89% of certified digital ID services scan your face. Half offer another way
What happened
On 13 October 2026, the Office for Digital Identities and Attributes - usually shortened to OfDIA - published its Inclusion monitoring report 2026. It is an annual survey of the companies that run certified digital verification services in the UK. These are the firms that check who you are online: proving your right to work, your right to rent, your age, or your identity for a background check. They can be certified against a government-backed set of rules called the UK digital verification services trust framework. The report asks a simple question. Do these services work for everyone, or only for people who find technology easy? The findings are a mix. Three quarters of the organisations surveyed - 75% - now meet an accessibility standard called WCAG 2.0 AA or higher. That is the highest in three years. The share who were unsure whether they met it fell to 11%. Just over three quarters, 77%, offer at least one accessibility tool, and 25% meet a second internationally recognised accessibility standard. On biometrics, 89% use the technology - typically a face scan matched against a photo ID. That is down from 94% in 2025. Of those using it, 49% hold data on how accurate it is for different demographic groups, and 49% offer an alternative route for people who decline to use it. The report also notes that 45% collect demographic data about their users, and 19% of those use it to monitor how inclusive their service is. And 80% collect data on people who start a check but do not finish it, with 66% of those also recording why. One line in the report is worth holding on to: using these services "is not mandatory".
Why this matters
Identity checks have quietly moved online. Starting a job, renting a flat, opening an account, getting a DBS check - a lot of these now involve pointing a phone at your own face. That is genuinely convenient for most people. It is a wall for some. If your hands shake, if your sight is poor, if your phone is old, if your internet is slow, if your face has changed since your passport photo, or if you simply do not have a smartphone, the convenient route is not convenient at all. The figure that matters most in this report is that 49% one. Just under half of the services using biometrics offer another way in for people who say no to a face scan. Which means slightly over half, on these findings, do not. The second figure to notice is the other 49% - the share that actually holds accuracy data broken down by demographic group. Face-matching technology has a documented history of performing less well for some groups than others. A service that has never checked whether that is happening to its own users cannot know whether it is turning the wrong people away. The drop-off statistics are the quiet admission. Four in five of these services track people who begin a check and never complete it. Two thirds of those also record the reason. That data exists because failed checks are common enough to be worth measuring. And the reason it matters practically: the things these checks unlock are not optional extras. They are jobs, homes and care work.
What the evidence actually says
This is a self-reported survey of certified providers, and that shapes what it can tell us. The organisations answered questions about their own services. There is no sign in the published findings of independent testing of the claims, and the report does not say how many organisations responded. So "75% meet WCAG 2.0 AA or higher" means 75% say they do. That is still useful - it is a consistent annual measure, and the trend is upward - but it is not an audit. Some of the movement is genuinely encouraging. Fewer organisations are unsure whether they meet the accessibility standard, which usually means somebody has gone and checked. The small fall in biometric use, from 94% to 89%, suggests a handful of services have added or kept non-biometric routes. Other findings have barely moved. Vouching - where someone who knows you confirms your identity, which is a lifeline for people with no documents - is offered by just 7% of services. That is unchanged from 2025. Another 14% plan to offer it, and 72% have no plans at all. The report names the reasons: concern about fraud, and reluctance among the organisations relying on these checks to accept a vouch. That is an honest account of a stuck problem. The people who most need vouching are the people with the least paperwork, and the fraud risk is not imaginary. Finally, the report is a monitoring exercise, not a set of rules. It describes what certified providers do. It does not compel any of them to change.
Practical advice
If an identity check has ever gone wrong for you, or you are helping someone through one, these are the useful points. You do not have to use a digital identity service. The report states plainly that using them is not mandatory. There is usually a manual or in-person route - showing documents to an employer, a landlord or a post office - even where the digital option is pushed hardest. If you do not want a face scan, ask for the alternative before you start. Around half of these services have one. Asking at the beginning is far easier than restarting a failed check. If a check keeps failing, say so rather than giving up. These providers are measuring drop-offs and reasons. A complaint or a support request is one of the few ways the problem gets counted. Help before, not during. If you are supporting an older relative through a verification step, set it up together beforehand: charge the phone, find the passport or driving licence, check the lighting, and make sure the photo ID is not expired. Most failures are mundane. Use the accessibility tools that exist. More than three quarters of these services offer at least one. They are often buried in a settings menu rather than offered up front. If you have no documents at all, ask specifically about vouching. Only a small minority of services offer it, but it is worth knowing the word, because asking for it by name gets a clearer answer than describing it.
What to know
OfDIA's Inclusion monitoring report 2026, published on 13 October 2026, surveyed certified UK digital verification services about how inclusive they are. Accessibility is improving: 75% now meet WCAG 2.0 AA or higher, the best in three years, and 77% offer at least one accessibility tool. Biometric use has slipped slightly to 89%, from 94% in 2025. But only 49% of biometric users offer an alternative for people who decline, and only 49% hold accuracy data by demographic group. Vouching, which helps people with no documents, is offered by just 7% - unchanged on last year. The single most useful fact for readers: using a digital identity service is not mandatory, and you can ask for another route. Sources: GOV.UK / Office for Digital Identities and Attributes, "Inclusion monitoring report 2026", 13 October 2026, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/inclusion-monitoring-report-2026; GOV.UK / Office for Digital Identities and Attributes and Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, "UK digital verification services trust framework", updated 11 June 2026, https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/uk-digital-identity-and-attributes-trust-framework This article is for general information and does not replace advice from a doctor, pharmacist or other qualified healthcare professional, nor professional advice on employment, housing or legal matters.
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