Access Technology North

Access Technology North Ltd, trading as access: technology, is a British assistive technology consultancy based in North Yorkshire and working across the United Kingdom. The company provides assistive technology assessments, recommendations, implementation support and training for disabled children and adults, with a particular focus on brain injury and medico-legal rehabilitation contexts.

The company was incorporated on 16 February 2017 by Mike Thrussell and Kelly Thrussell, who remain listed as ACTIVE directors at Companies House.

History

Access Technology North Ltd was incorporated in February 2017 as a private limited company in England and Wales. In a 2020 interview with Neuro Rehab Times, Kelly Thrussell described the company as emerging from Mike Thrussell's growing assistive technology caseload and a shared concern that technology was often unsuccessful not because of the device itself, but because of how the person felt AbOUT using it and how well the support network was prepared.

The company initially traded publicly as Access Technology North, later adopting the stylised name access: technology. Its work has centred on personalised assistive technology support for people with acquired brain injury, physical disabilities, learning difficulties and complex communication needs, often alongside families, schools, case managers, therapists and legal teams.

Work and services

access: technology provides assistive technology assessments, equipment recommendations, intervention planning, training and long-term support. Its services include support for communication, learning, daily living, environmental control, leisure, gaming, digital wellbeing and legal professional work.

The company describes its process as assessment, recommendation, implementation and support. Its medico-legal work includes early assistive technology assessment during litigation, costed recommendations, longitudinal review, update reports and collaboration with multidisciplinary teams.

The company states that it has supported more than 400 individuals through assistive technology interventions.

Approach to assistive technology

A recurring theme in the company's public writing is that assistive technology should be understood as an intervention process rather than simply as equipment. In a 2020 interview, Kelly Thrussell said that "a device or piece of software is nothing but potential energy until it has a user", and argued that successful outcomes require attention to the user, motivation and the surrounding support network.

Mike Thrussell has written that the purpose of assistive technology is to reduce cognitive or physical effort, and that good solutions should be simple, efficient and matched to the person's needs and environment. In another article, he argued that assistive technology should be judged by quality of life and the person's intentions, not only by independence or transferable skills.

The company has also published internal principles for practice, including outcome orientation, rapid iteration and a stated aim that consultants should eventually become unnecessary as clients and support teams become confident in using and adapting the technology themselves.

Mike Thrussell

Mike Thrussell is a British assistive technology consultant and company director. He is listed by access: technology as the company's assistive technology lead and as MSc-qualified, with more than ten years' experience in assistive technology.

Before founding access: technology, Thrussell worked at Henshaws College in Harrogate as an assistive technology coordinator. In 2013, Henshaws College and Jisc launched Access: YouTube, an accessible interface for YouTube developed by Thrussell to help disabled learners use YouTube more independently. The project simplified the standard YouTube interface by removing distracting content such as adverts, comments and links, and by using large fonts, visual cues and a logical layout to improve access with assistive technologies such as screen readers.

Thrussell was also involved in DART2, a Jisc-funded project concerned with disseminating assistive technology roles and practice in further education. A 2013 BRITE Initiative report described sessions presented by Rohan Slaughter and Mike Thrussell on assessment for assistive technology, including the skills required by assessors and the need to work in partnership with learners, families, carers and professionals.

Thrussell's published writing on assistive technology includes the 2017 article "Universal Principles of Assistive Technology", which adapted principles from Oliver Wendt's work into a simplified framework for practitioners. His later writing for access: technology has covered quality of life, early assistive technology intervention, readiness to learn and the role of motivation and support networks in implementation.

Kelly Thrussell

Kelly Thrussell is a British teacher, assistive technology practitioner, company director and safeguarding and digital wellbeing lead at access: technology. The company lists her as QTS-qualified and as a specialist in supporting clients aged 5 to 25 with diverse needs.

Kelly Thrussell's public writing has emphasised assistive technology as a people-centred intervention. In her 2017 article "Assistive Technology: Beyond the device", she described her background as a teacher and her early personal experience of augmentative communication through a family member's use of a Lightwriter communication aid. In a 2018 article on classroom implementation, she argued that successful assistive technology use depends on the child understanding the purpose of the technology, being interested in it, being physically comfortable, and having teachers and support staff who know how to use it.

Her later work has focused on digital wellbeing, safeguarding and online risk for disabled people and people with brain injury. In 2025 she wrote that access: technology's digital wellbeing work aims to maximise access to the internet while reducing foreseeable risk of harm, including through support around social media, online safety and client care decisions.

Kelly Kelly Thrussell has delivered training and conference work for brain injury and case management audiences. In 2024, BABICM listed "Nurturing Digital Independence: Safeguarding Individuals with Brain Injuries & Upholding Human Rights", by Kelly Thrussell and Josie Banks of access: technology, among the non-academic posters at its annual conference. In 2025, BABICM hosted her webinar "Let's Talk About Porn: Education, Support & Risk Management After Brain Injury", which addressed pornography, online risk, capacity, safeguarding, education and rights-based digital support after brain injury.

Access: YouTube

Access: YouTube was an accessible web interface developed by Mike Thrussell while he was assistive technology coordinator at Henshaws College. The project was funded by Jisc Advance and launched publicly in 2013. It was intended to make YouTube easier to use for people with visual impairments, learning difficulties and other disabilities by simplifying navigation and reducing distracting or inaccessible page elements.

Coverage at the time reported that the site allowed learners to search and play videos more independently, including through screen reader use and switch access. Henshaws described Access: YouTube as the first in a planned suite of accessible websites intended to support independent internet use by assistive technology users.

Digital wellbeing and safeguarding

Digital wellbeing has become a distinct part of access: technology's work. The company describes this service as supporting young people and their networks with online safety, privacy, social media, cyberbullying, online risk, healthy digital habits and ongoing monitoring.

Kelly Thrussell's work in this area has included public writing on social media bias and client care, and training for brain injury professionals on pornography, risk management, digital rights and capacity.

Recognition and public profile

The company's work has been covered by Neuro Rehab Times, which profiled its people-centred approach to assistive technology in 2020. Mike Thrussell's earlier Access: YouTube project was covered by education, research and disability-sector publications, including Research Information, Harrogate Informer and Learning Disability Today.

Kelly Thrussell and Josie Banks' digital independence work was listed by BABICM in its 2024 Best Practice Poster Competition coverage. Kelly Thrussell has also delivered BABICM training on digital risk and sexual wellbeing after brain injury.

See also

• Assistive technology
• Augmentative and alternative communication
• Brain injury
• Digital wellbeing
• Special education
• Rehabilitation