Leadership tip 001 – What never gets said never gets built

Signals of digital accessibility maturity

Planning conversations move fast. Priorities are set. Risks are weighed. Timelines are negotiated. Decisions are made based on what feels urgent, familiar, or proven. In those moments, attention naturally goes to what has caused problems before and what might slow things down now. Accessibility often does not enter these discussions at all. Not because it was rejected or deprioritized, but because it was never considered. When something is never named, it has no way to influence direction. It cannot shape scope, ownership, or expectations. Decisions move forward without it, and the absence goes unnoticed. This is how accessibility barriers are created without intent. When teams rely on habit and precedent, they assume existing approaches work for everyone. Accessibility remains outside the conversation, and therefore outside responsibility. Until it is named, it stays invisible, even as its impact grows.