When Everything Goes Digital, Who Gets Left Behind?
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Digital-first services can improve efficiency, but digital-only journeys can exclude customers. IT Club explains how SMEs can design technology that works for more people.
A company decides to move bookings online, replace paper forms, introduce a customer portal or send digital-only invoices. From the business side, the decision can look straightforward: it is faster, cheaper, easier to manage and more scalable.
The customer may experience the same change very differently. They may not have a suitable device, reliable connectivity, enough confidence, the right credentials or the ability to complete the process independently.
The question businesses should ask
What happens when the digital route becomes the only route?
This is the practical business issue behind digital exclusion. It is not an argument against better technology or against moving services online. It is a reminder that digital-first does not have to mean digital-only.
The UK evidence is more specific than one headline number
Digital exclusion is often described with a single large figure. That can hide important differences between people who do not use the internet, people who have no home connection, people who rely only on mobile data and people who can get online but cannot complete a particular task.
Ofcom's Technology Tracker 2025 analysis separates non-users, mobile-data-only users and people who only use the internet outside the home. It estimates that approximately 1.8 million UK people aged 16 and over do not use the internet at all. That is an important access measure, but Ofcom explicitly says the analysis is not a complete measure of digital exclusion.
Ofcom's Online Nation 2025 report says 95% of the UK population aged 16 and over had access to the internet at home. That is a different measure. Home access does not prove that somebody has a suitable device, enough confidence, usable accessibility support or a straightforward route through a business process.
The 2026 Essential Digital Skills Standards from the UK government and the 2025 Minimum Digital Living Standard from Good Things Foundation both point towards a broader view: inclusion involves capability, access, confidence, safety and support, not just whether a connection exists.
Do not combine non-use, lack of home access, device affordability, digital skills and accessibility into one invented total. They describe different barriers and need different business responses.
Digital exclusion is not one problem
| Barrier | What it can look like in a customer journey |
|---|---|
| Access | No suitable device, poor connectivity, unaffordable data or hardware that cannot run the service |
| Skills | Low confidence, difficulty navigating a portal or uncertainty about what to do next |
| Accessibility | Visual, hearing, motor, cognitive or other needs not supported by the interface |
| Identity and credentials | No suitable email address, mobile number, remembered password or authenticator |
| Trust | Reluctance to enter personal information or use an unfamiliar online service |
| Language and complexity | Difficult wording, confusing steps, unclear errors or a process that assumes too much |
A digital service can therefore be technically available and still be practically inaccessible. A business that only checks whether the webpage loads has tested the platform, not the whole customer experience.
The everyday SME examples
Online forms
Replacing phone enquiries with an online form may reduce administration. Before making it the only route, check whether it works on a normal smartphone, on an older browser and with assistive technology. Ask whether the form saves progress, explains errors clearly and provides help when somebody gets stuck.
QR codes
QR codes are useful when the customer already has a suitable phone and a clear reason to scan. They become a barrier when the destination is not mobile-friendly, the user needs to install an app, the phone camera is unavailable or there is no other way to reach the same information.
Appointments
Digital booking can reduce missed calls and manual scheduling. It can also exclude someone who has no email address, poor connectivity, difficulty with multi-factor authentication or a need to explain a situation that the form does not understand.
Invoices and documents
Digital delivery may be efficient, but portal-only access can turn a routine document into a support request. Consider whether customers can receive a printable version, use email instead of a portal where appropriate and get help retrieving a document without having to repeat the whole process.
Support
Chatbots and AI can handle routine questions. There should still be a clear route to a person when the customer is stuck, the issue is sensitive, the request falls outside the bot's scope or accessibility needs make another channel more suitable.
Digital-first versus digital-only
Digital-first means the digital route is usually the easiest, fastest and preferred route. It is well designed, properly supported and used because it works well. Alternatives still exist when a customer cannot reasonably use the preferred route.
Digital-only means the digital route is the only route, regardless of whether the user can use it. That may be a deliberate choice in a low-consequence process, but it needs a much stronger justification when the customer is trying to pay, access an important document, secure employment, arrange essential support or exercise an important right.
The distinction to keep
Digital-first can improve service. Digital-only can accidentally create a barrier.
The IT Club framework: ACCESS → ABILITY → ALTERNATIVE
For every important digital customer journey, ask three questions in order.
1. ACCESS
Can the person actually reach the service? Check the device, connection, browser, mobile layout, page weight, timeout behaviour and accessibility of the route itself.
- Can it be completed on a normal smartphone?
- Does it work on a slower connection?
- Is the important information available without a download or app?
- Can keyboard users and screen-reader users reach every important control?
- Does the route still work if the customer is using an older but supported device?
2. ABILITY
Can the person reasonably understand and use the process? Check language, complexity, instructions, authentication, error messages and the amount of information the user must remember between steps.
The GOV.UK Service Manual treats accessibility and assisted digital support as related but distinct responsibilities. A service needs to be designed accessibly, and it also needs support for people who do not have the skills or access to use it without assistance.
3. ALTERNATIVE
What happens if the customer cannot use the digital route? A proportionate alternative could be a phone number, email route, assisted completion, paper where appropriate, in-person support or a staff-assisted digital journey.
If the alternative is simply “they cannot complete the process”, the design has failed somebody. The alternative does not have to recreate every old process, but it must provide a realistic way through when the consequence of failure matters.
Do not over-correct
Inclusion does not mean keeping every channel forever or building every possible alternative into every low-impact task. It means understanding the consequence if somebody cannot use the digital route and responding proportionately.
