Summary
Incorporating accessibility can be seen as a daunting task, especially for products that have already been released. Alexis Lucio, Senior Accessibility Lead at Splunk, will share her journey in making accessibility a first-class citizen within Splunk Design System. Topics include: how to advocate for accessibility, utilizing use cases to optimize design and dev, how to utilize user input, and ideas on how to collaborate with cross-functional partners.
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
"We used virtual sketching where users could move components into spaces representing their actual workflows on the platform."
Andreas Huebner Amy Takata Craig BrookesWhat Is It Like To Be Part of The UX Team at Compass?
March 11, 2021
"Research repositories and libraries are social things — many teams look for best practices beyond just building a library."
Brigette Metzler Dana ChrisfieldResearch Repositories: A global project by the ResearchOps Community
August 27, 2020
"People not only need insights; they need confidence that they are making the right decisions with those insights."
Hana NagelTurning Research Ripples into Waves
November 8, 2018
"System models provide a human-readable level above the database, enabling stakeholder alignment on complex features."
Robert ReimannTaming Design Complexity with UX Models
June 8, 2017
"Situational disabilities like glare or temporary injuries affect a large portion of your audience and need to be considered in design."
Sheri Byrne-HaberThe Importance of Accessible Design Systems
January 8, 2024
"Designers don’t do tasks; they perform activities that last weeks or even months. That changes how you track utilization."
Aurobinda Pradhan Shashank DeshpandeIntroduction to Collaborative DesignOps using Cubyts
September 8, 2022
"Emergence is a moral concept—it can be a good thing or a terrible thing that emerges from systems."
Luke Roberts Christian Bason, Ph.D. Amanda Woolley Ben ReasonPanel Discussion
December 4, 2024
"You really have to use a broader net of the titles and levels you’re looking for because you’re not gonna find the perfect fit just within the title."
Abbey SmalleyToday’s Design Ops and Programs Landscape & Career Paths
October 4, 2023
"Every minute spent struggling with an IT system is a minute not spent delivering value for IBM and our clients."
Kristin WisnewskiMeasuring What Matters
October 23, 2019
