Designing with Empathy: Accessibility Challenges

📲 Text the show your thoughts!

Ever had a team come to you after an a11y audit like, "but I used the design system, why does my product have accessibility defects??" Daniel Henderson-Ede, one of design systems' leading accessibility voices, joins me on the show today to unpack a spicy myth in design systems: that accessibility can be fully "built-in." Daniel walks us through the common pitfalls of overselling accessibility, how teams often mistakenly assume the system handles everything, and we explore the challenges and missteps of managing accessibility.

📋 Plus, check out Daniel's Systems-Accessibility Ownership Matrix resource that you can use on your Design System team!

Links & References

• Daniel Henderson-Ede on LinkedIn
• Daniel's website
• Daniel's recorded talks and shows
• Mantis & Co accessibility services
• Download Daniel and CVS's Figma Web Accessibility Annotation Kit
• Stark Figma plugin
• Use this for your teams! Daniel's Systems-Accessibility Ownership Matrix
• Inconsistent consistency within design systems

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🎨🎟️ Into Design Systems is May 25-28
Get your ticket at intodesignsystems.com/ontheme

Into Design Systems is back with their annual virtual conference, May 28-30, 2025. Get your ticket now for three days of practical, hands on sessions showing the what, why, and how of design systems. This year, the conference is focused on developer handoff, accessibility, multi brand theming, and governance. You'll get hands on knowledge you can put to use at work immediately, files and resources to take away, and hear from very well known industry speakers.