So, you’ve committed: accessibility isn’t optional, and your designs should reflect that. But here comes the next question: how do you actually do it? Good news. You don’t need to be a developer or a full-time accessibility specialist to start designing for everyone. You just need the right tools and a bit of curiosity. Let’s unpack what’s out there and what actually works in the wild.
Your Accessibility Toolbox, Unpacked
Not all tools are created equal, but a few stand out for being both designer-friendly and impactful:
Design & Prototyping
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Figma + accessibility plugins: These help with color contrast, focus order, and more. They’re a great start, but don’t expect miracles – many plugins stop short of supporting complex needs.
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InDesign with MadeToTag: If you’re working with PDFs, this combo can help create documents that are properly tagged and screen reader–friendly.
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Adobe XD, Sketch: Great for early concepts, but watch for accessibility limitations in exports.
Web Accessibility Testing
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axe DevTools, WAVE, Lighthouse: Automated checkers that scan your page for common issues: missing alt text, improper heading structure, contrast errors.
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Silktide, ARC Toolkit: More robust platforms with deeper insights for larger teams or audits.
Multimedia
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Ava Live Captions: Real-time captioning for meetings and videos. It’s fast, intuitive, and helps make live content more inclusive.
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YouTube Studio, Adobe Premiere: Solid tools for adding captions and transcripts after the fact.
PDF & Document Accessibility
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MadeToTag, CommonLook, PAC, axesWord: These make sure your documents don’t become digital dead ends for users with screen readers.
Screen Readers for Testing
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NVDA (free), VoiceOver (built into Mac), JAWS (enterprise-level): Try navigating your own designs using one of these. It will change how you think.
The Limitations You Should Know About
Even the best tools have blind spots. Automated tests are limited by what they’re programmed to catch — and that’s often just the basics.
Here’s what they miss:
- Context: They don’t know whether your alt text is meaningful or just filler.
- Flow: They won’t tell you if your modal traps focus or if your form errors are confusing.
- Human experience: They don’t use your interface like an actual user would, especially not one with a disability.
In short, tools can flag symptoms, but they won’t diagnose the cause.
Why Manual Testing Still Rules
Enter people like Michael Forzano – a blind software engineer at Amazon who tests with a screen reader daily. Or the brilliant personas from the UK’s Virtual Empathy Hub (simulated users with a range of disabilities that let you see how digital interactions feel from different perspectives). Manual testing (keyboard navigation, screen readers, user interviews) adds the insight that automated tests just can’t touch. It’s your best reality check.
You Don’t Have to Use Everything
Start small:
- Pick one plugin in Figma.
- Run axe or WAVE on your prototype.
- Navigate with just your keyboard.
- Ask a colleague to test using VoiceOver or NVDA.
Then grow your toolbox with intention. You don’t need every hammer in the shed, you just need the right ones for the job.
