Accessibility as a Process, Not a Project: Helping Clients Build an IT Accessibility Plan

Many clients treat an accessibility audit like a typical project: there's a start, an end, a report delivered, and it's done. But professionals in this field know this is a fundamental mistake that guarantees long-term failure.

Accessibility is not a static condition achieved once and then finished. Websites are updated, new features are added, content changes — and every change can introduce new barriers for users with disabilities. Jonathan Lazar's research in Ensuring Digital Accessibility Through Process and Policy affirms: accessibility is a continuous process, not a one-time project.

An Access Squad member who can help their clients understand and implement this process — not just deliver a report and leave — is the one who will become the most sought-after and most valuable consultant.

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Why "Passing an Audit Once" Is Not Enough

Imagine an e-commerce company successfully obtaining a clean accessibility audit report. Six months later, they:

• Replace their frontend framework.
• Add a new live chat feature from a third-party vendor.
• Release a new mobile app.
• Update the checkout page with a new design.

Each of these changes potentially introduces new accessibility barriers not present in the old report. Without a continuous process, "passing the audit" yesterday means nothing today.

This isn't an argument to frighten clients — it's an argument to sell them on a far more valuable concept: Sustainable Accessibility.

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Component 1: Accessibility Statement

This is a public document that must exist on every serious website or application. Since the European Accessibility Act (EAA) 2025 came into effect, an Accessibility Statement is not just good practice — it is a legal requirement for digital products operating in the European market.

What Goes in an Accessibility Statement?

A good Accessibility Statement contains:

1. Commitment Statement: "We are committed to ensuring [product name] is accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities."
2. Standards Used: "We aim to conform to WCAG 2.2 Level AA."
3. Current Conformance Status: Is the product fully conformant, partially conformant, or non-conformant? If partially, what is not yet met?
4. Known Limitations: An honest list of known accessibility issues that haven't yet been remediated, with target fix dates.
5. Accessible Alternatives: If parts of the product are inaccessible, what alternatives are available to users? (E.g., "Contact us at number X for assistance.")
6. Feedback Mechanism: How can users report accessibility barriers they encounter?
7. Last Updated Date: When was this statement last reviewed?

Example Conformance Status Paragraph

PARTIALLY CONFORMANT

[Product Name] partially conforms to WCAG 2.2 Level AA. 
Known non-conformances include:

1. Several image gallery components lack adequate alternative text 
   (fails SC 1.1.1). Target remediation: Q3 2026.
2. The live chat component from a third-party provider is not 
   keyboard accessible (fails SC 2.1.1). We are negotiating with 
   the vendor for a fix. Target: Q4 2026.

As an auditor, you have the unique expertise to help clients write this document accurately and honestly — based on the audit report findings you produced.

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Component 2: IT Accessibility Roadmap

Clients who receive an audit report with 47 accessibility issues often feel overwhelmed and don't know where to start. This is the consultant's role: turning an intimidating list of issues into a structured, realistic remediation plan.

Prioritization Framework: Severity × Reach

To prioritize issues in the Roadmap, use two dimensions:

• Severity: Blocker, Critical, Major, Minor — as explained in the Audit Report article.
• Reach: How many users and pages are affected by this issue?

Priority	Criteria	Target Fix
Sprint 1	All Blockers on critical pages/flows (login, checkout)	Immediate (within 2 weeks)
Sprint 2	All Criticals across the full audit sample	Month 1
Sprint 3	All Majors with high Reach (homepage, navbar)	Months 2-3
Sprint 4	Majors with low Reach + all Minors	Months 3-6
Ongoing	Accessibility Statement updates + partial re-audits	Every 6 months

Including Effort Estimation

For each issue in the Roadmap, include a rough effort estimate for the developer team:

• Quick Win (< 1 hour): Adding alt attributes to images, fixing link text.
• Medium Fix (1-4 hours): Fixing focus management on modal components, adding ARIA to custom widgets.
• Complex Fix (> 1 day): Overhauling keyboard flow on a complex checkout page, replacing a third-party UI library.

These estimates help the client's project manager realistically allocate sprint capacity.

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Component 3: Monitoring Cycle

After the Roadmap is executed, how do you ensure accessibility remains intact over time? Lazar identifies three common triggers that prompt the need for re-evaluation:

1. Major Content Updates: Whenever a new page template, new feature, or technology vendor change occurs.
2. Periodic Updates: At minimum every 12 months, conduct a partial audit to verify no regressions have occurred.
3. Product Version Updates: Every major release of a mobile app or web product should be accompanied by accessibility testing.

Building Internal Capacity

As a long-term accessibility consultant, one of your greatest contributions is helping clients build internal capacity so they don't have to rely entirely on external auditors forever. This could include:

• Training 1-2 internal developers as "Accessibility Champions."
• Integrating automated accessibility checks (e.g., the Axe plugin) into their CI/CD pipeline.
• Creating a Content Creation Guide for marketing teams so images and videos they publish are already accessible.

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Why This Is a Massive Business Opportunity for Access Squad

An "Audit + Accessibility Plan" service is far more valuable than a simple "Audit" alone. From a business perspective:

• Recurring Revenue: Clients with monitoring contracts will pay you regularly (monthly or annually), not just once.
• Differentiation: Very few accessibility consultants — especially blind ones — offer this kind of strategic service. You occupy a nearly competition-free market.
• Real Impact: You're not just finding problems — you're helping organizations build more equitable systems sustainably.

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Conclusion

Delivering an audit report and leaving is the work of a tester. Helping clients understand that accessibility is a process, helping them write an honest Accessibility Statement, building a realistic Roadmap, and establishing a sustainable monitoring cycle — that is the work of a strategic accessibility consultant.

And that is the ultimate vision for every Access Squad member: not just to be a tester, but to become a partner in building an inclusive digital Indonesia.

References

- Lazar, J. et al. Ensuring Digital Accessibility Through Process and Policy. (Especially Chapter 9: Compliance Monitoring and Chapter 10: Case Studies of Success). - W3C WAI. Developing an Accessibility Statement. https://www.w3.org/WAI/planning/statements/ - European Accessibility Act (EAA) 2025. Directive (EU) 2019/882.