Accessibility requirements to define before development begins

Describe users and operating contexts

Accessibility planning begins with people and tasks, not a compliance badge. Identify the content users must understand and the actions they must complete.

Consider keyboard-only use, screen readers, zoom, reduced motion, colour perception, cognitive load, mobile use, and constrained environments.

• Critical journeys
• Assistive technologies
• Languages and reading levels
• Devices and environmental constraints

Translate principles into acceptance criteria

Requirements such as visible focus, meaningful labels, predictable errors, and sufficient contrast can be reviewed during design and tested during implementation.

Write criteria around the actual journey. A form is not accessible merely because each field has a label if validation, focus movement, or recovery remains confusing.

Treat content structure as part of accessibility

Heading order, link purpose, instructions, alternatives, and error language affect whether a page can be understood and navigated.

Content owners need the same acceptance criteria as developers. Otherwise accessible components can still contain inaccessible copy.

Accessibility is a shared delivery quality: product, design, content, engineering, and quality assurance all own evidence.

Define layered testing before release

Automated checks catch useful classes of defects but cannot evaluate clarity, reading order, keyboard journeys, or whether alternatives communicate the same meaning.

Combine static checks, browser and assistive-technology testing, responsive testing, and human review of priority journeys.

• Automated component checks
• Keyboard and focus review
• Screen-reader smoke tests
• Zoom and reflow checks
• Manual acceptance review

Assign remediation and maintenance ownership

Record who triages defects, what blocks release, and how regressions are prevented. Accessibility work without ownership tends to be postponed until late in the schedule.

Maintain component guidance, content rules, and test cases as the product evolves.

Include accessibility in procurement and delivery evidence

When third-party components, content systems, document generators, or authentication services are involved, accessibility requirements must be part of selection criteria. A later replacement can be expensive if a dependency blocks keyboard use, zoom, labels, or reliable error recovery.

Ask suppliers for concrete evidence, known limitations, remediation commitments, and a way to test the component in the intended journey. Marketing statements alone are not acceptance evidence.

• Supported keyboard and assistive-technology journeys
• Documented limitations and release notes
• Accessible support and remediation process
• Contractual ownership for blocking defects

Create a release gate and a regression routine

Define which accessibility failures block a release and which can enter a time-bound remediation plan. The decision should consider the importance of the journey, the number of affected users, available alternatives, and the severity of the barrier.

After launch, preserve automated checks, manual test scripts, content guidance, and component examples in the normal delivery workflow. Accessibility is maintained through repeatable governance, not a one-time audit.

The strongest accessibility requirement is one that has an owner, a test, evidence, and a response when it fails.