{"id":12865,"date":"2024-05-13T11:30:00","date_gmt":"2024-05-13T18:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/insidetrack\/blog\/?p=12865"},"modified":"2024-05-13T11:25:59","modified_gmt":"2024-05-13T18:25:59","slug":"shifting-left-to-get-accessibility-right-at-microsoft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/insidetrack\/blog\/shifting-left-to-get-accessibility-right-at-microsoft\/","title":{"rendered":"Shifting left to get accessibility right at Microsoft"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MicrosoftAt Microsoft, we\u2019ve learned the best way to get accessibility right is to shift left<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to think about accessibility before we start any of our work, before we write any line of code, at every step of our development lifecycle,\u201d says Patrice Pelland, partner software engineering director for Microsoft Digital (MSD), the company\u2019s IT organization. \u201cShifting left means thinking about accessibility at the start of every step we take when we deploy new software or services.\u201d<\/p>\n

This enables us to find accessibility bugs early, so at the end, major, disruptive bugs are few and far between. It enables us to ship experiences with accessibility in mind from the start, creating applications that are more inclusive for everyone, including those with disabilities. That\u2019s why shifting left is so powerful\u2014it allows you to avoid fire drills at the end of your projects.<\/p>\n

\u2014Patrice Pelland, partner software engineering director, Microsoft Digital<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This approach is helping us improve how we approach accessibility internally here at Microsoft.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis enables us to find accessibility bugs early, so at the end, major, disruptive bugs are few and far between,\u201d Pelland says. \u201cIt enables us to ship experiences with accessibility in mind from the start, creating applications that are more inclusive for everyone, including those with disabilities. That\u2019s why shifting left is so powerful\u2014it allows you to avoid fire drills at the end of your projects.\u201d<\/p>\n

With Accessibility Insights, developers don\u2019t have to be accessibility experts to create accessible products. Now they don\u2019t have to wait until their whole page is complete to check for accessibility.<\/p>\n

\u2014Nandita Gupta, accessibility product owner, 1ES Accessibility Insights Team<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

A tool for shifting left<\/h2>\n

To help teams shift left with accessibility, the 1ES Accessibility Insights Team encourages teams to use Accessibility Insights, an open-source tool developed here at Microsoft.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWith Accessibility Insights, developers don\u2019t have to be accessibility experts to create accessible products,\u201d says Nandita Gupta, accessibility product owner on the 1ES Accessibility Insights Team. \u201cNow they don\u2019t have to wait until their whole page is complete to check for accessibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Diagram<\/p>\n

How Accessibility Insights fits into the developer workflow.<\/em><\/p>\n

Our teams across MSD are using the Accessibility Insights tool to transform how they approach accessibility. We\u2019re providing feedback on what it\u2019s like to use the tool, something that\u2019s part of our role as the company\u2019s Customer Zero.<\/p>\n

\u201cAccessibility Insights is embedded into our engineering pipeline,\u201d Chumba Limo, a principal software engineering lead on the MSD\u2019s Infrastructure Engineering Services team. \u201cAny time we integrate a new feature, the tool automatically kicks in and assesses the changes we want to make before they go live.\u201d<\/p>\n

If we do find accessibility issues, engineers can address the problem immediately, rather than waiting for the results of a testing cycle later.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re able to remediate bugs caught by the automation in less than one hour on average. We\u2019re saving a lot of time.<\/p>\n

\u2014Chumba Limo, principal software engineering lead, Infrastructure Engineering Services team, Microsoft Digital<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Many of our engineering teams in MSD are using the new shift-left tool from Accessibility Insights.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving MSD teams using and deploying Accessibility Insights internally is very powerful,\u201d Gupta says. \u201cBy taking active steps to ensure accessibility in the development lifecycle, MSD is sending a very important message: Accessibility is important to us and is a part of our DNA and culture.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the work completed by MSD teams so far, we project that our organization will save as many as 2,000 development hours over the next six months. Using Accessibility Insights and talking accessibility early in the process is reducing the amount of accessibility testing we need.<\/p>\n

\u2014Jia Ma, senior product manager, Accessibility team, Microsoft Digital<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Benefits of shifting left with accessibility<\/h2>\n

