How to incorporate accessibility into your product roadmap from the start
An extremely common theme in almost all of digital projects I've worked in are the lack of interest and emphasis on incorporating accessibility within the product roadmap. That needs to change, and here's how.

As someone who has been involved in hundreds of digital projects throughout my career, I have noticed an extremely common theme: the lack of interest and emphasis on incorporating accessibility within the product roadmap. Unfortunately, it is considered to be an afterthought, which is the wrong way to look at it.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 15% of the world's population, or about 1 billion people, live with some form of disability. Yet in an accessibility evaluation conducted by WebAIM (Web Accessibility In Mind) of the top 1 million home pages, 95.9% fail the basic accessibility guidelines set by the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).
Implementing accessibility at a later stage is more expensive and shows a lack of desire in making sure that products are accessible to as many people as possible. Efforts are made to reduce barriers that some of us (myself included) face when accessing content online.
At the same time, I’m mindful that this is often because of lack of awareness or understanding on what is involved in accessibility and (ironically) the barriers that exist within an organisation process.
The steps below will provide insights on how to ensure that all products take accessibility into account during the build, not after.
This approach improves the overall accessibility of your product and spreads the effort and cost of implementing accessibility features over time, making it more manageable and cost-effective.
How to integrate accessibility into product roadmap [TL;DR]
- Include accessibility goals in each product release cycle
- Prioritise accessibility features alongside other core functionalities
- Integrate accessibility considerations into the product's long-term vision
- Allocate resources for accessibility testing, audits and training
- Integrate accessibility checkpoints into the design and development process
- Include user testing with individuals with disabilities
- Set measurable accessibility KPIs (Key Performance Indicators)
- Incorporate accessibility feedback loops from users and stakeholders
- Plan for accessibility documentation and compliance reporting
- Schedule regular accessibility-focused sprints or iterations
- Allocate time for retrofitting existing features for improved accessibility
- Include plans for accessibility-focused user research
1. Include accessibility goals in each product release cycle and from the start
From the start, there must be a conversation about accessibility. This is crucial for ensuring that it remains a consistent priority throughout your product's development. This approach helps prevent it from becoming an afterthought or a last-minute addition, which is an expensive mistake.
Consider the following when planning each release:
- Employ or hire external digital accessibility experts to be involved in decision making.
- Identify specific accessibility features or improvements to be implemented.
- Set clear, measurable accessibility objectives for the release.
- Align accessibility goals with other product features.
- Prioritise accessibility tasks in the release schedule.
- Include accessibility acceptance criteria in your definition of "done" for each feature.
Doing this will create a culture where accessibility is seen as a core component of product quality, rather than an optional extra or a “nice to have”.
Example case study: Microsoft's Xbox Adaptive Controller - Microsoft incorporated accessibility goals from the start when developing the Xbox Adaptive Controller. They worked closely with gamers with limited mobility throughout the process.
2. Prioritise accessibility features alongside other core functionalities

From my experience, accessibility features are not labelled as “essential” compared to other core functionalities. It will be difficult, perhaps impossible, to overlook scenarios where it has a huge impact on the business e.g. when a website is down or e-commerce payment is not working.
But I’m talking about the features that are designed to enhance a digital experience, demonstrating a commitment to creating products usable by a wide audience.
You can consider specific tasks, such as integrating accessibility features into your main development workflow, not as separate tasks. And ensure that product managers and the relevant stakeholders understand the importance of accessibility. There are always positive business cases and arguments to make if implemented properly.
Example case study: Airbnb has integrated accessibility features into their core search functionality. This allows users to filter accommodations based on specific needs.
3. Integrate accessibility considerations into the product's long-term vision
Long-term thinking is fundamental to your product strategy, whether it’s about accessibility or not.
There are multiple ways of doing that:
- Mission and Values Alignment: include accessibility in your product's mission statement, core values, brand identity and all aspects of communication.
- Strategic Planning: include accessibility goals in your product's strategic roadmap and align them to support your overall business objectives.
- Competitive Advantage: position accessibility as a key differentiator in your product strategy and stand out in the market.
- User-Centric Design Philosophy: embed accessibility principles into your overall design by ensuring inclusive design is a core part of your product development approach.
- Organisational Culture: foster a culture where accessibility is everyone's responsibility, not just a specialised team, in their daily activities.
- Regulatory Foresight: anticipate future accessibility regulations and standards by positioning your product to be ahead of compliance requirements.
Example case study: The BBC has accessibility champions across teams and conducts regular audits to meet standards.
4. Allocate resources for accessibility testing, audits and training
How much resources you allocate to accessibility tasks like testing and audits will be dependent on various factors like budget and number of hands available. Efforts should still be made to take the allocation seriously.
