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Shifting Left: How Designers Can Drive Accessibility Before Development Starts

taught by: Georgette Sullivan
co-presented by: Simran Singh

Session Summary

Accessibility shouldn't be an afterthought—by the time issues are caught in development, they're costly and harder to fix. Designers have a unique opportunity to shift accessibility left in the product lifecycle, ensuring that inclusive experiences are built from the start.

Description

This session will equip designers with the knowledge and tools to audit designs for accessibility, annotate components effectively, and influence organizational culture to prioritize accessibility earlier. Attendees will learn how to proactively identify and address accessibility barriers before development, improving efficiency and reducing rework.

As part of a global organization actively working to address the European Accessibility Act (EAA), we will explore how compliance requirements impact design workflows and strategies for ensuring accessibility standards are met across diverse markets. Additionally, we will discuss building an accessibility program within our organization with plans to scale it across the company. This includes partnering with compliance teams to establish a principled practice that ensures long-term sustainability.

Furthermore, we will cover how to prepare sales teams to address the challenges of communicating our product's accessibility and supporting our customers' users as a service provider.

Practical Skills

  • Embedding Accessibility Early (Shifting Left): Attendees will learn how to integrate accessibility into the design process from the beginning, reducing costly fixes later and fostering an inclusive design culture.
  • Documenting and Communicating Accessibility Needs: Designers will gain best practices for annotating accessibility requirements in design files and effectively communicating them to developers, ensuring seamless implementation.
  • Building and Scaling an Accessibility Program: Participants will understand how to develop a structured accessibility program, implement governance through a design system, and collaborate with compliance teams to create a sustainable, organization-wide practice.