Scaling Accessibility Through Design Systems
Summary
Key Insights
-
•
Accessibility should be integrated early ('shift left') in the design and development process to reduce tech debt and remediation costs.
-
•
Automation tools catch about 30% of accessibility defects and cannot replace human audits and discernment.
-
•
Accessibility is often mistaken as limiting creativity, but it is actually a driver of innovation and inclusivity.
-
•
Unique naming for components like message bars is critical to avoid confusion for assistive technologies when multiple instances exist.
-
•
Breadcrumb navigation must not rely on color alone to convey meaning; it should be accessible through keyboard and screen readers and consider interactive behaviors.
-
•
Documenting accessibility decisions in design systems helps maintain consistency and educates users of the system.
-
•
Accessibility requires ongoing education and advocacy to get buy-in from diverse teams including designers, engineers, and product managers.
-
•
Small incremental changes to accessibility are better than no changes; it’s an ongoing journey rather than a one-time fix.
-
•
Accessibility levels range from inaccessible to legally compliant, usable, and ultimately innovative; compliance alone does not guarantee good UX.
-
•
Cross-functional collaboration and shared resources like accessibility one-pagers and bug-triaging spreadsheets improve scalability of accessibility efforts.
Notable Quotes
"Accessibility is innovation and this statement could potentially be some unchecked ableism."
"Automation only catches maybe 30% of all your a11y defects and even then we still receive a lot of false positives."
"I help you unlearn and relearn patterns so that you can build better products."
"If you’d rather exclude a group of people from using your product than do accessibility, then think about the impact you’re making."
"You can have a single page that’s got inaccessible, compliant, and accessible experiences all in one."
"No design system will ever be fully accessible because new features and permutations are always being introduced."
"Accessibility is a key component of user experience that has been neglected and requires specialists to close the gap."
"Small incremental changes are better than no changes at all from both the process and technical view."
"We’ve been taught to build fast and break things, and we often play accessibility on the back burner."
"Unique names for components like message bars are crucial, especially when multiple instances are shown at once."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"If you’re not doing the work of addressing your own pain, you won’t be effective in helping others."
Denise Jacobs Nancy Douyon Renee Reid Lisa WelchmanInteractive Keynote: Social Change by Design
January 8, 2024
"The unsung hero of Enterprise UX isn’t the user or the researcher or the designer — it’s the person drowning in emails, Excel sheets, and project plans."
Dan WillisEnterprise Storytelling Sessions
June 8, 2016
"Miles gave them the music as they entered the studio; they didn’t know what they were going to be playing."
Jim KalbachJazz Improvisation as a Model for Team Collaboration
June 4, 2019
"Starting small with local meetups or internal talks helps you test and improve your material before bigger stages."
Louis Rosenfeld Jemma Ahmed Christian Crumlish Uday Gajendar Chris GeisonCoffee with Lou #3: What Makes for a Successful UX Conference Presentation?
May 2, 2024
"Sixty-one factors influence students’ decisions when choosing a college—that’s a lot more than you might think."
Ricardo MartinsUnlocking the power of advanced quantitative methods
March 12, 2025
"The absence of feedback during design demos was a red flag — we missed information and had to realign quickly."
Frank DuranPartnership Playbook: Lessons Learned in Effective Partnership
January 8, 2024
"User-centered design methods can be used at every stage of policy making, from intention setting to evaluation."
Alexandra SchmidtWhy Ethics Can't Save Tech
November 18, 2022
"The complex problem we were solving was not really solution based at all. It was a cultural team alignment problem."
Davis Neable Guy SegalHow to Drive a Design Project When you Don’t Have a Design Team
June 10, 2021
"When you press a button like an upvote, it’s the developer’s job to make sure the visual state is communicated via ARIA landmarks."
Sam ProulxDesigning For Screen Readers: Understanding the Mental Models and Techniques of Real Users
December 10, 2021