This can be done in various ways:
- Hire or contract accessibility experts for comprehensive audits. Get periodic third-party accessibility audits for unbiased assessments.
- Budget for specialised accessibility testing tools and software.
- Train quality assurance team members in accessibility testing techniques and tools.
- Implement both automated and manual accessibility testing processes.
- Plan for testing with various assistive technologies (e.g., screen readers, voice recognition software).
- Allocate resources for remediation efforts based on audit findings.
- Include accessibility testing in your continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipeline.
- Plan for regular accessibility training for the product team.
Accessibility testing is not a one-time event but an ongoing process that should be integrated into your overall quality assurance strategy. Investing in testing tools and training on how to use them is essential.
Example case study: Google's Accessibility Training Program offers comprehensive accessibility training for its employees. This includes hands-on workshops and online courses.
5. Integrate accessibility checkpoints into the design and development process

The idea behind regular checkpoints is to ensure that accessibility is considered at every stage, rather than being treated as a separate or final step. This integration will catch potential issues as early as possible, making them easier and less costly to address.
Some ways to integrate this process include:
- Implement accessibility checks in your design review process.
- Incorporate automated accessibility testing into your development workflow.
- Include accessibility criteria in code review checklists.
- Set up automated accessibility checks in your CI/CD pipeline.
- Conduct regular manual testing with assistive technologies during development.
- Include accessibility testing in your QA process before each release.
- Establish an accessibility sign-off procedure before launching new features.
- Schedule regular reviews of accessibility guidelines.
Example case study: Slack has integrated accessibility checkpoints and strategies throughout their design and development process to build awareness.
6. Include user testing with individuals with disabilities
You can’t make a product accessible without testing it with people who live with those disabilities.
I’m not saying you can’t use automated/manual testing yourself, but it’s not enough. Nobody understands barriers better than those living with them. This testing provides insights that can’t be gained through automated testing or by team members simulating disabilities.
Not doing so can be costly by implementing the wrong features that could add more barriers than intended.
But it’s not just a matter of getting any disabled person to do it. Consider the following:
- Recruit a diverse group of users with various disabilities, including visual, auditory, motor, and cognitive.
- Conduct testing sessions throughout the development process, not just at the end.
- Use a mix of in-person and remote testing methods to accommodate different needs.
- Ensure your testing environment is accessible and comfortable for participants.
- Prepare tasks that reflect real-world usage scenarios of your product.
- Use assistive technologies during testing sessions
- Encourage participants to think aloud and share their experiences as they use the product.
- Document both quantitative data (e.g., task completion rates) and qualitative feedback.
- Follow up with participants to get additional insights or clarifications if needed.
- Share findings with the entire product team to foster empathy and understanding
Example case study: Apple regularly conducts user testing with individuals with disabilities to refine their accessibility features.
7. Set measurable accessibility KPIs
Like any project, setting clear, ambitious yet achievable goals can help track progress, demonstrate the value of accessibility efforts, ensure continuous improvement, quantify your accessibility goals and provide concrete metrics to guide the team's efforts.
KPIs to consider:
- Compliance scores: set targets for the levels of compliance with the WCAG (A, AA, AAA) and use automated testing tools to track percentage of pages meeting those standards.
- User satisfaction: conduct regular surveys with your customers who have disabilities and use Net Promoter Score (NPS) or similar metrics to track user satisfaction from those with accessibility needs.
- Accessibility bug resolution: set clear goals for the time taken and number of accessibility-related bugs identified and resolved.
- Assistive technology compatibility: set targets for compatibility with popular screen readers and other assistive technologies.
- User testing metrics: measure task completion rates and times for users with disabilities.
- Accessibility documentation: track creation, progress, status, and completion while keeping it current.
- Colour contrast: track, measure and set targets on visual elements meeting colour contrast requirements.
- Alternative text coverage: similar to above, but for images and non-text content with appropriate alternative text.
Example case study: UK Government's Accessibility Monitoring - the UK government sets and measures specific accessibility KPIs for its digital services.
8. Incorporate accessibility feedback loops with all stakeholders, internally and externally

If nobody is informed, setting up everything mentioned above will cause frustration and stifle innovation. But effective feedback loops for accessibility are crucial for ongoing improvement and ensuring that your product truly meets the needs of all users.
There are many ways you can do this:
- Use appropriate channels: create dedicated channels within email, project management tools, and messaging platforms of choice.
- Regular user surveys and testing: conduct periodic surveys and testing to understand product satisfaction and to gather in-depth feedback on new features or changes.
