The ecosystem3 min read
What Difability recognition means: the six levels
Difability recognition has six levels. Level 1, Member, is a free public commitment, and levels 2 to 6 are assessed against the Difability Standard.
By IT’S POSSIBLE NOWPublished
Difability recognition is a set of six levels that difability.uk gives to organisations. Level 1, Member, is free and is a public commitment, not an assessment. Levels 2 to 6 are assessed against the Difability Standard. Difability is an initiative of IT’S POSSIBLE NOW COMMUNITY INTEREST COMPANY, and everything in this article is attributed to difability.uk.
The six levels
| Level | Name | What difability.uk says it is |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Member | Free membership, not an assessment. It confirms the organisation’s identity is verified, that the person acting for it is authorised, and that it has accepted the Difability Commitment |
| 2 | Recognised | Assessed recognition for one clearly defined part of the organisation, such as a practice, service, product, website, location or recruitment process |
| 3 | Certified | The first organisation-wide assessed status: the Standard met across all six pillars |
| 4 | Accredited | Sustained compliance with the Standard across a defined assessment period, with mature governance and continuing measurable outcomes |
| 5 | Leader | Leadership in a sector: innovation and substantial opportunity creation, with outcomes supported by independent evidence |
| 6 | Global Champion | Verified international or cross-sector impact, led locally by people with lived experience in the countries or communities concerned |
These are Difability’s own levels, awarded by Difability. difability.uk states that the Standard does not replace the Equality Act, Disability Confident, accessibility standards or other legal or regulatory requirements.
What the Standard asks
The Standard is built around one question: what has your organisation actually done to turn different abilities into real opportunities? Every assessed level is measured against six pillars:
- Leadership and accountability
- People, employment and progression
- Accessibility and adjustments
- Customers, services and products
- Procurement, enterprise and opportunity
- Lived experience and measurable outcomes
Each answer carries one of four kinds of evidence: declared, documented, demonstrated or verified. The questions depend on the size of the organisation, and difability.uk says a two-person café can become Difability Recognised.
Recognition follows practice
An organisation is recognised for changes it has made, tested and kept in use. Signing up does not earn a level above Member. The link with IT’S POSSIBLE NOW is SHAPE, the route in which people with lived experience find barriers, test the changes that remove them and record what worked. How the SHAPE route works covers the four steps, and the Difability page shows how the three parts fit together.
Checking a claim
Every level has a record number. Anyone can enter it at difability.uk/verify to see the organisation’s level and whether it is current. The record shows the exact words the organisation may use and what its award covers, and it is the authority: a certificate or badge does not outlast the record behind it. A record can show Active, Conditional, Suspended, Replaced, Expired, Membership ended, Withdrawn or Removed.
Joining and nominating
Membership is free for organisations of any size. difability.uk lists five steps: create an account, confirm your email address, show that you act for the organisation, sign the Difability Commitment and receive your member number. The join page has the details.
Anyone can also nominate an organisation, project or person that includes disabled people well, without an account. A nomination is a recommendation and does not give a level.
Individuals do not need an account to ask for help. The Difability Get started page is free and does not ask for a diagnosis.
Sources
- Difability: levels (read on 7 October 2026)
- Difability: the Standard (read on 7 October 2026)
- Difability: how recognition works (read on 7 October 2026)
- Difability: check a record (read on 7 October 2026)
- Difability: join (read on 7 October 2026)
- Difability: nominate (read on 7 October 2026)
A next step
It is free, takes a few minutes and commits you to nothing.
Written by
IT’S POSSIBLE NOW
A UK social enterprise run as a Community Interest Company. Who is behind IT’S POSSIBLE NOW
