Creating a culture of accessibility

When I joined Sage, I became the company’s first dedicated digital accessibility hire. At the time, there was almost no awareness of accessibility across the business, let alone any processes or practices in place to support it.

I wasn’t coming in as part of a centrally funded programme or top-down initiative; I was hired by the VP of user experience design in Sage’s largest product division, covering nearly forty products and services, who had recognised the skill gap and wanted to take action.

That sponsorship gave me a strong start within the design function, but it was clear from the beginning that this wasn’t a design-only problem. Building accessible products meant influencing other disciplines and working closely with both senior leaders and delivery teams to a build shared ownership of accessibility.

At the same time, I had the opportunity to extend my reach beyond product and into the wider business. With my VP’s support, I worked with teams across Sage to make accessibility part of how the whole organisation operates.

This was never going to be solved with a quick fix or a checklist; it needed a cultural shift.

The Challenge

When I joined Sage, digital accessibility was almost entirely absent from the company culture. There was very limited awareness of why accessibility matters, no consistent processes to follow, and little practical understanding across teams. Lots of heads in the sand.

The challenge was clear: I needed to build awareness, develop skills, and create collective responsibility for accessibility across a wide range of disciplines; not just within design, but also in engineering, quality assurance, product management, and beyond.

I also had to influence senior leadership across the organisation to secure buy-in and resources; not just for the sake of strategy, but to make it easier for designers, developers, and others to act on their enthusiasm. Support from the top would enable them to take time to train, ask questions in the community, and feel empowered to challenge the way things had been done up to that point.

This wasn’t about ticking boxes against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG); the goal was a mindset shift so that accessibility became a natural, ongoing part of how teams work, making products truly accessible to real people over the long term.

What I did to build a culture of accessibility

I didn’t build a culture of accessibility by handing out WCAG checklists or pointing at regulations. I did it by working closely with teams, forming relationships, and giving them an understanding of the barriers disabled people were meeting, and how to put them right.

The steps I took followed a natural arc:

1. Build skills and knowledge
2. Help people put that knowledge into practice
3. Influence leadership to facilitate delivery teams
4. Support the growing community
5. Structure and accountability to keep everything on track

Build knowledge and capability

The first step was helping people understand what accessibility is and how it fits into their role. I ran training tailored to the different disciplines: design (including content and service design), user research, development, QA, and product ownership and management. Sessions ranged from foundational intros to hands-on workshops covering everything from how to prioritise accessibility issues to more practical sessions on design principals like heading structure and tutorials on screen reader testing.

To support this, I built an internal accessibility hub, which became the central place for resources such as:

• how to integrate accessibility into each role in product delivery
• understanding legal obligations and our conformance baseline (WCAG 2.1 AA)
• testing tools, methods, and guidance on using assistive technology

Embed accessibility into everyday practice

Training was only the start. I worked alongside teams to embed accessibility into the way they already worked. I sat in on design huddles and research sessions, reviewed designs and content, and helped teams build accessibility into their workflows .

The Design System team was a key partner here. Together we baked accessibility into components, patterns, documentation, and governance. I also pushed for better collaboration between design, dev, and QA, so issues were caught and resolved as early as possible. Without this, developers often ended up applying surface-level fixes to fundamentally inaccessible designs.

Influence and engagement

While the delivery work was underway, I also put effort into getting leaders and stakeholders on board. I marked events like Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD), International Day of Persons with Disabilities, and Purple Tuesday to raise the profile of accessibility and spark lightbulb moments. These were often my way-in with senior leaders.

Tailored presentations to various audiences outside of the existing community also proved important, bringing in allies from commercial, brand, customer service, and other internal systems, and growing accessibility awareness across the business.

I ran accessibility empathy labs in multiple offices; sometimes as part of events like GAAD, other times as ad-hoc pop-ups when I happened to be on site. These gave participants an insight into the digital barriers people face and often left a lasting impression.

A monthly introduction to accessibility session, aimed at new starters or anyone needing a refresher or a gentle way in, worked well. It was a low-barrier way to get people thinking about accessibility early and brought fresh voices into the community.

On a more personal level, scheduling coffees and intro chats with new team members and key influencers helped establish relationships and gain insight.

Community and support

I knew that making accessibility stick meant building a community. I ran weekly drop-in clinics (the Accessibility Surgery) where anyone could ask questions, get help with challenges, or just listen in. I also set up Slack and Teams channels as open spaces to share resources, spark discussion, and ask questions. Posting articles and conversation starters on these channels kept the topic fresh and got people engaged in meaningful conversations about accessibility.

