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.