The challenge
Meridian's members booked appointments and requested results by phone, with a call centre absorbing the load. Any replacement had to clear clinical governance, meet accessibility requirements as a hard gate, and be usable by members in their seventies.
What we did
- 01Accessibility treated as an acceptance criterion from sprint one, with automated axe checks in CI and quarterly audits by an external specialist.
- 02Usability testing with members aged 55+ every second sprint, which drove significantly larger touch targets and plain-language copy throughout.
- 03A design system shared between the portal and Meridian's marketing site, so the brand refresh and the product shipped as one coherent thing.
- 04Integration with the existing records system via an anti-corruption layer, avoiding a risky migration during rollout.
The result
The portal passed clinical and accessibility review without remediation rounds. Inbound calls dropped 41% within two quarters as appointment booking and results access moved online.
“Accessibility was in the acceptance criteria from day one rather than bolted on at the end. Our auditors noticed.”
Clinical Director, Meridian Health