Accessible To: Standard Pattern
Accessible To: Standard Pattern records a directly documented English construction and keeps guidance bounded to the evidenced pattern rather than turning one attested complement into a universal prohibition.
Use “accessible to” before the people or group who can reach, obtain, use, or understand something.
Key details
Choose the right form
| Context | Use | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| people can reach or enter something | accessible to + people/group | Use “to” before those who can reach it. |
| people can obtain or use something | accessible to + people/group | Use the same pattern before intended users. |
| people can understand information | accessible to + audience | The construction can identify the audience able to understand it. |
Quick tests
Decision test
Are you naming the people or group who can reach, obtain, use, or understand the subject?
If yes: Use “accessible to.”
If no: If you are describing a different relationship such as a route or source, check that construction separately.
Caveat: The page is bounded to the directly documented people/group complement and does not prohibit other independently valid uses of “accessible.”
Examples
The archive is accessible to registered users.
“To” introduces the group able to use the archive.
The entrance is accessible to wheelchair users.
The people able to reach/use the entrance follow “to.”
The guide is accessible to beginners.
The audience able to understand the material follows “to.”
Further guidance
Construction
Use “accessible to” before the people or group who can reach, obtain, use, or understand something.
Style Boundary
Cambridge also documents other accessible constructions such as “accessible by”; this guide covers only the attested “to” pattern.
Sources and evidence
Sources are shown with the role they play in this guide. Historical or style-sensitive claims are kept within the evidence boundary described above.
- Accessible — Cambridge Dictionary (opens in a new tab)Cambridge University Press · Direct learner-dictionary evidence for “accessible to” with people or groups who can reach, obtain, use, or understand something.