- For a minor enquiry, a clear help route may be enough.
- For a purchase or payment, provide a way to resolve a failed journey before the customer gives up.
- For employment, housing, healthcare or essential services, do not assume that a portal-only route is acceptable simply because it is efficient for the organisation.
- For a sensitive issue, make sure the customer can reach a person without having to disclose everything to a bot or repeat the same information through multiple channels.
Accessibility is part of good design
Accessibility is not only a compliance conversation. Clear language, good contrast, keyboard navigation, sensible font sizes, predictable focus, simple navigation, useful error messages and fewer unnecessary timeouts improve many customer journeys.
The GOV.UK Service Manual recommends using WCAG 2.2 as part of accessibility work and combining automated checks with manual testing. For an SME, that does not mean every team needs to become an accessibility specialist before publishing a form. It does mean accessibility should be considered during design, tested with representative users and treated as part of quality rather than a final cosmetic check.
MFA can create its own barriers
Multi-factor authentication improves security, but poorly designed authentication can exclude users. A process may assume that every customer has a smartphone, receives SMS, can use a specific authenticator app or can recover an account without help.
The answer is not to remove MFA. It is to design secure authentication with workable recovery and suitable alternative methods where appropriate. Explain what happens if a phone is lost, a number changes, a device is shared or a customer cannot use the preferred method.
Read the IT Club guide to checking access across Google and Microsoft accounts →
Security and inclusion belong together
Security and accessibility should be designed together, not traded against each other.
AI could help — or make the gap worse
AI may improve access through translation, voice interfaces, simplified explanations, assisted form completion and support outside normal office hours. Those benefits are real possibilities, not automatic outcomes.
AI can also create new barriers if it becomes the only support route, cannot understand the customer's language or context, gives incorrect information or provides no human escalation. A customer who cannot get a useful answer from the bot should not have to persuade the bot that they deserve help.
Treat AI as an assistive layer around a good service. Keep its scope clear, make important answers checkable, monitor failed conversations and make the human route visible.
The business case is practical, not only ethical
Poor digital design can cost a business through abandoned applications, lost sales, repeat support calls, complaints, customer churn and staff time spent repairing failed journeys. A customer who cannot complete the digital journey may simply become a customer you never win.
The strongest business case is often visible in the support queue. If the same question appears repeatedly, the issue may not be that customers need more patience. The journey may be asking them to understand too much, remember too much or recover from an error without enough information.
A simple IT Club digital journey check
- 1Can this be completed on a normal smartphone?
- 2Does it work on a slower connection?
- 3Is the language clear?
- 4Is accessibility considered and manually tested?
- 5Does authentication create unnecessary friction?
- 6Can the user recover if they get stuck?
- 7Is there a human route for exceptions?
- 8What happens if the user has no smartphone?
- 9What happens if they have no email?
- 10Is digital the easiest route — or the only route?
Run the check before launch, after a major redesign and whenever support data shows that customers are failing at the same step. A short session with a customer, staff member or community partner who uses the service differently from the design team can reveal more than another internal walkthrough.
The IT Club view
Technology should remove barriers. Good digital services can save time, reduce cost, improve access and make businesses easier to deal with.
Digital transformation should not quietly assume that every customer has the same device, skills, connectivity or confidence. The aim is not to keep old processes forever. It is to design better ones.
The final test
Good technology removes barriers. Great technology does not accidentally create new ones.
Sources and further reading
LinkedIn News: The cost of digital exclusion →
Ofcom: A demographic deep dive into internet use using Technology Tracker 2025 →
GOV.UK: Essential Digital Skills Standards 2026 →
Good Things Foundation: Minimum Digital Living Standard for UK Households in 2025 →
GOV.UK Service Manual: Accessibility and assisted digital →
GOV.UK Service Manual: Understanding WCAG 2.2 →
Is your digital customer journey actually easy to use?
Tell the IT Club Advisor what process you have moved online and where customers are struggling. We will give you an independent view on the technology and the user journey.
Plain-English Takeaway
Digital-first can improve service. Digital-only can accidentally create a barrier. Check access, ability and the alternative before making an online route the only route.
Frequently asked questions
What is digital exclusion?
Digital exclusion is not one problem. It can involve no suitable device, unreliable or unaffordable connectivity, limited digital skills, accessibility needs, missing credentials, lack of trust, language barriers or a confusing service design. A service can be technically online and still be practically inaccessible.
Does digital-first mean a business must keep every old process forever?
No. Digital-first means making the digital route the easiest or preferred route while keeping a proportionate way to handle people who cannot use it. The right alternative depends on the consequence of failure: a simple help route may be enough for a low-impact task, while payment, employment, housing, healthcare or essential services need more care.
How can an SME test whether a digital journey is inclusive?
Use the Access → Ability → Alternative check. Confirm that people can reach the service on realistic devices and connections, can understand and complete it with reasonable confidence and accessibility support, and have a clear recovery or human route if they cannot.
Does accessibility only matter for legal compliance?
No. Clear language, good contrast, keyboard support, readable text, useful error messages and sensible timeouts help many customers, not only people who identify as disabled. They reduce failed journeys and support demand while making the service easier to use.
Can AI solve digital exclusion?
AI can lower barriers through translation, voice interfaces, simplified explanations and assisted form completion. It can also create new barriers if it becomes the only support route, gives incorrect answers or provides no human escalation. Treat AI as an assistive layer, not as an excuse to remove every other route.
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