Purple Tuesday 2026: Small Changes, Real Difference

Tomorrow, Tuesday 3 November 2026, is Purple Tuesday, a day built around one simple idea: when businesses make accessibility part of everyday customer service, everyone benefits.

What is Purple Tuesday?

Purple Tuesday is an awareness day, started in 2018, that encourages organisations to improve the customer experience for disabled people and their families, carers and support networks. Taking part is free and simple: every organisation makes at least one new commitment to improve accessibility, such as booking disability inclusion training, and then follows it through.

The need is real. According to Inclusive Employers, 75% of disabled people and their families have walked away from a UK business because of poor accessibility or customer service. Around 80% of disabled people also have a non-visible impairment, which is a reminder that accessibility is about far more than ramps and wheelchair access.

The campaign is run by Purple Tuesday, created by the disability organisation Purple, and its aim is improvement 365 days a year, not just one date in November.

Three big names that have backed Purple Tuesday

Some of the UK's best-known organisations have supported Purple Tuesday over the years. Here are three, and what they have actually changed.

Boots

Boots has supported Purple Tuesday for five years and was the UK headline sponsor in 2025. Recent changes include:

• Bitesize British Sign Language training for store and support office colleagues
• A store accessibility survey to help teams find and remove barriers for disabled customers
• An Inclusive Product Design Guide and eLearning for colleagues who design the products Boots sells
• Support for the Hidden Disability Sunflower and Dementia Friend schemes
• Assistive technology on boots.com so visitors can adapt the site to their needs
• The Christmas Gift Guide offered in braille and audio

Links: Boots on Purple Tuesday 2025 · Purple Tuesday

Sainsbury's

Sainsbury's signed up for the very first Purple Tuesday in 2018 and was the first UK supermarket to trial sunflower lanyards for customers with hidden disabilities. Wearers can get extra help, such as a new checkout opened, assistance finding items, or more time at the till. In 2019, Sainsbury's and Argos also trialled a weekly Sunflower Hour in 30 stores, creating a calmer environment with less background noise.

Links: Sainsbury's lanyard trial (The Grocer) · Sunflower Hour trial (Modern Retail)

eBay

eBay UK was headline sponsor of Purple Tuesday in 2021, a good example of an online-only business taking accessibility seriously. Its marketplace offers keyboard-only access, visible focus indication, a consistent heading structure, clearly labelled form elements, adequate colour contrast, alternative text for icons and images, and options to skip repetitive blocks of links.

Link: eBay becomes headline sponsor (TheIndustry.fashion)

Small changes any business can make

You do not need a national budget to get started. Most of the changes below are low or no cost, and Purple Tuesday itself asks organisations for just one commitment.

In a shop, café or office

• Train your team. Disability awareness training, or a short team briefing, helps staff feel confident when a customer needs support.
• Adopt the Sunflower lanyard scheme. It is a discreet way for customers with hidden disabilities to signal that they may need extra time or help.
• Hold a quiet hour. Lower the music and background noise for a set period each week. Trinity Leeds and White Rose shopping centres run quiet mornings every Tuesday from 9am to 11am.
• Offer sensory support. Free sensory toys, an Autism Friendly Guide and a quiet room give neurodivergent visitors somewhere to reset.
• Put your access information in writing. Publish an accessibility guide covering entrances, toilets, seating and parking so people can plan ahead.
• Walk your own premises. Run an accessibility audit, ideally with disabled customers, and fix the quick wins first. Even a sign saying that not every disability is visible can change how people feel.

On your website or online store

• Make sure everything works from a keyboard, with a clearly visible focus indicator.
• Add alternative text to images, including the ones you share on social media.
• Check colour contrast so text is easy to read.
• Label forms clearly and use a consistent heading structure.
• Run an online accessibility audit to find what to fix first.
• Offer another way to get in touch, such as a phone number, email and live chat, so no one is stuck.

Small changes make a real difference

None of the changes above needs a rebuild or a big budget, yet each one can decide whether someone stays, shops and comes back, or walks away. Purple Tuesday works best when it is the start of a habit, not a one-day gesture: pick one commitment, put it into practice, and keep listening to your disabled customers.

So this Purple Tuesday, ask yourself one question: what is the one thing we could change this month? Then share it using #PurpleTuesday.