10 Tips to Become the Accessibility SME on Your Team
taught by: Chad Hester
Session Summary
This session provides ten practical, field-tested tips to help attendees grow from "Accessibility aware" to "Accessibility SME." We'll explore technical skills, communication strategies, tooling, and influence techniques that allow individuals to embed accessibility into everyday development workflows. Attendees will leave with actionable steps they can apply immediately, whether they are front-end developers, full-stack engineers, QA professionals, technical leads or program managers.
Description
Accessibility expertise is no longer a "nice to have", it's a competitive advantage for development teams and organizations alike. Yet many developers, QA analysts, and designers don't know where to start when trying to become the go-to accessibility expert in their company.
Rather than focusing only on standards and checklists, this session emphasizes real-world application: how to advocate for accessibility, integrate testing into CI/CD, collaborate with designers and product owners, and demonstrate business value. The goal is simple, empower participants to become trusted accessibility champions inside their own dev shops.
Practical Skills
- A clear roadmap to become the accessibility SME.
- Practical testing skills they can apply immediately.
- Influence strategies to drive real change.