Digital accessibility is more critical than ever: approximately 1.3 billion people worldwide live with a disability (over 15% of the global population). Yet over 95% of leading website homepages are not fully accessible to them. Bridging this gap requires moving beyond a mere checklist approach. True digital accessibility isn’t just about complying with standards, it’s about building inclusive experiences that work for everyone. This means treating accessibility not as a one-time project, but as an ongoing commitment integrated into every aspect of your digital strategy. Below, we outline key components of a holistic accessibility program that can set an organization apart.

Comprehensive Evaluation & Inclusive Testing

A strong accessibility effort begins with thorough evaluation of digital content. This goes beyond running automated scanners; it involves expert manual audits and real user feedback. Automated testing tools are invaluable for catching common errors quickly, but they cannot capture every barrier on their own. Many issues like whether a screen reader makes sense of your site’s navigation or if alt text truly conveys image context need human judgment. The most effective approach is a blended strategy that combines intelligent tools with skilled human testers. In particular, involving people with disabilities in the testing process provides invaluable insights. These users leverage assistive technologies daily, so their feedback highlights practical obstacles that purely technical tests might miss. By evaluating with both automated scans and assistive tech users, organizations ensure all aspects of accessibility are addressed, not just the easy-to-find errors.

Sustainable Remediation & Development Practices

Uncovering issues is only half the battle – remediating them properly is crucial. Sustainable remediation means fixing the underlying code or design at the source, rather than applying band-aid solutions. For example, adding an accessibility widget or overlay might seem like a quick fix, but shortcuts like overlays rarely resolve all problems and can even worsen the user experience. Lasting accessibility comes from coding to standards and avoiding “solutions” that bypass true fixes. Once issues are identified, they should be prioritized by impact and addressed through permanent code changes (not temporary patches). It’s also important to “shift left” – integrate accessibility into the earliest stages of design and development. When developers and designers know how to build inclusively from the start, accessibility features can be baked in upfront, saving the costly effort of retrofitting later. In practice, this means adopting inclusive design principles, using semantic HTML and ARIA correctly, and testing new features for accessibility before deployment. By making accessibility a normal part of the development lifecycle (instead of an afterthought), organizations create digital products that are usable by all from day one. This proactive approach not only produces a better user experience but also reduces legal risk, since compliance is maintained continuously rather than checked only at project’s end.

Continuous Improvement and Empowerment

Achieving accessibility is not a one-and-done milestone – it’s an ongoing journey of continuous improvement. After initial fixes, there must be a process for monitoring and maintaining accessibility as content grows and technologies evolve. Regular check-ups or automated monitoring can alert teams to new issues (for instance, when a site update inadvertently introduces an accessibility bug). Reporting dashboards that track compliance over time are useful to measure progress and keep stakeholders accountable. The most mature organizations treat accessibility as a core quality metric, reviewing it just as they would performance or security.

Equally important is empowering people within the organization through training and culture. An inclusive digital program thrives only if the team understands why accessibility matters and how to implement it. Providing role-specific accessibility training (for developers, designers, content creators, etc.) builds this internal capability. When employees learn the needs of users with disabilities and best practices to meet them, they can proactively create inclusive products and content. This knowledge fosters a culture in which accessibility is everyone’s responsibility, not just the domain of a single department. It also promotes a sense of mission – teams recognize that by improving accessibility, they are enhancing the experience for all users and contributing to a more equitable digital world. Over time, with leadership support and awareness, accessibility becomes embedded in the organization’s DNA. Teams begin to anticipate accessibility requirements as second nature, and the organization moves from simply complying with standards to truly embracing inclusion as a core value.