Teams using Accessibility Insights have found several benefits to shifting left with accessibility, including saving time and money by fixing issues in the development phase.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re able to remediate bugs caught by the automation in less than one hour on average,\u201d Limo says. \u201cWe\u2019re saving a lot of time.\u201d<\/p>\n

The risk of delays in shipping are greatly reduced. If we\u2019re finding fewer issues, we\u2019re releasing the application or product on time. Because we already found those issues in the early phase, there\u2019s no delay, and no risk of having an inaccessible experience for users.<\/p>\n

\u2014Ankur Garg, senior technical program manager, Accessibility team, Microsoft Digital<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Fixing a bug later, in the post-production phase, can cost 30 times more than it takes to fix it in the development phase.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the work completed by MSD teams so far, we project that our organization will save as many as 2,000 development hours over the next six months,\u201d says Jia Ma, a senior product manager on the MSD Accessibility team. \u201cUsing Accessibility Insights and talking accessibility early in the process is reducing the amount of accessibility testing we need.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve heard from my fellow engineers from multiple organizations. They tell me, \u201cBy conducting accessibility testing using the tool, it\u2019s teaching me issues I need to avoid and thus, now when I\u2019m writing code, I\u2019m not introducing those issues anymore. Now I just code with accessibility in mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014Nandita Gupta, accessibility product owner, 1ES Accessibility Insights Team<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"Collage
Jia Ma, Ankur Garg, Nandita Gupta, and Patrice Pelland worked together to deploy Accessibility Insights internally at Microsoft.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the end, getting it right at the start helps us from end to end.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe risk of delays in shipping are greatly reduced,\u201d says Ankur Garg, a senior technical program manager on the MSD Accessibility team. \u201cIf we\u2019re finding fewer issues, we\u2019re releasing the application or product on time. Because we already found those issues in the early phase, there\u2019s no delay, and no risk of having an inaccessible experience for users.\u201d<\/p>\n

Accessibility Insights supports learning in addition to accessibility testing for developers. \u201cI\u2019ve heard from my fellow engineers from multiple organizations,\u201d Gupta says. \u201cThey tell me, \u2018By conducting accessibility testing using the tool, it\u2019s teaching me issues I need to avoid and thus, now when I\u2019m writing code, I\u2019m not introducing those issues anymore. Now I just code with accessibility in mind.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

You can see a change happening across the company. \u201cIt\u2019s really great to see the cultural shift as organizations are starting to use this product,\u201d Gupta says.<\/p>\n

Tips for shifting left with accessibility<\/h2>\n

Organizations outside of Microsoft are using Accessibility Insights, too. While developed here at Microsoft, it\u2019s open-source and available for anyone to use.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s used across different industries, including academic and nonprofit,\u201d says Gupta, who says customers love using the product, especially since it\u2019s an open-source product for tackling accessibility testing. \u201cHere\u2019s an open-source product that nonprofits, academia, and others can use to tackle accessibility at no cost.\u201d<\/p>\n

For us, it\u2019s been a helpful tool in our journey to improve the way we approach accessibility internally at Microsoft\u2014shifting left is helping us get it right, but we still have a lot of work to do.<\/p>\n

\"Key
\nIf your organization wants to shift left with accessibility, our experts here at Microsoft have some tips to share.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust do it,\u201d Gupta says. \u201cAsk yourselves, what is the one thing you can do today?\u201d<\/p>\n

Start there and build on that.<\/p>\n

For example, one quick, impactful thing you can do is to make sure all your images have alt text. Then make sure you\u2019re using ARIA correctly. Then look for the next thing you can do.<\/p>\n

There are more than one billion people in the world who have a disability and they\u2019re not necessarily visible. Anybody investing in shifting left is buying themselves more time to do innovation, and better things for their customers.<\/p>\n

\u2014Patrice Pelland, partner software engineering director, Microsoft Digital<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s worth the investment,\u201d Limo says. \u201cYou\u2019re going to have to go through the process anyway, so you might as well address these bugs sooner than later.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s about making products better for everyone.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are more than one billion people in the world who have a disability and they\u2019re not necessarily visible,\u201d Pelland says. \u201cAnybody investing in shifting left is buying themselves more time to do innovation, and better things for their customers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Try
\nTry the open-source Accessibility Insights to progress accessible and inclusive experiences in your business.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Related<\/p>\n