{"id":525,"date":"2026-08-08T16:28:20","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T16:28:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dev-axe-con.pantheonsite.io\/sessions\/the-myth-of-neutral-design-how-accessibility-gets-lost-in-objective-systems\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T16:28:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T16:28:20","slug":"the-myth-of-neutral-design-how-accessibility-gets-lost-in-objective-systems","status":"publish","type":"axecon-session","link":"https:\/\/www.deque.com\/axe-con\/sessions\/the-myth-of-neutral-design-how-accessibility-gets-lost-in-objective-systems\/","title":{"rendered":"The Myth of Neutral Design: How Accessibility Gets Lost in Objective Systems"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-sheets-root=\"1\">Design is never neutral; it reflects the values, biases, and assumptions of the people and systems that create it. Yet, many organizations still frame accessibility as a layer added after design is done, treating it as a fix instead of a foundation. This talk exposes the myth of neutrality in design and shows how centering disability, intersectionality, and lived experience transforms not only products, but the culture that builds them. Attendees will leave with practical ways to design experiences that acknowledge, rather than erase, human diversity.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","track":[21],"difficulty":[],"playlist":[],"class_list":["post-525","axecon-session","type-axecon-session","status-publish","hentry","track-wildcard"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Myth of Neutral Design: How Accessibility Gets Lost in Objective Systems - Axe-con<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.deque.com\/axe-con\/sessions\/the-myth-of-neutral-design-how-accessibility-gets-lost-in-objective-systems\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Myth of Neutral Design: How Accessibility Gets Lost in Objective Systems - Axe-con\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Design is never neutral; it reflects the values, biases, and assumptions of the people and systems that create it. Yet, many organizations still frame accessibility as a layer added after design is done, treating it as a fix instead of\u2026\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.deque.com\/axe-con\/sessions\/the-myth-of-neutral-design-how-accessibility-gets-lost-in-objective-systems\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Axe-con\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.deque.com\/axe-con\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Axe-con-2027-banner.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"936\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"402\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.deque.com\\\/axe-con\\\/sessions\\\/the-myth-of-neutral-design-how-accessibility-gets-lost-in-objective-systems\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.deque.com\\\/axe-con\\\/sessions\\\/the-myth-of-neutral-design-how-accessibility-gets-lost-in-objective-systems\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Myth of Neutral Design: How Accessibility Gets Lost in Objective Systems - Axe-con\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.deque.com\\\/axe-con\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-08T16:28:20+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.deque.com\\\/axe-con\\\/sessions\\\/the-myth-of-neutral-design-how-accessibility-gets-lost-in-objective-systems\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.deque.com\\\/axe-con\\\/sessions\\\/the-myth-of-neutral-design-how-accessibility-gets-lost-in-objective-systems\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.deque.com\\\/axe-con\\\/sessions\\\/the-myth-of-neutral-design-how-accessibility-gets-lost-in-objective-systems\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.deque.com\\\/axe-con\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Agenda\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.deque.com\\\/axe-con\\\/agenda\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"The Myth of Neutral Design: How Accessibility Gets Lost in Objective Systems\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.deque.com\\\/axe-con\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.deque.com\\\/axe-con\\\/\",\"name\":\"Axe-con\",\"description\":\"Where the global digital accessibility community comes together.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.deque.com\\\/axe-con\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.deque.com\\\/axe-con\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.deque.com\\\/axe-con\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Axe-con\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.deque.com\\\/axe-con\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.deque.com\\\/axe-con\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.deque.com\\\/axe-con\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/Axe-con-Logo.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.deque.com\\\/axe-con\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/Axe-con-Logo.svg\",\"caption\":\"Axe-con\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.deque.com\\\/axe-con\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Myth of Neutral Design: How Accessibility Gets Lost in Objective Systems - Axe-con","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.deque.com\/axe-con\/sessions\/the-myth-of-neutral-design-how-accessibility-gets-lost-in-objective-systems\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Myth of Neutral Design: How Accessibility Gets Lost in Objective Systems - Axe-con","og_description":"Design is never neutral; it reflects the values, biases, and assumptions of the people and systems that create it. 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