Accessibility: Designing for All People

The pandemic has shifted many activities online, and if groups are not taking action to support those who need access, we are losing valuable opportunities to connect. 

By Amy H. Chiu, Tech Brand Content Developer 

“Good design, when it’s done well, becomes invisible.
It’s only when it’s done poorly that we notice it.” – Dieter Rams 

Through connecting with developers, UX designers, and product managers, I noticed one thing in common – our vision and efforts in designing and making tasks easier for people.  

When we use the term “for people,” we go through mindful discussions on what it means to include everyone. We celebrate each other’s unique traits and identify our groups, shedding light on the stories behind every smiling face.  

For a long period, my search history was filled with “what is inclusive design” and “why is accessibility important.” As a content creator, the best thing I could do is to educate myself and be mindful of every published word.  

Why do I do the things I do? A sense of purpose behind every task, every connection, and every blog is essential. Ensuring people with disabilities have access to digital spaces is just as critical as writing the content itself. I learned accessibility is a group effort.  

Practicing inclusiveness in today’s workplace is not a “have to do to make your image look better” instead, it’s making a difference in real people’s lives.  

I had a long conversation with my engineering friend the other day. He drew one big circle on the left side of a whiteboard and a smaller circle on the right.  

“This is the amount of information a person without a disability can get in our current world,” he pointed at the bigger circle.  

“What about the small one?” I asked with curiosity.  

“The small one is the amount of information currently available in the world for people with disabilities,” he said. “Designing a piece available for them and contributing to the smaller circle creates a huge impact.” 

The conversation had almost gotten philosophical, but I got his points. In other words, many articles are not available to our friends with disabilities.  

According to the 2022 WebAIM Million Report, 96.8% of home pages had detectable Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 failures. They analyzed over one million web pages and reached an upsetting percentage.

As human beings, we can do better for each other. The pandemic has shifted many activities online, and if groups are not taking action to support those who need access, we are losing valuable opportunities to connect.  

I connected with Kelsey H., Head of Accessibility, to learn more about belonging. She leads accessibility efforts and the mission to ensure ADP’s product teams deliver fully accessible, disability-inclusive experiences to our users. 

Kelsey is an anti-ableist accessibility professional and educator, living and thriving with several non-apparent disabilities and diligently working to ensure the idea of ‘belonging’ includes the disabled community.  

“My journey to anti-ableism work and accessibility has been long and winding,” Kelsey said. “Ultimately, as a person with disabilities surrounded by the disability community, it is no surprise disability, accessibility, and inclusion work are at the core of my profession.”

Kelsey’s team works with designers, developers, product managers, and leaders at every level across ADP to bake accessibility into the fabric of our work and the products we deliver. Her goal is to shape ADP’s overall strategy in providing products that are not just always designed for people but always designed for all people.  

“This is important for ADP’s product & technology teams with an opportunity to further drive thought leadership on disability and accessibility,” Kelsey said.  

We look forward to having Kelsey share her work and career journey in an upcoming article series. 

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