Digital accessibility companies keep chanting “accessibility is a journey” and it continues to be as unhelpful as ever to clients. What does accessibility is a journey even mean?
To us, it sounds like a way for companies to say, “We want you paying us on an annual subscription for as long as possible.” Which doesn’t really make sense because they’re supposed to be the ones helping you make accessibility easier and, optimally, making your organization self sufficient.
Subscriptions have their place — when they continue to return the same or greater value, but what’s happening in the accessibility industry is many companies are forcing subscriptions in order to sustain their company valuations. They need to be able to hold up balance sheet and say this is all recurring revenue.
We take the opposite approach. We see accessibility services, optimally, as diminishing over the initial first few months or 1-2 years, depending on how many digital assets are in play.
Thus, one of the custom services we offer is a multi-faced integration of accessibility. This integration is an infusion of:
- expert consulting
- playbooks
- training
- processes
All of which are designed to quickly (in 3 months) take your internal accessibility from beginner to proficient. In school terms, let’s say take your report card from F to B/B+ in less than a semester.
An A is ambitious because expertise is built through reps and experience and no matter how good we are, we can’t give your developers and designers 3 years of experience in 3 months. But that won’t stop us from trying. Here are more details on what’s included in the service.
Custom Accessible Design Libraries
Think of a design library like a toolbox filled with pre-built website pieces — buttons, forms, menus — that your team can mix and match to create new pages. Except in this case, every tool in the box is already accessible. No more guessing if that new button meets contrast requirements or if screen readers can navigate your forms.
We build these libraries in Figma (basically Google Docs for designers — everyone can collaborate in real-time). Your custom library includes drag-and-drop components that match your brand, plain-English documentation, video tutorials for everyone from marketers to developers, and built-in checks that flag potential issues before they become problems.
The result? Your marketing team can create a fully accessible landing page in hours, not days.
Custom Code Library
Your developers need accessible code patterns just as much as designers need accessible components. We create a matching code library with pre-tested patterns for common development tasks — forms that announce errors correctly, modals that don’t trap keyboard users, dropdowns that work with voice control.
Each pattern includes clear comments explaining the accessibility features and simple tests to verify everything works. Whether you use React, Vue, or vanilla JavaScript, we build it in your stack. This means your developers have pre-made code for all sorts of components:
- Forms
- Pop-ups
- Buttons
- Checkboxes
- Menus
The result? Developers can copy the code, customize it, and paste it — knowing the code will be fully WCAG conformant (as long as the customizations maintain accessibility).
Informed Consulting
This is a custom service which means it’s for your organization. Part of this means that we spend time studying your current operations and processes so that we can advise on exactly what works best for your situation.
For example, if your team uses React and runs code reviews before deployment, we won’t give you the same accessibility speech we gave the last client. We’ll create React code templates your developers can actually use, add quick accessibility checks to your existing code review process, and show your team exactly where accessibility fits into the workflow they already follow.
Training That Teaches
There are too many courses out there — free and paid — that are long, boring, and many times fluffy. No one wants to sit through a boring intro that drags on and on. Our training gets right to the point and provides real, practical information that can be put to use right away.
Process Integration
We’ll review your existing processes and checklists and integrate accessibility considerations (per WCAG 2.1 AA or 2.2 AA) for each of your teams: development, design, and marketing.
If you don’t have an existing process, we’ll make one for you.
The objective here is to make accessibility a seamless part of your day-to-day operations.
Who This Works For
This approach works brilliantly for larger organizations who have multiple teams with ongoing digital edits, updates, and creations. In these situations, this type of work creates immense efficiency and almost immediately provides ROI.
Timeline
Here’s what a client timeline for this service might look like.
Month 1: Discovery and Foundation We assess your current setup, identify what’s missing or what needs to be fixed, and start building your custom toolkit. No generic templates — everything is tailored to how you actually work.
Month 2: Build and Test Your design library takes shape, training materials get customized with your real examples, and we pilot new processes with a small group.
Month 3: Roll Out and Refine Full team training happens, new processes go live, and we’re there to troubleshoot and adjust. By the end, your team is confidently creating accessible content and code.
The service is designed for a 3 month rapid implementation. For some organizations, this may take a few more months, but it’s crucial that this process isn’t drawn out. The longer accessibility integration takes, the less of an immediate impact we’re having and that’s really the point.
Get Started
If this approach sounds appealing, we’re ready to help you build accessibility into your organization’s DNA — not as an ongoing expense, but as a core competency.
Because the best accessibility service is the one that makes itself obsolete.
Contact us to discuss your specific situation and how we can help you refine your processes and seamlessly integrate accessibility.
