Beyond Compliance: Building Better Digital Accessibility to Reach More Customers

Special acknowledgments to Joe Sevits, Solutions Architecture Director and Adobe Certified Master at WillowTree, for his contributions

Creating accessible digital experiences is more than just a technical task, a compliance issue, or even an exercise in empathy. Simply put, it’s a way to reach more customers where they are.

Accessibility ensures that everyone, regardless of their abilities, can interact with your digital experience, from shopping at your store to engaging with your marketing. It expands how customers connect with your organization overall, and maximizing reach for this audience works as it would for any other customer segment — you must understand their challenges and preferences and then design solutions that engage and empower them.

Designing with accessibility in mind transforms technology into a bridge rather than a barrier. In this article, we'll explore how organizations can evolve from basic compliance to creating truly inclusive digital experiences that drive growth. Drawing from our experience guiding clients through this journey, we'll share strategies for success — from foundational accessibility practices to leveraging powerful platforms like Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) and delivering accessible, personalized experiences at scale.

The Guidance Has Been Established

Fortunately, a lot of the work has already been done to help you broaden your digital experience. Adherence to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) provides a structured approach to making digital content inclusive. These guidelines establish three levels of conformance:

• Level A forms the foundation, focusing on basic features like keyboard navigation and text alternatives for images.
• Level AA builds on this by addressing issues such as color contrast and logical content structure, making it the standard most organizations target.
• Level AAA includes advanced features like sign language translations and detailed audio descriptions.

It's important to understand that these levels represent minimum standards. A common misconception is to focus solely on achieving a specific level. Instead, the most effective approach is to implement everything through Level AA as a baseline, and then incorporate Level AAA features where they align with the most impactful improvements. 

The goal isn't to reach the highest level possible but to create the most inclusive and user-friendly experience for all customers.

The Tools Have Been Built

Identifying and addressing accessibility issues requires implementing appropriate tools into your testing process. Some essential tools in a tester's toolkit include:

• Browser extensions like axe DevTools and WAVE that highlight accessibility gaps directly within web pages.
• Screen readers such as NVDA and VoiceOver that offer insights into how blind users and those with low vision navigate content.
• Simulators like Accessibility Insights that provide perspective on how users with motor or visual disabilities interact with designs.

These tools reveal barriers that might otherwise go unnoticed, driving the implementation of more inclusive solutions. On a grander scale, AEM gives designers, content authors, and developers a powerful set of tools and guidelines to customize user experience, providing an isolated environment to collaborate and test accessibility in addition to states, responsiveness, and component limits.

The Techniques Have Been Proven

Testing digital platforms for accessibility involves more than just using tools. It requires evaluating aspects such as clear labels and instructions, adequate contrast for readability, logical heading structures, and the ability to navigate using only a keyboard. Audio and video content must include captions and descriptions, and error messages should be supportive and easy to understand. Providing these elements contributes to creating a platform that everyone can use with dignity and independence.

In addition, sharing knowledge, hosting workshops, and involving individuals with disabilities in the design and testing process will enrich the journey and give them a stake in the outcome. Feedback from real users provides powerful insights and ensures that accessibility solutions are grounded in practical needs.

At WillowTree, we've developed several best practices to enhance digital accessibility:

• Implementing accessible design systems like AEM with reusable components to increase consistency in brand experiences and empower teams to create accessible content effortlessly.
• Reviewing site architecture to ensure compliance with WCAG 2.2 and beyond, focusing on consistently findable help features, streamlined authentication processes, and seamless form completion.
• Conducting regular accessibility audits to address situations where inaccessible updates might slip through, ensuring ongoing maintenance of accessibility standards.

These practices don’t just meet compliance requirements — they help create more intuitive and user-friendly experiences for all customers, enhancing the impact of digital products.

The Audience is Out There

The true measure of accessibility success lies in its dual impact: enhancing customer experiences while driving sustainable business growth. 

When you develop and design with inclusivity at the core, you create digital experiences that not only welcome all participants but strengthen your brand's market position. Accessibility isn't a checkbox or a one-time certification — it's a strategic commitment to excellence that evolves with emerging technologies and user needs.

Platforms like Adobe Experience Manager transform this commitment into action, enabling organizations to scale their accessibility efforts while staying on brand. By embedding accessibility into your digital foundation, you create a future where technology truly serves everyone. The result? A more inclusive digital landscape that delivers measurable value and lasting customer relationships.

The tools are available, the knowledge is accessible, and the impact is transformative. Discover what reimagining accessibility can do for you.