Accessible Interfaces: Beyond Compliance

The most common approach to accessibility is compliance: meet WCAG guidelines, pass an automated audit, check the box. It's better than nothing. It's also insufficient.

Compliance catches missing alt text and low contrast ratios. It doesn't catch a navigation flow that makes sense visually but collapses under keyboard use. It doesn't catch a form that technically works with a screen reader but takes three times as long to complete.

Real accessibility means designing for the full range of human capability from the start, not retrofitting accommodations onto an interface built for an idealized user. It means testing with real assistive technology, not just running a Lighthouse score.

At Cadrata, we treat accessibility the way we treat typography or spacing: as a fundamental quality of the design, not an add-on. When an interface works well for someone navigating with a switch device, it almost always works better for everyone.