I also organised a monthly community meetup where someone would share something they’d learned: a presentation, a short workshop, or even just a few tips. It gave people a platform, boosted confidence, and encouraged a culture of shared learning.

Setting up an Accessibility Champions network worked well. Champions supported their colleagues, shared knowledge, answered questions, and helped keep accessibility visible. They also got involved with running empathy labs and worked on projects with the accessibility specialists. They had access to extra training and certification, and we set up platforms for them to lean on each other for advice, encouragement, or backup when things got tough.

Add structure and accountability

To make sure we stayed on track, I introduced regular audits and tracking, and pushed for comprehensive automated testing. axe-core was integrated into every dev team’s process, and monthly spot checks from my team and I monitored performance and maintained a zero-error baseline.

Alongside automation, I led manual accessibility audits across the product portfolio. We tracked progress with a ‘burndown’ approach and resolved 40% of the issues identified.

The burndown results, along with the automated test scores, were published centrally so every team could see how others were progressing. That visibility introduced a sense of healthy competition and some gentle pressure to improve. The goal wasn’t to catch teams out, it was to make accessibility a shared responsibility and an ongoing part of the ways of working.

Impact

Not, the end of my time at Sage, hundreds of people are actively thinking and talking about accessibility in their day-to-day work. The accessibility community has grown to nearly 800 members; a sign of how far awareness and interest had come. The company has also invested thousands of pounds in accessibility equipment for empathy labs across multiple offices, and funded community events like Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD).

Accessibility is now baked into workflows, design systems, and governance processes. Teams consider it from the start, hold each other accountable as work progresses, and lean on specialists where needed.

The Accessibility Champions network has grown to more than forty people, strategically placed across as many teams and disciplines as possible to ensure wide coverage. This gives teams a larger pool of people to ask for help and learn from, increasing the reach of the core accessibility team.

Late-stage fixes are now the exception rather than the rule; teams avoid expensive rework by catching issues early, saving time and effort across disciplines.

The company has also reduced the legal and reputational risks that come with inaccessibility. Accessibility isn’t just the right thing to do; it’s the law.

Sage isn’t just ticking compliance boxes; it’s building better products for more people.

Five Tips for Building a Strong Accessibility Culture

Be kind

Raising accessibility issues means giving feedback on work people have often spent months (or longer!) on. Approach these conversations with empathy and tact.

Building strong personal connections makes change easier. When people trust you and feel supported, they’re more open to learning and improving.

Be prepared for resistance

Accessibility improvements can challenge established ways of working, so expect pushback; both on fixing existing issues and embedding new processes. Competing project priorities and tight delivery timescales can make accessibility feel like just another demand, especially for project managers focused on new features and deadlines.

Be ready to stand your ground when necessary, but do it with empathy and a strong rationale.

Be curious

Accessibility is complex and constantly evolving. Stay curious; acknowledge you don’t know everything, and be ready to learn from others, including people with disabilities.

Avoid the Dunning–Kruger effect. Question your understanding often and lean on accessibility specialists, Champions, and the wider community for guidance.

Be prepared to make mistakes and learn the hard way; every setback is an opportunity to improve and grow your understanding. Sharing those mistakes openly helps others avoid the same pitfalls and fosters a culture of continuous improvement.

Hustle

Creating a culture of accessibility doesn’t just happen; you have to make it happen. Sometimes that means getting creative to find the right moment to start a conversation, get someone engaged, or secure budget for things like empathy lab equipment, community events, or even building a team (mine grew to a small-but-mighty six people).

It also means keeping accessibility visible: running events, sharing stories, making connections, and looking for allies. Culture shifts when people see accessibility as part of the everyday, not an add-on.

Be patient

Cultural change takes time. Progress can be slow and setbacks are frequent. Focus on consistent, incremental improvements rather than perfection.

Takeaways

Creating a culture of accessibility is a marathon, not a sprint. It takes consistent effort, patience, and collaboration across all levels of an organisation.

I learned that building strong relationships matters just as much as technical knowledge. When people feel supported and respected, they’re more open to change and willing to tackle accessibility challenges.

Senior leadership buy-in is crucial, but so is empowering the people on the ground, including designers, developers, and testers, who actually do the work day to day.

Accessibility Champions help keep teams accountable and prevent standards from slipping, making sure accessibility stays front and centre in everyday work.

Mistakes are inevitable. What matters is how you respond to them; openly sharing lessons learned turns setbacks into growth opportunities, not roadblocks. An accessibility community provides a vital support network where knowledge is shared, challenges are discussed, and people learn from each other’s experiences.

Finally, accessibility is about people. Keeping the focus on real users and their experiences helps keep momentum and purpose alive, even when the work gets tough.