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
"Research repositories often get a bad rap because people just dump final reports without thinking about how they'll be used."
Mike Oren Janice WiitalaDesign Research Strategy & Strategic Design Research
February 3, 2022
"Over a third of the company signed in shortly after launch, which felt like a great success."
Michelle Bejian Lotia Anne-Marie MorellRolling Out a Repository: How Zapier Centralizes Insights from Across their Organization
March 28, 2023
"Creativity, accountability, and authenticity are going to be the new markers of humanity."
Katie JohnsonDisrupting generative AI products with just-in-time consumer insights
June 4, 2024
"We recommend pausing the focus on NPS score to coach behaviors that drive long-term customer relationships."
Bob Baxley Sara Asche Anderson Sharon Bautista Frank Duran Jamie Kaspszak Abbey Smalley Sylas SouzaTheme 4: Discussion
January 8, 2024
"Evals are a product and UX skill; learning them lets you make these systems do what you want."
Peter Van DijckHands-on AI #1: Let’s write your first AI eval
October 8, 2025
"Design language is probably the worst language possible to speak because it’s so comfortable and confusing."
Deanna Washington Tim Allen Jeff Courcelle John Maeda Matt Raw Erica TjaderScaling Success: Paving the Path from DesignOps to VP
October 4, 2023
"We don’t have time for ethnography, yet executives still don’t have answers without it."
Kelly GotoEmotion Economy: Ethnography as Corporate Strategy
May 13, 2015
"Only 50% of people in Germany interact with authorities online, compared to 80-90% in Nordic countries."
Magdalena ZadaraZero Hour: How to Get Far Quickly When Starting Your Digital Service Unit Late
November 16, 2022
"You don’t have to take notes; session videos and decks will be shared as soon as possible."
Bria AlexanderOpening Remarks
October 3, 2023
Latest Books All books
Dig deeper with the Rosenbot
What are best practices for onboarding and operationalizing UX research tools post-procurement to ensure adoption?
What cultural or institutional factors hinder innovation and adaptation in design education programs?
How can research teams balance the tradeoff between research pacing, speed, and quality?