How to build an accessibility program

An accessibility program is the ongoing work of finding, fixing, and preventing barriers on your website. It doesn't need to start big. You can build it one piece at a time.

These eight steps work whether you're starting from scratch or bringing together work you already do.

1. Define ownership

Accessibility work stalls when everyone assumes someone else owns it. Name one person who is accountable for the program, even if many people do the work.

Then decide who owns each part of your website: templates and components, content, third-party tools, and documents. When an issue comes in, you should know who fixes it.

2. Establish a baseline

You can't show progress without knowing where you started. Find out how many pages your website has, how many you monitor, and what issues exist today.

Automated testing finds many common issues quickly. It can't find everything, so plan for manual testing too, including testing with assistive technology such as screen readers.

3. Prioritize the work

A long list of issues doesn't tell you what to fix first. Look at four things for each issue:

• Impact: who is affected, and how badly their experience breaks.
• Reach: how many pages and visitors the issue affects.
• Pattern: whether one shared component or template causes many instances.
• Ownership: who can fix it, and how soon.

Fixing one shared component can resolve an issue on hundreds of pages at once.

4. Build a remediation process

Decide how an issue moves from found to fixed. Most teams use the tools they already have, such as a ticketing system or a design system backlog.

Fix barriers in the code and content where they live. Keep each fix connected to the issue it resolves, so you know what changed and why.

5. Verify fixes

A closed ticket isn't proof that a barrier is gone. Check the affected pages again after each fix, and confirm the issue no longer appears.

6. Monitor for change

Your website changes every day. New pages, updated content, and new components can introduce new issues or bring old ones back.

Monitor your whole website on a schedule, so you catch changes between assessments instead of months later.

7. Measure progress

Track a few measures over time: coverage of your website, open issues by severity, time to fix, and issues that come back. Share them with leadership on a regular schedule.

Keep a record of what you found, what you fixed, and when. That history shows the work your organization has done.

8. Keep improving

Look for the causes behind repeat issues. A component may need to change, a content guideline may need to be clearer, or a team may need training.

Each improvement makes the next issue less likely. Over time, your program shifts from fixing problems to preventing them.

Where Ility fits

Ility monitors your whole website, groups issues into patterns, and keeps remediation, verification, and history in one place. It doesn't replace manual testing or the people who fix barriers. It gives their work a shared home.