In Step 1, I shared how I secured executive buy-in for accessibility by focusing on education, legal risk, and revenue impact. While leadership alignment was a crucial first step, real progress hinged on getting our engineering teams on board.

The Engineering Roadblocks

Engineering faced three key challenges:

• A packed roadmap
  Accessibility felt like "extra work" on top of already full sprint schedules. Without clear prioritization, it was easy for teams to deprioritize accessibility improvements.

• A knowledge gap
  Many developers weren’t familiar with accessibility best practices, and QA didn’t have the tools or processes to effectively test for compliance.

• A misunderstanding of the need
  I heard comments like “Firefighters can’t be blind” and “This is an insane amount of work for so few people.” It was clear we needed to reframe accessibility beyond compliance and into something everyone could rally behind.

Starting with “Why”

The first step was education. I secured a 15-minute slot during our engineering all-hands—350 engineers in one room—to introduce accessibility from a user-centered perspective.

Instead of diving into guidelines or checklists, I focused on:

• Framing accessibility as usability for everyone
  Small changes—like better color contrast or keyboard navigation—improve the experience for all users, not just those with disabilities.

• Sharing real stories
  I highlighted how inaccessible interfaces impacted our users, from students with anxiety using screen readers to government employees relying on keyboard-only navigation. Real-world examples helped teams understand the human impact of inaccessible design.

• Identifying quick wins
  By focusing on high-impact, low-effort improvements (like adding alt text or improving contrast), we showed immediate value without overwhelming teams.

Scaling Accessibility Across Engineering

With leadership support and initial buy-in, we began embedding accessibility into our development workflows:

• Training & Resources
  I created role-specific training for designers, developers, and QA teams, along with accessible design/development checklists to integrate into daily workflows.

• Design System Integration
  We updated our design system with accessible components—ensuring keyboard navigation, proper ARIA labels, and compliant color contrast were baked in by default.

• Automated & Manual Testing
  Accessibility checks were added to our QA processes through tools like AXE and Stark for Figma. We also trained QA teams on manual testing methods (keyboard navigation, screen reader testing) to catch issues that automation might miss.

• Creating Accessibility Champions
  I identified team members passionate about inclusive design and empowered them to advocate for best practices within their squads, helping to drive ongoing adoption across teams.

The Reality of Sustaining Accessibility

While we made strong progress embedding accessibility into engineering workflows, not every part of the organization moved at the same pace. Branding and marketing were initially receptive to accessibility conversations, but after I left, efforts in those areas stalled, and their corporate site reverted to inaccessible practices.

This underscores an important truth:
Accessibility isn’t a one-time initiative—it requires ongoing commitment from every part of the organization.Without sustained advocacy and leadership prioritization, progress can easily backslide.

Lessons Learned

• Start with empathy and education—meet teams where they are, and focus on the human impact first.

• Make accessibility easy to adopt by providing clear guidance, ready-to-use components, and supportive resources.

• Celebrate small wins to build momentum while keeping leadership engaged to maintain long-term focus.

• Sustainable change requires cross-functional buy-in—without ongoing prioritization across all departments, accessibility efforts risk losing traction.

What’s Next?

In Step 3, I’ll share how we integrated accessibility into our product development lifecycle—from requirements gathering to “definition of done”—to ensure accessibility became a core part of our process rather than an afterthought.