“Work smarter, not harder”: Focus on sustainable accessibility 

Creating accessible digital products doesn’t have to cost a fortune, and it definitely doesn’t have to be disruptive to your design and development cycles. It’s significantly more affordable (and efficient) to build an accessible product from the beginning, than to fix and remediate a broken one. A focus on accessibility is important, but a focus on sustainability is the key to true success. 

Start at the beginning

When is the first time accessibility is considered in your current workflow? If you’re not already talking about accessibility when planning or gathering requirements, you are risking increased effort in the long run. By including accessibility in your research, planning, design and development stages, you are mitigating issues and saving yourself time, effort and money!

Test early and often

Technology is constantly changing, we know this. With every new release or update, there’s an increased possibility of a broken or inaccessible experience for a user. Just because you successfully ship one accessible product, doesn’t mean it will remain that way forever. Regular scheduled testing ensures that you are not only meeting compliance standards, but providing a positive user experience overall. 

Share the knowledge 

Having accessibility “champions” is valuable, but make sure that one person does not hold all of the knowledge for your team or organization. Turnover is inevitable, and in the tech industry, it is even more prevalent. Set yourself up for success by making sure that knowledge is shared amongst many, or at the very least well documented, so others can continue to work on your accessibility roadmap, even in times of change. Having living documents, like an accessibility charter, is a great way to ensure alignment and to track progress. Creating a culture that is aware of the importance of accessibility will help you meet your goals and avoid rework in the long run. 

Engage real users

Using automated accessibility testing tools is great, but shouldn’t be the only method of testing that you rely on. These tools only catch 20-30% of accessibility issues. In order to ensure you are uncovering the remaining issues, you need to engage with real users. By using Fable, you’re able to identify barriers, assess experiences, and solve problems with the very users, and assistive technologies, that will be using your digital products.