Product managers
What product managers should do to ensure accessibility is considered in the product lifecycle.
As a product manager you will keep the team accountable for the design and build of accessible and inclusive products in every phase of delivery.
You must champion accessibility and make it part of the team's culture and ways of working.
Plan for accessibility
If you ensure that accessibility is considered by the whole team, and the necessary planning is in place, accessibility should be fully embedded in the product lifecycle.
Include accessibility in ceremonies, such as sprint planning and review. Work with the delivery manager and business analysts to embed accessibility into the delivery process. For example, include it in the 'definition of ready' and 'definition of done' for tickets.
This will help the team know what to consider and whether the work done is accessible and meets standards.
Plan for testing
When building a product or website, the team should carry out their own internal testing using testing tools. As a product manager, you should plan in advance the time needed to do this.
Encourage the team to get into the habit of testing from the start of a project. They can use manual and automated tools on low and high-fidelity prototypes.
Plan for an audit
You should plan an accessibility audit. This includes considering funding needed, and the time it takes, to do an audit.
The average cost of an external audit is usually between £3,000 to £7,000 but can vary depending on the size and complexity of your service.
Ensure that the audit has been procured and planned - with time for it to happen, and major issues to be resolved - before moving into public beta.
Get familiar with accessibility standards
You should have a basic understanding of:
This will help to make sure the service meets accessibility requirements and legislation.
Guidance by phase
In discovery
You should:
- engage with stakeholders to explain why accessibility is important. Help them understand its value and how it impacts time and cost considerations
- share this manual with the service team
- request the service team and stakeholders complete basic and intermediate training, to help to embed considering all users from the beginning
- ensure there is a plan to include users with access needs in user research and that incentives are planned into costs
- start to talk to the wider team, including stakeholders, senior leadership and board members, about accessibility and its importance
In alpha
You should:
- ensure enough budget is in place for an accessibility audit
- start the procurement process for an audit
- ensure that the team are aware of how to carry out their own testing
In beta
You should:
- ensure that accessibility testing has been carried out
- confirm an audit has been procured and booked in
- check people with access needs have been included in research, or proxy users have been identified if contextual users are not available
- prioritise resolving accessibility issues
- log identified issues to the backlog to keep track
- record identified issues in the accessibility statement and ensure the correct template has been used
In live
You should:
- keep accessibility statements up to date and review them regularly or when the service is updated
- continue to prioritise accessibility issues and resolve in a timely manner
- ensure that accessibility testing is carried out on all changes to the service
- keep on top of training and awareness of accessibility and changes to accessibility standards
- report compliance with department standards through the Service Health Check App (opens the DfE intranet in a new tab)
This content was pair written with the DfE product community.