Digital accessibility is often discussed in the context of regulations, enforcement deadlines, and compliance requirements. Those factors are certainly driving attention, but they're only part of a much larger shift.
Organizations today are managing increasingly complex digital ecosystems that span websites, applications, documents, digital tools, and AI-powered experiences. At the same time, accessibility expectations are extending beyond legal requirements and becoming part of procurement processes, vendor evaluations, customer experience strategies, and digital quality standards.
The organizations making the most progress are not treating accessibility as a one-time remediation project. They're building it into the way they create content, evaluate technology, develop digital experiences, and govern change over time.
In this episode of Lessons for Tomorrow, guest host Peter Gavrilos speaks with Nick Goodrum, Director of Accessibility at Americaneagle.com; Christina Adams, Principal Service Strategist and Digital Accessibility Expert at Siteimprove; and Christopher Lee, President and CEO at IAAP. They discuss why accessibility is no longer just a compliance initiative, but an operational discipline that influences procurement, governance, content creation, and AI adoption.
For captions, click "CC" within the video player. To read the transcript of this episode, click the transcript link within the description of the video on YouTube.
Accessibility Is Becoming a Business Issue
Regulatory developments such as ADA Title II requirements and the European Accessibility Act (EAA) have increased awareness of digital accessibility across industries. But even organizations that are not directly affected by these regulations are beginning to feel their impact. One reason is procurement.
As government agencies, educational institutions, and large enterprises place greater emphasis on accessibility, they are increasingly asking technology providers, vendors, and partners to demonstrate how their products support accessible experiences. Questions about VPATs, Accessibility Conformance Reports, and assistive technology compatibility are becoming more common during vendor evaluations.
This creates a ripple effect. Organizations that once viewed accessibility as a compliance concern are beginning to realize it can directly influence their ability to win business, retain customers, and compete for opportunities.
At the same time, accessibility conversations are expanding beyond documentation and technical conformance. Buyers and digital leaders are asking a more important question: Does this experience actually work for the people who need to use it?
That shift is moving accessibility out of a legal and compliance silo and into broader conversations about customer experience, usability, and digital quality.
“Accessibility is moving forward. It's taken some steps backward, but we continue to push. So, I’m very optimistic.” — Christopher Lee, President and CEO, IAAP
The Biggest Mistake Organizations Make
Many organizations approach accessibility as a race to meet a deadline. They conduct an audit, identify issues, fix what they can, and consider the project complete. The problem is that accessibility doesn't work that way.
Websites evolve. Content changes. New applications are introduced. Vendors release updates. Teams publish new documents and create new digital experiences every day.
An accessibility initiative focused solely on remediation often results in the same problems reappearing months later because the processes responsible for creating those barriers never changed. The more effective approach is to think about accessibility as an ongoing program rather than a project. That starts with understanding organizational maturity.
Before investing in technology or remediation efforts, organizations need to understand what digital assets they own, how content is created, who is responsible for publishing and maintaining digital experiences, and where accessibility responsibilities currently reside.
The goal in assessing your current accessibility program is to establish a foundation that allows accessibility improvements to continue long after the initial audit is complete.
“You really do have to adopt the things that make sense for you and the processes you have today in order to make that incremental progress towards that goal.” — Christina Adams, Principal Service Strategist and Digital Accessibility Expert, Siteimprove
Accessibility Starts With Governance, Not Tools
When organizations struggle with accessibility, the root cause is often a lack of ownership.
Accessibility typically touches multiple teams, including marketing, development, content, design, procurement, and leadership. Without clear accountability, issues are often identified but never fully addressed.
Successful programs usually have at least one thing in common: someone owns the effort. That doesn't necessarily mean having a large accessibility department. In many organizations, it starts with an accessibility champion who helps establish standards, coordinate stakeholders, guide decision-making, and ensure accessibility remains part of the conversation as digital experiences evolve.
Governance also helps organizations move from reactive remediation to proactive prevention. Rather than repeatedly fixing accessibility issues after content is published or products launch, teams can establish review processes, publishing standards, procurement requirements, and development practices that prevent many barriers from being introduced in the first place. The result is a more sustainable program that scales over time.
