This session is great for both in-house teams and agencies. Whether your products are designed and developed in-house, externally or hybrid this session focuses on how to evolve your process to include a11y. We look at everything waterfall to SAFe Agile frameworks, discussing when and where and how to include a11y checkpoints into your process without missing all your deadlines, underestimating scope or creating an endless pile of bugs to fix after launch. This session focuses on who is responsible for what, how to have more efficient hand-off from design to dev and how to leverage a proactive position on a11y in order to avoid downstream costly issues. We look at the various tools and considerations for making sure your process is efficient, effective, cost-effective and builds a11y from the start. You’ll gain an understanding of how designers should be thinking about a11y concerns in their creative process as well as some best practices to ensure accuracy and consistency.

We also discuss the importance of ongoing testing and communication between designers, developers and a11y professionals. The goal is to help make sure that everyone is on the same page by creating effective communication channels so nothing falls through the cracks.