Earlier this week, I attended a cybersecurity presentation that had a lot of great parallels to digital accessibility. The speaker mentioned that cybersecurity isn’t just a technology problem. It’s three categories: technology, people, and process. I hadn’t thought about it in those terms, but accessibility can be is described the same way.
Technology
This is your codebase – themes, plugins/modules, email templates. Everything that needs to be brought up to date with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and maintained over time. The speaker talked about paying off your technical debt before you can make forward progress. This is true for accessibility too. You need to audit and fix the existing issues before you can start to layer on features that better serve users with disabilities.
People
Every day, people within your business are making design updates, content edits, and settings changes that impact web accessibility. Training designers, developers, and content management on accessibility best practices is essential in minimizing the source of most accessibility issues – humans.
Process
Establishing a systematic process is key for long-term success in accessibility. An accessibility initiative is not a one-and-done project. It requires ongoing dedication to maintain an accessible website.
Having an accessibility process in place will help your team:
- Establish a cadence for accessibility audits
- Develop resources for staff onboarding/education
- Implement workflows that flag potential accessibility issues
- Respond to users experiencing accessibility issues
This three-point framework is great for understanding the scope of accessibility needs within your business. It may start with technology, but it’s bigger than that. Only addressing the technology issues can feel a lot like Whack-A-Mole.
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