Driving accessible design
Building a step-by-step product-led system to integrate inclusive design strategy across a technically and functionally diverse set of products
As digital products become increasingly central to both customer and employee experiences, there is a growing need to ensure that these products are accessible to all users, regardless of their abilities. However, our company lacked a cohesive, cross-functional strategy for incorporating accessibility into the design and development process. A grassroots strategy of auditing, design solutions, and internal education was needed in order to:
Enabled the completion of four full-product accessibility audits and several targeted feature-level audits, providing a comprehensive view of accessibility gaps across our portfolio. Each audit resulted in detailed reports that prioritized solutions based on severity and level of effort, ensuring that the most critical issues were addressed first. We collaborated closely with development teams to integrate these solutions seamlessly into their design sprints, offering guidance on implementation and testing. This approach not only improved the accessibility of our products but also established a scalable framework for continuous accessibility improvements across future releases.
Increased awareness and knowledge of accessibility best practices among engineers, designers, marketers, and product teams through a multi-faceted education approach. This included hands-on workshops tailored to specific roles, accessible design training sessions for the design team, developer-focused coding best practices, and cross-functional knowledge-sharing initiatives.
Provided a comprehensive accessible design toolkit and resource library, offering quick-reference guides, checklists, and tutorials. These efforts empowered teams to confidently integrate accessibility principles into their daily workflows, fostering a shared commitment to inclusivity across all stages of the product lifecycle.
Role: company co-lead, designer, advocate - Acquia 2022-24
Adoption: Increase the adoption of accessibility features across all user groups.
Metric: 10% increase in number of users enabling and utilizing accessibility settings.
Task Success: Improve the keyboard accessibility of core workflows in each product.
Metric: In two selected products, 25% more primary “jobs to be done” can be completed using only a keyboard, compared to initial audit results.
Accessibility Scores: Enhance accessibility scores across products and the design system.
Metric: Increase in average accessibility score across all products (based on WCAG compliance audits or tools like Axe or Lighthouse). 50% of design system components meet WCAG 2.1 AA standards or higher.
Education + Awareness: Build accessibility knowledge among engineers and product teams.
Metric: Develop and launch a company-wide accessibility training program on the internal learning platform. Host three live training and Q&A sessions.
Product Roadmaps: Integrate accessibility initiatives into product development roadmaps.
Metric: Ten accessibility enhancements and features implemented per product per quarter.
This Figma file highlights product pages annotated with detailed notes on unmet WCAG criteria, providing visual clarity on the location and reason behind the issue.
For each tag in the previous Figma file that required a design change (rather than a code-only change), a solution was designed, annotated, and sorted into 4 phases to help with prioritization.
Adoption: Increased use of accessibility features across key products, with 35% of users enabling and utilizing accessibility settings post-launch.
Task Success: Post-audit, 67% of primary workflows became keyboard-navigable, up from 23%.
Accessibility Scores: The average product accessibility score improved by 15 points in the first year, with 80% of design system components meeting or exceeding WCAG 2.1 AA standards.
Education + Awareness: Launched the accessibility training program on the company’s learning platform and hosted three live Q&A sessions, attended by over 250 employees.
Product Roadmaps: Accessibility enhancements and features doubled per quarter as teams integrated initiatives into their roadmaps.
Secure leadership buy-in earlier
Problem: Leadership buy-in was crucial for prioritizing accessibility, but it took longer than expected to align stakeholders. This delay slowed the integration of accessibility initiatives into the product roadmaps.
Solution: We provided data-driven insights and audit findings that helped make the case, ultimately gaining leadership support.
How I would have done it differently: I would have initiated conversations with leadership earlier in the process, framing accessibility as a strategic priority to ensure alignment and faster decision-making from the start.
Plan for more comprehensive training for all teams from the outset
Problem: While the design team received robust accessibility training, other teams (engineering, product management, marketing) were not equally well-prepared, which led to inconsistencies in implementation and slowed down collaboration. Language and timezone barriers also played a role in a slower rollout than we would have liked.
Solution: We delivered targeted training to the design team and focused on educating other teams as the project progressed. Individuals designers often educated their sprint teams as they worked on their product-specific projects.
How I would have done it differently: I would have planned cross-functional accessibility training from the very beginning, ensuring all teams were aligned and had a clear understanding of the goals and standards, which would have streamlined collaboration and implementation.
Streamline prioritization with more iterative testing with real users early on
Problem: Although we tested designs with assistive technologies, the testing process was too focused on technical compliance rather than real-world usability. This meant we missed opportunities to uncover practical issues early on.
Solution: We conducted usability testing with assistive technologies and gathered feedback from users, refining the designs accordingly.
How I would have done it differently: I would have conducted more frequent, smaller-scale, iterative testing with a diverse range of users from the outset, ensuring real-world usability was prioritized and allowing for quicker identification and resolution of issues.
Unexpected success: Overall interest in accessibility was higher than anticipated
We anticipated interest from the design team in learning and implementing inclusive design strategies, but we were pleasantly surprised by the high level of participation from nearly all other teams. Members from engineering, HR, marketing, and customer support actively joined our focus group meetings, contributing valuable perspectives on how to infuse an inclusive mindset into their respective teams and their interactions with both customers and colleagues.
This broader engagement not only inspired us as we developed strategies but also played a key role in securing leadership buy-in when we needed additional resources to execute our initiatives. With voices from across the company advocating for accessibility, we gained the momentum and support needed to drive meaningful change. 🖤