The Situation
In January 2021 I conducted a review of digital accessibility on the Asda Groceries website and native apps.
My findings highlighted some concerning weaknesses in usability and there was no strategy in place to improve output or remediate.
The Task
In response to my findings, I began a year-long mission to write and implement a new product development strategy, placing accessibility at the forefront of the product development process.
By doing so, I hoped to make the product team proactive rather than reactive, to make the products more perceivable, operable, understandable and robust. In theory, this would improve the customer experience and strengthen the brand.
This process is commonly referred to as the “shift left”.
The Actions
Write and implement an accessibility strategy
I began by studying our existing design process and after some consideration I updated our 'Double Diamond' linear model to be a more cyclical model, which I called the Inclusive Design Product Lifecycle. The new model required accessibility to be considered at every stage in the product lifecycle, not at the end after full release - which is what had previously been happening.
Influence leadership, get 'buy-in' and champion cultural change
The new strategy also required changes to be made by teams besides my own and so I stepped outside of my comfort zone and learned about all of their roles and processes. I was able to identify areas of improvement and persuade senior leadership to implement changes. Implementing the strategy involved making subtle changes to existing processes but my greatest challenge was changing the mindset of the subjects and enabling cultural change through education and support.
Teach the product team about the 4 principles of inclusive design
Within the Product and UX teams I explained and demonstrated to colleagues how to think more inclusively when researching and designing and how to annotate designs before handing them over to developers. I emphasised the importance of considering the 8 key elements of accessibility during the discovery stage of the product lifecycle and made the 4 principles of accessible design our own. Make every product:
Perceivable - All users, including those with impaired vision, should be able to understand what is going on.
Operable - Websites and apps should be responsive and easy to navigate for all users across multiple browsers and multiple devices using multiple assistive technologies.
Understandable - Content should be organised in a way that’s easy to use and content should be written in a language that even the consumer with the least ability can understand.
Robust - Products should work well with a range of assistive technologies, which are often employed at device or browser level, and consumers should be able to use the assistive technology of choice for a period of years, not just on the latest operating system.
Operable - Websites and apps should be responsive and easy to navigate for all users across multiple browsers and multiple devices using multiple assistive technologies.
Understandable - Content should be organised in a way that’s easy to use and content should be written in a language that even the consumer with the least ability can understand.
Robust - Products should work well with a range of assistive technologies, which are often employed at device or browser level, and consumers should be able to use the assistive technology of choice for a period of years, not just on the latest operating system.
You can see how I apply these principles in the project, Product Module Update.
Make accessibility requirements 'dependencies' on all projects and part of the 'definition of done'
I made sure that everyone contributing to the product lifecycle understood the importance of considering the 8 key elements of inclusive design in the minimum viable product (MVP). I documented these considerations in the form of a guide which included a number of statements which used "must" and "must not" and some examples of good and bad design, to give direction. I also created a simple checklist for people to refer to quickly.
Build and govern a support network
As the year progressed I found myself in a new role, providing guidance to colleagues outside of the UX team, delivered training and offering one-to-one support to product managers, engineers, testers and third parties, who were all stakeholders in the product lifecycle. I wrote support documentation an, set up an online Accessibility Hub (internal micro-site) as a repository and I set up several support channels across various platforms such as Slack and Zoom to help colleagues with onboarding and personal development. I identified several Accessibility Champions (colleagues in different roles who were more skilled than most in designing for inclusivity) which made supporting colleagues easier and by creating a buzz, helped us to make the cultural change.
Key Results
By the end of 2021 I had successfully implemented my new accessibility strategy, with some impressive results.
Reduced costs
A reduction in remediation costs for the product engineering team of around 30%, enabling them to budget for more training, tools and support in the years to follow without increasing spend.
Improved customer experience
A more mature Product Lifecycle with several touch-points for accessibility consideration and remediation, which helped build more robust products with fewer bugs and fewer bad customer experiences.
Improved knowledge, skills and personal values
An Accessibility Hub membership of more than 130 colleagues from all across the business; with several Accessibility Champions acting as mentors in the various teams. Individuals regularly called-out and rewarded for teaching, learning and promoting an inclusive culture.
Improved collaboration
7 dedicated Accessibility support channels servicing Product, UX, Creative, Development and Testing teams. Regular presentations internally and updates reported externally on social media platforms, to shout about our successes.
An important update...
In January 2023, a year after leaving Asda, I was invited back as a consultant, to give the product team a "refresher" course on how to design and build more accessible products.
Since leaving, Asda had been sold by their parent company, Walmart and as a result they had rebuilt their web platform. However, they hadn't considered accessibility and so I needed to start my work again.
Over the course of 3 months I up-skilled many different people in various roles (product, research, design, engineering, QA), delivered workshops, conducted accessibility audits, assisted and supported in product enhancements, submitted plans for ongoing remediation, worked closely with senior tech leads in their development partner's team (Publicis Sapient) and wrote a detailed strategy and ongoing investment document for the senior leadership team, highlighting skills deficits within the teams, so that they could be improved.
At the time of writing, the proposed roll-out of the new platform has been delayed while remediation is in progress.