- Bug reporting and tracking: implement a system for users to report accessibility issues easily and ensure the tracking system has clear categories for accessibility-related issues.
- Public roadmap: many companies have roadmap that informs users what is currently in the pipeline. It is a useful feature to keep everyone informed.
- Company-wide updates and reports: regularly share accessibility feedback with the wider company to keep everyone updated and ensure accessibility continues to be a priority for the organisation.
Example case study: Microsoft's Disability Answer Desk is a dedicated support channel called the Disability Answer Desk. It provides specialised customer support for people with disabilities and gathers feedback to improve product accessibility.
9. Plan for accessibility documentation and compliance reporting
Lack of documentation and compliance reporting in any project will leave you running the risks legal non-compliance, demonstrates a lack of commitment to accessibility, removes guided internal efforts, and limits transparency to users.
When I say documentation and compliance reporting, this includes the following:
- Accessibility Statement: create and regularly update a clear and detailed accessibility statement that includes information on compliance level, known issues, and how users can report accessibility problems.
- Internal Accessibility Guidelines: provide clear, up-to-date and detailed accessibility guidelines and best practices for internal use, and ensure that they are easily accessible for all team members.
Example case study: Salesforce's Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) provides detailed accessibility documentation and compliance reports for their products.
10. Schedule regular accessibility-focused sprints or iterations
There are times when you need to focus on specific sprints or iterations to prioritise accessibility in your product development cycle.
This will allow your team to concentrate on addressing accessibility issues, implementing new accessible features, and improving overall product inclusivity.
Come to think of it, having regular sprints/iterations for other features is not any different, apart from requiring specific type of feedback and testing.
Like any sprint, you need to determine the frequency, the goals and objectives, the team composition, prioritisation level, audit and review, documentation, showcases…
...and the same goes for accessibility-focused tasks.
Example case study: Microsoft AI for Accessibility (AI4A) Hackathon is an annual event within the company’s Asia-Pacific region. It features teams who are dedicated to solving real-world challenges faced by people with disabilities.
11. Allocate time for retrofitting existing features for improved accessibility
You may have noticed that I am consistently shouting out about the need to build accessibility features from the start. But like any features, there will be some that already exist and they need to be retrofitted for improved feature.
Like any features.
Allocating time and resources for this process ensures that your product becomes more inclusive over time. It acknowledges that accessibility is ongoing and all users, regardless of when a feature was developed.
What I like about this approach is it will often lead to further innovations that will benefit all users because there is a desire to continuously attempt to improve the product overall, and not just to meet accessibility standards.
Example case study: Google regularly implements accessibility updates to their existing products in a number of their products.
12. Include plans for accessibility-focused user research
If you consider a typical focused group, they focus on having the right target market to ensure you get the best quality feedback directly from your sources.
The same applies to gain insights from user research that focuses specifically on accessibility, but there are some nuances to consider when planning one:
- Diverse participants: not just in terms of wide range of disabilities (e.g. visual, auditory, motor, cognitive), but also diverse in demographic factors.
- Assistive technology consideration: have various assistive technology and methods, such as phone interviews or in-person, when digital methods aren’t suitable.
- Longitudinal Studies: plan for long-term studies to understand how users with disabilities adapt to and use your product over time.
- Feedback Mechanisms: implement accessible ways for users to provide ongoing feedback about accessibility issues.
- Persona Development: create or update user personas to include people with disabilities to guide design and development decisions.
- Journey mapping: develop user journey maps that specifically consider the experiences of users with disabilities.
- Ethical considerations: develop clear ethical guidelines for conducting research with potentially vulnerable users, ensuring consent and data protection.
- Cross-functional Involvement: involve team members from various disciplines (design, development, product management) in the research process for learning, empathy, understanding, and innovation.
Example case study: Netflix conducts ongoing accessibility research to improve the user experience for viewers with disabilities.
Incorporating accessibility into your product roadmap from the beginning is not just a moral imperative; it's a strategic business decision that can lead to innovation, broader market reach, and improved user satisfaction for all. What I have outlined in this article will help ensure it becomes an integral part of your company's DNA rather than something to be considered later.
As we move forward in an increasingly digital world, the question is no longer whether we should make our products accessible, but how quickly and effectively we can do so. And that also means not depending on AI to do it for you.
What steps will you take today to make your product more inclusive? How can you leverage accessibility to drive innovation in your industry? And how will you ensure that it becomes a core value in your organization, championed by every team member from the executives to the newest hire?
Like any decision-making within an organisation, it’s not easy. But it’s also challenging for people like myself who are denied access to your products, services, and content.
It’s your responsibility to do something about that.