From Nice-to-Have to Non-Negotiable – How to Lead with Inclusive Design

It’s April already, and if you’re like most of us, those personal New Year’s resolutions might be fading fast. But when it comes to making your organisation’s digital products more accessible, this is one commitment worth keeping. Organisations that lead with inclusive design understand it’s not just a tick box exercise, it is about creating experiences that work for everyone, with benefits that go far beyond compliance.

I was chatting with founder from a fintech company in Cork last week about how they’ve transformed their approach to accessibility. “It was surprisingly simple,” she told me. “We just started including accessibility checks in our sprint planning meetings. Now our developers ask about keyboard navigation before we even mention it. It has become part of our DNA rather than an afterthought.”

This got me thinking about practical ways organisations across Ireland are improving their digital accessibility without getting overwhelmed.

Lead with Inclusive Design by Starting Small and being Specific

The team at GoIreland, a Dublin-based travel site, discovered their booking calendar was virtually unusable with screen readers. Rather than panicking about their entire site, they focused just on this critical component. Adding proper ARIA labels improved the experience for visually impaired users overnight, without requiring a complete redesign.

“We expected it to be complicated,” their lead developer told me, “but once we understood the issue, the fix took less than a day. The feedback from users has been brilliant.”

Think about this, the solution might be as simple as identifying the most-used feature on your site and making sure it works with a keyboard only. No mouse, no trackpad just tab keys and enter. You might be surprised at what you discover.

Inclusive Design is all about Learning Together

At a recent accessibility Network event, I met a UX designer who shared how they’ve made learning about accessibility a team activity. They bring in consultants with various disabilities to review their products and share insights.

“One consultant with dyslexia pointed out that our knowledge base was nearly impossible for her to use,” the designer explained. “The dense paragraphs and lack of visual breaks created unnecessary barriers. We added more headings, bullet points, and increased line spacing—simple changes that made our documentation more accessible to everyone.”

Consider setting a resolution to schedule monthly lunch-and-learns where your team can explore different aspects of inclusive design. One month focus on alt text, the next on colour contrast, and so on. The key is making it a shared journey rather than one person’s responsibility.

Test with Real People

Automated accessibility tools are ok for catching basic issues, but they only identify about 30% of potential barriers. The rest require human judgment and experience.

This lesson was learned when a healthcare app developer included a user with motor limitations in their testing panel. “We’d designed this ‘tap and hold’ gesture for important actions, thinking it was intuitive,” their product manager shared. “But it was literally impossible for this user to perform. We added alternative interaction methods, which ended up benefiting not just users with disabilities but also elderly users and people using the app while on public transport.”

Best practice might be to include at least one person with a disability in your user testing for each major release. Their insights will be invaluable and often benefit all users.

Make Your Content Work Harder

A content strategist at an Irish government agency, told me about a simple change that made a massive difference: “We rewrote our grant application guidelines with simpler sentences and more headings.

It wasn’t rocket science just clearer language and better structure. Applications with correctly completed forms increased by 24% the following quarter, saving everyone time and frustration.”

Dense, complex content creates barriers for many people, including those with cognitive disabilities, non-native English speakers, and, honestly, anyone trying to get information quickly.

Consider resolving to review your most important content using readability tools. Aim for clear, concise language that an average 13-year-old could understand. Your users—all of them—will thank you.

Create a Network of Champions

One organisation getting this right is Trinity College Dublin. Their digital accessibility team created a network of “accessibility liaisons” across departments. These liaisons meet quarterly to share progress and challenges, creating a community of practice that sustains momentum even when other priorities compete for attention.

“Having dedicated people in each department has been key,” their accessibility coordinator explained. “It’s not just one person shouting into the void about standards. It’s colleagues supporting each other and sharing solutions that work in their specific contexts.”

Again the solution here for your organisation might be to identify accessibility champions in different departments who can advocate for inclusive design from within their teams. This network approach often works better than top-down mandates.

Focus on One Feature at a Time

A well known ecommerce company took an interesting approach that paid off massively, rather than trying to fix their entire site at once, they focused solely on making their checkout process fully accessible before moving on to other features.

“We knew we couldn’t do everything at once,” their lead developer said. “So we picked the most critical journey the one that directly affected our bottom line and made it work flawlessly for everyone.”

The result? A 15% increase in mobile conversions overall, with feedback suggesting the clearer process was easier for everyone to use.

This for me is a no brainer, you need for example choose one feature each quarter for an accessibility deep dive. Maybe it’s your signup form in Q1, your checkout process in Q2, and so on. whatever it is make that one thing as accessible as possible, then move to the next feature.

Be Transparent About Your Journey

Irish retailer Dunnes Stores recently began publishing quarterly accessibility updates on their website, detailing improvements made and plans for future work. This transparency has generated positive feedback from disability advocacy groups and customers alike.

“We’re not perfect yet, and we’re honest about that,” their digital director told me. “But by sharing our progress publicly, we’re holding ourselves accountable and showing our commitment to getting better.”

This is something you may want to consider i.e. consider creating a public accessibility statement that you update quarterly with improvements you’ve made. This shows transparency and builds trust with users and demonstrates your ongoing commitment.

The Payoff Is Real

The brilliant thing about inclusive design is that it creates better experiences for everyone. A more readable font helps people with vision impairments but also helps anyone scrolling through your site while walking on a sunny day.

Clear instructions help people with cognitive disabilities but also help new users unfamiliar with your product.

The technical term for this is “the curb cut effect”—named after the sloped curbs designed for wheelchair users that ended up benefiting parents with prams, travellers with luggage, delivery workers, and many others.

Which Inclusive Design Solution Will You Choose?

The best time to make your products more accessible was when you first built them. The second best time is now.

Choose just one or two of these resolutions to focus on this quarter. Small, consistent improvements will build momentum and create lasting change in your organisation’s approach to inclusive design.

We’d love to hear which resolution you’re starting with. Comment below or reach out to us for personalised guidance on making your digital products more inclusive in 2025.