A holistic approach to digital accessibility

Everywhere across the globe, we are seeing momentum for digital accessibility. Yet, while the need for accessibility is clear, there is still uncertainty about how best to achieve it.

Meanwhile, the context for digital accessibility continues to evolve rapidly.

Politics and regulation are changing. Technology is changing. Currency and financial institutions are changing. Healthcare and science are changing. We know more about disability and accessibility than ever before, and we have the capabilities to advance this mission more rapidly than at any time in history. Yet the accessibility gap seems wider than it has ever been.

One thing we know is this: Organizational leaders want their organizations to be digitally accessible. Anything less would be counter-intuitive. Approximately 1.3 billion people in the world have a disability—more than 15% of the entire global population. That doesn’t even include the aging population who acquire disabilities with age (yes, we all do). Why would any organization embrace practices that deliberately exclude so many people from accessing their products and services?

We also know this: More than 95% of the home pages of the top one million websites in the world are not fully accessible.

We have a disconnect.

Fortunately, there is a solution, and business leaders are perfectly positioned to lead the way. By supporting the democratization of accessibility and embracing a holistic approach to digital accessibility compliance, business leaders can help close the accessibility gap and eliminate the disconnect between where we want to be and where we are.

Democratizing accessibility

Democratizing accessibility means making it so that every single person is empowered to do accessibility.

For developers and designers

Developers and designers need the tools, training, and time to do the work of digital accessibility. They deserve better than just having reports thrown at them that are riddled with inaccurate results. They deserve better than having to waste their time on retroactive repairs that should have never happened in the first place, trapped in a never-ending break-fix cycle. Developers are busy. They deserve 100% accuracy.

For CAT leaders

Central Accessibility Team (CAT) leaders need financial, infrastructural, and systemic support to embrace a proactive approach to digital accessibility. They need to be able to develop, implement, and sustain long-term strategies. They deserve better than being trapped in a losing game of whack-a-mole, trying to reactively keep up and deal with each new incident as it emerges.

For business leaders

Business leaders need cost-effective accessibility solutions. They should never have to face a choice between business success and digital accessibility. Digital accessibility must deliver meaningful results without derailing other business objectives.

The only way to achieve this is to democratize accessibility through operational efficiency. Create a system where people who are great at their jobs are able to do great work—a system where everyone is empowered to achieve crucial digital accessibility goals. If you are the CEO or leader of an organization, you are the guardian of this effort. You have the opportunity and ability to maximize efficiency while increasing impact and accelerating velocity.

But to succeed, you must embrace a holistic approach.

A holistic approach to digital accessibility

A successful holistic approach to digital accessibility leverages the EAT model: Experts, Automation, and Training. (Accessibility is as fundamental to life as food!)

In this EAT model, accessibility experts lead high-impact initiatives, drive innovation, and control strategic direction. They feed their expertise into software, which enables accurate digital accessibility testing, and they feed their expertise into training, which supports organizational self-sufficiency. As to automation, it is essential—not to remove humans from the workflow but to enable all humans to do their best work.

Sometimes, understanding something means understanding its opposite. The opposite of a holistic approach is widgets and overlays. Shortcuts that aren’t actually shortcuts. Whack-a-mole reactivity. Endless break-fix cycles. False positives. Automation without expertise. Over-reliance on single-tactic strategies that rely on manual or automated testing, but never the two together. The opposite of a holistic approach is reaction and disruption.

Closing the accessibility gap with AI and automation

As I mentioned earlier, we have an accessibility gap. AI and automation increasingly power modern content creation, and digital accessibility testing cannot keep up unless we can leverage the same tools and achieve the same velocity. Without maximum automation, we cannot achieve maximum results.

Business leaders know this. AI and automation are our most powerful tools for operational efficiency, and operational efficiency never goes out of style. By combining human expertise with advanced automation and AI, we can get ahead, close the accessibility gap, and save time and money in the process.

Global momentum for digital accessibility

I mentioned something else earlier as well: Global momentum for digital accessibility. It’s happening right now in the form of the European Accessibility Act (EAA). Just as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) rewrote the global rules of privacy and data protection, the EAA will rewrite the rules of digital accessibility. And just as has been the case with GDPR, the global impact of the EAA will be historic.

This is not to say there are no headwinds to face. We have recently witnessed, for example, actions from the current US presidential administration that run counter to our goals. But obstacles are nothing new for those of us in the digital accessibility fight. Overcoming obstacles is business as usual for us.

Next steps

I am, in many ways, a pragmatist. I am also a technologist. I understand digital accessibility as a practical problem to solve, and I believe we can use technology to solve it. Yet, I am also a humanist. There are many practical problems that can be solved with technology, but I chose digital accessibility because it is my passion. Because I believe in inclusion. Because I believe that digital equality is a human right.

Today, the mission of global digital accessibility is having a moment. It is on all of us not to let this moment pass us by.

We have the momentum. The tailwinds behind us are far stronger than the headwinds we face. And we have the approach. We know that a holistic approach can drive results. And we have the technology. Combining human expertise with AI and automation can make the democratization of accessibility a reality.

Now is the time to invest for the long-term. Not just financially but operationally. By embracing a holistic approach to digital accessibility, your organization can lead the way into a more inclusive and rewarding future for all.