AI Is Accelerating Accessibility While Exposing New Risks
No digital conversation today is complete without discussing AI, and accessibility is no exception. AI is helping organizations automate tasks that previously required significant manual effort. Image description generation, captioning, content analysis, media remediation, and large-scale content reviews are becoming faster and more accessible because of advances in automation.
For organizations managing thousands of images, documents, or multimedia assets, these tools can dramatically reduce the effort required to improve accessibility. AI also has the potential to create more personalized experiences for users by adapting information, presenting content differently, or helping people navigate complex digital environments more efficiently.
However, AI introduces a new challenge. Organizations are adopting these tools much faster than they are building governance around them. Whether it's AI-generated code, automated content creation, or low-code application development, many systems are built using training data that may contain inaccessible patterns and poor implementation practices. As a result, AI can sometimes scale problems just as effectively as it scales solutions.
The lesson isn't that AI should be avoided. It's that AI should be treated as an accelerator, not an authority.
Why Human Expertise Still Matters
The accessibility community overwhelmingly agrees that automation works best when paired with human expertise. AI can identify patterns, automate repetitive tasks, and generate recommendations. What it cannot reliably do is fully understand the context of a user's experience. Accessibility considerations often require judgment. For example:
- Can a user successfully complete a task?
- Does the page structure make sense?
- Will a screen reader user understand the information being presented?
- Does the experience support the way people actually interact with the content?
These questions often require human evaluation and testing. Automated systems can support that process, but they cannot replace it.
The same principle applies to technology procurement. Organizations should look beyond marketing claims that promise to solve accessibility challenges automatically and instead evaluate how tools fit within a broader accessibility strategy that includes governance, training, testing, and continuous improvement.
Accessibility Should Be Part of How Quality Is Measured
Perhaps the most important mindset shift for organizations is moving accessibility out of a specialized corner of the business and into everyday quality standards.
Developers should understand how their code impacts accessibility. Designers should understand how accessibility affects usability. Content creators should understand how structure, formatting, and alternative text influence the user experience. Procurement teams should understand how to evaluate accessibility during vendor selection.
When accessibility becomes part of how quality is measured, teams stop viewing it as an extra requirement and begin treating it as a core characteristic of good work.
Organizations often discover that the benefits extend beyond accessibility itself. Clearer content, more intuitive navigation, stronger semantic structure, and more consistent user experiences frequently improve outcomes for all users, not just those who rely on assistive technologies.
“Once you put accessibility into it, you actually create better experiences for everyone.” — Nick Goodrum, Director of Accessibility, Americaneagle.com
Build Momentum Through Continuous Improvement
The future of accessibility won't be defined by a single regulation, AI tool, or compliance deadline. It will be shaped by the organizations that successfully integrate accessibility into the way they operate.
That begins with understanding where you are today, establishing ownership, building governance, and creating processes that support long-term improvement. AI can help accelerate many of these efforts, but technology alone cannot create a mature accessibility program.
Organizations that view accessibility as an ongoing operational discipline rather than a one-time compliance initiative will be better positioned to adapt to changing regulations, evolving technologies, and rising user expectations. Long-term success will depend less on finding the right tool and more on establishing the right ownership, governance, and culture around accessibility.
Listen to Lessons for Tomorrow, Today!
Start listening on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also watch the episode recorded in the Americaneagle.com Studios on YouTube.
This podcast is brought to you by Americaneagle.com Studios.
Connect with:
- Lessons for Tomorrow: Website // Twitter // Instagram // Facebook // YouTube
- Peter Gavrilos: LinkedIn
- Nick Goodrum: LinkedIn
- Christina Adams: LinkedIn
- Christopher Lee: LinkedIn
- Resources: Americaneagle.com Website Accessibility Services | Siteimprove - Website | IAAP - Website
About: The Lessons for Tomorrow podcast is centered around conversations between industry experts sharing insights from the past, to apply in the present, to achieve success in the future. This podcast is the "motivational poster" in your ear; each episode is centered around conversations which motivate you to tackle new initiatives at your organization. We will be talking with some of the best and brightest minds in technology and marketing and will hear from the experts themselves about their latest experiences, their most recent challenges, and the road ahead. Every episode has a different story, a different answer, a different approach.
