and very close to the Barnwood office makes in-person collaboration straightforward whenever it is useful. We are also happy to work in whatever way suits your team, whether that is in person, online meetings or staying in touch through tools like Teams, Slack or email, or a combination of the above. We will work around your preferred communication style and availability.
The working relationship will be structured but flexible. Clear milestones will be agreed at the outset, along with who needs to be involved at each stage, while still leaving room for ideas to develop as the designs and illustrations evolve. This helps keep the project moving smoothly while respecting the time and capacity of the Barnwood team.
There is a strong alignment in values between Squee and Barnwood. Squee’s work is rooted in inclusive, accessible web design that removes barriers for disabled people and people with different access needs, including neurodivergent people and others who experience the web in different ways. Barnwood’s purpose is to act as an agent of social change so that people in Gloucestershire have opportunity, inclusion and their rights upheld. That shared focus on equity, lived experience and practical change will sit at the heart of how we work together on Access to Nature.
Relevant experience and example work
Squee has worked with a range of organisations where accessibility, inclusion and lived experience sit at the centre of the brief. Below are two examples that are particularly relevant to the Access to Nature project.
Celebrating Disability
Celebrating Disability is a disability inclusion consultancy led by Esi Hardy. The previous website was not compliant with WCAG guidelines and clients had begun raising accessibility concerns. Squee planned and developed a new site with accessibility and inclusive design principles applied from the start. This included a clearer structure, a dedicated Learn centre and templates that support downloads in different formats.
We also worked closely with Celebrating Disability to ensure that content added to the site could be shared in ways that support individuals with different access needs. This included captions for video, transcripts for audio, clear tabbed navigation, strong screen reader support and other adjustments. These best practices have contributed to a 262 percent increase in organic traffic and WCAG 2.2 AA compliance.
“I run Celebrating Disability, a disability inclusion business. When advising businesses on how to be inclusive of disabled people, it's very important that our own material represents accessibility and inclusion. Joe Collett worked alongside me to develop our pre-existing website to become something that truly reflected our values towards disabled people. Joe is a delight to work with. He is fun, passionate, considerate and talks in a way that makes complicated development subjects easy to understand.”
Esi Hardy , Managing Director
Down Syndrome UK (Positive About Down Syndrome)
Squee has also worked with Down Syndrome UK, a major UK charity supporting families and raising awareness around Down syndrome. Working collaboratively with the charity, we identified a series of accessibility issues on their existing site, including reliance on an accessibility overlay and a main navigation that could not be used reliably with a keyboard. Together we agreed a practical improvement plan and delivered targeted changes, including a now fully keyboard-accessible menu and clearer patterns that better support screen readers and other assistive technologies, giving the charity a more inclusive starting point and a clearer path towards ongoing improvements in line with WCAG 2.2 AA.
“After talking with Joe Collett and realising how useless accessibility plugins can be, it was clear our website was not inclusive at all. Thanks to Joe, we've now taken our first step by offering the ability to browse our menu with your keyboard. It seems like a small addition to the user experience but it's a big step for me that I am proud we are taking as we aim to make our website more accessible and inclusive following the WCAG guidelines.”
Natasha Aidinyantz , Marketing Director
Challenges and how we’ll manage them
There are a few areas that will need particular care. The main ones, and how they will be managed, are set out below.
Making interactive elements accessible
Interactive elements, particularly those involving movement, are prone to multiple accessibility issues if they are not planned carefully. For this project we will identify all interactive components early, decide where movement genuinely adds value and design them with accessibility requirements built in from the start. This includes ensuring keyboard access, clear focus states and providing controls to pause or stop any moving content, in line with relevant WCAG 2.2 AA guidance around motion and timing.
Balancing distinctive imagery with inclusive design
The illustrated river journey and wider visual identity are central to the project, but rich imagery can sometimes distract from the core content or make it harder for some visitors to focus. To manage this, we will use the sitemap and low-fidelity layouts to agree a clear content hierarchy first, then layer in illustration in a controlled way. Spacing, contrast and consistency will be used to keep the experience calm and predictable, so the imagery supports the messages rather than competing with them.
Coordinating feedback
Input will be needed from people with different roles and perspectives, so feedback needs to be structured in a way that supports decision-making and keeps the project on track. Wherever possible, comments will be channelled through a small core group at Barnwood, with clear review points for each phase. Designs will be shared via Figma links for written comments, followed by focused review calls to agree changes, helping everyone keep to agreed dates and milestones.
Ensuring the illustrated journey works across devices
The illustrated river journey needs to feel clear and intuitive across mobile, tablet and desktop. Rich visuals can behave differently on smaller screens, so we will prototype the journey early and test how the illustration, interaction points and movement adapt across breakpoints. This includes checking touch interaction, keyboard navigation and overall clarity, so the experience remains consistent and accessible for everyone.
Supporting different access needs through content
The site will include stories, guidance, case studies and resources, so the content needs to support people with different access needs. This means keeping language clear, structuring information in predictable patterns and offering content in formats that suit different users, such as captions for video, transcripts for audio and simple downloadable templates. We will agree early guidelines for how content should be added and reviewed so the site remains inclusive and respectful as it grows.
Investment
The budget is allocated across the main phases as follows:
| Service | Price |
|---|---|
Design and discovery Workshops, discovery activities, sitemap, low fidelity layouts and early animation planning. | £4,000 |
Illustration and visual direction Collaborating with Cheltenham based illustrator Rosie Phillpot, defining the illustrated river journey, creating key artwork and agreeing the final visual style. | £3,500 |
Development Building a fully custom WordPress theme, setting up structured content types with Advanced Custom Fields, implementing the illustrated pathway and interactive elements, and configuring the CMS for Barnwood’s team. | £5,500 |
Accessibility testing, training and launch support Accessibility and device testing, refinements, content support on staging, a practical training session for the team and early post launch adjustments. | £2,000 |
| Total | £15,000 |
Summary
Access to Nature is an opportunity to create a website that reflects both the ambition of the programme and the realities of people’s lives. The proposed approach brings together a distinctive, nature led illustrated journey with a calm, structured experience that is welcoming, practical and accessible for a wide range of visitors.
Squee will lead the project from early planning through to launch, keeping accessibility and inclusion at the centre of decisions and involving the Barnwood team at each key stage. The process focuses on clear structure, thoughtful visual design, careful handling of interactive elements and a content model that Barnwood can manage and grow with confidence.
Within the agreed budget of £15,000, the work will deliver a fully custom WordPress website, an illustrated homepage journey that feels connected to the wider Barnwood brand, and a learning hub that supports organisations to take concrete steps towards improving access to nature. The aim throughout is to create a website that Barnwood can feel proud of, and that serves disabled people and people with mental health conditions in a practical, respectful and sustainable way.