Becoming an Accessibility Champion: Why It Starts Before You Design

In Learning & Development, real impact happens when every learner can engage fully. That’s why accessibility must be built in from the start. I’ve seen how Accessibility Champions prioritizing accessibility transforms not only the learner experience, but the culture of an entire organization.

This kind of impact doesn’t happen by accident, it happens because someone steps up to lead. They challenge teams to consider all learners from the outset, advocate for accessible tools and practices, and hold space for tough conversations about equity.

Champions Don’t Wait

An Accessibility Champion isn’t just someone who knows the rules. They’re someone who leads with purpose and insists that accessibility isn’t optional. It’s not about waiting until the end. It’s about advocating for inclusion from the start, in every course, every decision, every learner touchpoint.

The W3C puts it simply:

“Designing products so that people with disabilities can perceive, understand, navigate, interact with, and contribute equally.”

Our job as champions is to make sure that this is more than just a quote. It has to show up in the actual learning experience.

Advocacy Starts with Standards, Not Opinions

Too often, people treat accessibility like a personal style choice. It’s not. It’s not about personal preferences. As I like to say:

“We don’t guess at what accessibility looks like based on what we personally like or find easy. We follow international standards, like WCAG, that are built from decades of research, disability rights advocacy, and technical expertise.”

This mindset is essential! Especially when you're leading change within an organization.

Design With Empathy First

Empathy is powerful. When people understand what it's like to navigate a course without clear headings, keyboard access, or transcripts, accessibility becomes personal. At L’Etoile Education, workshops focus on that shift from seeing accessibility as a rulebook to recognizing it as a responsibility.

Design accessible experiences first. Everything else follows.

Still think accessibility can wait until the end? Nielsen Norman Group disagrees:

“Integrating accessibility early simplifies workflows, reduces barriers to adoption, and creates better user experiences for all learners.”

I like to put it this way:

“Building for accessibility is like building a bridge. You don’t start with color choices, you make sure it can hold weight first.”   

How to Start: A Champion’s Checklist

If you’re ready to champion accessibility in your own L&D work, start here:

• Start with WCAG: Learn the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.2). These are not suggestions, they’re the foundation for accessible content.
  
• Use Multiple Modalities: Every video needs captions. Every audio file should come with a transcript. Visual content? Include alt text or audio descriptions.
  
• Design for Keyboard Use First: Make sure all content can be accessed without a mouse. This includes clear, hierarchical headings, logical tab order, visible focus indicators, and skip navigation links.
  
• Test After You Build, Not Instead of It: Don't rely on users to catch your mistakes. Meet WCAG standards first, then validate your work with real users.

As I often remind teams that user testing is powerful, but it doesn’t replace accessibility standards. It makes good experiences better, but it doesn’t fix the basics.

Tackling Common Objections

It is true. Champions hear a lot of pushback. Here’s how to respond:

“Accessibility takes too much time.” It takes less time when you build it in from the start. It saves you rework, legal risk, and learner frustration.

“Our learners don’t need it.”  Yes, they do. Accessibility helps everyone. Especially those with temporary, situational, or invisible disabilities.

“It’s just about compliance.”  Compliance is the floor. The inclusive design is the ceiling.

Your Identity as a Designer

Becoming an Accessibility Champion shifts how you see your role. It’s not just about making content. It’s about making space. It’s about leading with equity and designing with intention. At L’Etoile Education, accessibility isn’t a side project. It’s the heartbeat of everything I do. We don’t just teach accessibility. We model it.

Want to Dig Deeper?

• W3C Accessibility Fundamentals
• WebAIM Articles & Tools
• The Accessibility Operations Guidebook.

If your team is ready to go beyond compliance and build a culture of inclusion, I’d love to help. Visit L’Etoile Education to learn how we support organizations making accessibility part of their DNA.