Design systems promise consistency and speed, but when accessibility is treated as a checklist, components that “pass” in isolation often fail to meet the needs of real users in context.

In this talk, I will explore how scalable component libraries can unintentionally introduce usability barriers, despite good intentions. Drawing from experience building accessible design systems, internal tools and auditing large-scale applications, I will unpack real-world examples where accessible components fell short and show how to fix them.

You will learn how to build components that adapt to context, document accessibility as part of the API, and test usability beyond Storybook.

Target Audience: Mid–senior frontend devs, design system teams, accessibility engineers, UI engineers, Engineering Managers, and UI Engineering team leads