Scaling Accessibility Through Design Systems
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
"I made an explicit choice: we’re not making any offers until we’re interviewing women."
Dantley DavisLeadership & Diversity—A Fireside Chat with Dantley Davis
September 17, 2020
"The reason some of these tools aren’t embraced right now is a little bit of fear and lack of understanding."
Frances Yllana Jorge Arango Maria Taylor Briana ThomasThe Big Question about Impact: A Panel Discussion
September 24, 2024
"Most former extremists don’t come up with the idea of involvement themselves, somebody always approaches them."
Jim KalbachPeace is waged with sticky notes: Mapping Real-World Experiences
June 14, 2018
"Doubt and fear come up if you haven’t established the right communication and trust."
Sarah Kinkade Mariana Ortiz-ReyesDesign Management Models in the Face of Transformation
June 8, 2022
"Be compassionate with yourself and others. Not everyone likes high fives, and that's okay."
Reginé GilbertAsking the Right Questions: Life, Hope and Moving Forward During the Pandemic
June 10, 2022
"Simon Roberts calls this the UX ification of research, which leads to a more transactional focus on informing technology requirements."
Robin BeersNavigating organizational systems: Rethinking researcher’s role in driving change
March 13, 2025
"Designers are being told to be less and less visual; your job involves more product discussion—you’re going from designer to describer."
Paul FordNew work, new words: A glossary for AI
June 9, 2026
"Often you can tell people just don’t talk, and design systems need that interpersonal stuff to work."
Dan DonaldDesign Systems as a Vehicle for Systemic Change
June 1, 2023
"You get real coded components, not just HTML snippets or style attributes, meaning developers can drag, drop, and extend with hooks already in place."
George Abraham Stefan IvanovDesign Systems To-Go: Reimagining Developer Handoff, and Introducing App Builder (Part 2)
October 1, 2021
