By Allison Weinstock, Senior Director, Creative
Every year, Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) encourages people to think more deeply about digital access and inclusion. GAAD serves as a reminder that access to information, experiences, and services should never be limited by the way something is designed.
As a federal contractor, we’ve become experts in ensuring 508-compliant designs through color contrast, reading order, tag trees, captions, alt text, etc. But what started out as a checklist for the sake of being compliant has fundamentally changed the way I think about design.
More Than a Checklist
As designers, we shape how people experience information every day. The choices we make around typography, color, motion, layouts, hierarchy, and language directly impact whether someone can meaningfully engage with what we create.
Too often, accessibility becomes something teams think about at the end of a project:
“Can we make this 508 compliant?”
“Can we add captions?”
“Does this technically pass?”
But accessibility was never meant to be an afterthought. Often incorporating it at the end of the project means retrofitting accommodations rather than blending them seamlessly from the beginning.
Design For All
I used to think about accessibility primarily through the lens of responsibility and compassion for others — both of which still deeply matter to me. But there’s an important reality that often gets overlooked: accessibility only enhances the human experience. There are so many people in the world that would benefit from accessibility compliance, including those with visual, auditory, motor, or cognitive processing needs. In many ways, accessibility is something all of us will interact with eventually, whether temporarily or permanently, in our families or personally. And that perspective shifts us from “designing for other people” toward creating experiences that work for everyone.
Expanding Reach
Even from a pragmatic viewpoint, there’s a case for accessibility from a business perspective too. The more accessible your materials are, the more people can engage with them. That means more eyes on your content, more ears listening to your message, and more brains retaining your information. Accessible design expands reach.
Captions aren’t just useful for folks with auditory impairments — they also support anyone watching videos without sound, scrolling social media in public, or trying not to wake up a sleeping partner.
Screen reader-ready content doesn’t have to just be for people with visual impairments — it can also help people who process information better auditorily or even just people multitasking while listening through headphones.
Clear hierarchy helps people scan information faster. Thoughtful color contrast improves readability outdoors and on mobile devices. Simple navigation reduces friction for everyone.
Good accessibility is often just good design.
More Minds, More Reach, Can’t Lose
GAAD exists to encourage action around digital access. As designers, we have the opportunity to create experiences that invite more people in rather than unintentionally shutting them out. Whether for audience reach or human connection, we expand information sharing for everyone when we put accessibility at the forefront.
