Advocating for accessibility can be tough. Limited resources, competing priorities, or a lack of awareness can stall progress before it even starts. But by starting small, laying the groundwork, and building momentum, meaningful change becomes achievable. That’s where the Advocacy Runway comes in—a framework designed to help accessibility advocates steadily advance their impact. Each stage on the runway builds on the last, starting with raising awareness and culminating in making accessibility a priority within an organisation.
The early stages are easier and require less influence, but as you progress along the runway, the challenges grow and often need leadership support. Here’s how the framework works:
Make it known
Start by putting accessibility on people’s radar. This is about visibility and making sure others know what accessibility is and why it matters. At this stage, your goal is to spark curiosity and get people asking questions. It’s also about helping people get comfortable with the language of accessibility and disability. This foundation of awareness and enthusiasm will ideally spread naturally, creating early momentum that makes further progress easier.
Make it understandable
Once people are aware of accessibility, the next step is to ensure they really understand it. Our goal here is to explain the 'what' and 'why' of accessibility in a way that resonates. This could involve running workshops, sharing examples of accessible and inaccessible designs, or demonstrating how accessibility benefits everyone, not just people with disabilities. Break down technical standards like WCAG into clear principles that everyone can understand. The key is to make accessibility feel approachable and achievable.
Make it human
Accessibility isn’t just about meeting technical or legal requirements—it’s about real people. Sharing personal stories helps others connect with the human side of accessibility. Highlighting real experiences of people with disabilities creates empathy and a sense of urgency. We could invite guest speakers with lived experiences, share user feedback, or use videos that illustrate the challenges faced by people with disabilities. Making it human is about putting faces and stories to accessibility so that it resonates and becomes a key part of the user experience rather than just a checkbox.
Make it relevant
Raising awareness and building empathy sets us up for success, but to make real progress, accessibility needs to be tied to the organisation's goals. This is when it shifts from being a 'nice-to-have' to a 'must-have.' We could present data on how accessibility can expand market reach, improve conversion, increase customer loyalty, reduce legal risk, or enhance SEO. The trick is to align accessibility with what the organisation already values and build on existing momentum.
Make it practical
After raising awareness, building empathy, and showing how accessibility is relevant, it's time to remove blockers and enable action. This means giving teams the tools, resources, and practical advice they need to make it happen. The goal is to ensure that the easiest path is also the most accessible one, meeting teams where they are and making small changes to existing processes without slowing them down too much. This is how we bridge the gap between awareness and action, empowering teams to take meaningful steps toward accessibility.
Make it official
To keep accessibility going and not be reliant on any particular person, it has to be part of the official processes and policies. This means pushing for it to be included in company standards, product roadmaps, and decision-making frameworks. Advocate for accessibility to be written into design systems, development checklists, and quality assurance processes. When accessibility is formalised, it becomes an enduring part of the organisation's culture.
Make it a priority
The final and most challenging stage of the runway is making accessibility a priority. This requires strong leadership support and a culture shift to make accessibility non-negotiable. This might involve getting executive sponsors, setting accessibility OKRs, and ensuring that accessibility is a key metric in product success. Making it a priority means that accessibility is no longer an afterthought—it’s at the forefront of planning, decision-making, and evaluation. GitHub's Engineering Fundamentals program, which prioritises accessibility as one of its core pillars, serves as an example of how accessibility can be meaningfully prioritised.
Using the Advocacy Runway in your work
No matter where you are in your advocacy journey, the Advocacy Runway provides a framework for building momentum and achieving lasting progress. It’s a roadmap for overcoming challenges, one stage at a time. Start by identifying where your organization currently stands on the runway and focus on moving forward, step by step, until accessibility is fully embedded as a priority. And once accessibility is in flight, stay committed to keeping it airborne.