Why this is aimed at designers
The estimated cost of fixing an accessibility problem after release, compared with addressing it while the screen is still a design file.
Accessibility gets put on the back burner because organisations believe it is expensive. It is — but only when it is left late. The usual sequence is that a product is built, shipped, and only then tested against WCAG. Auditors arrive, run a sample, and the bill scales with however many issues that sample happens to surface. The process looks costly because it is being measured at the single most expensive moment to measure it.
Shifting left means pulling that work towards the start of the lifecycle. Designers sit closest to the problem space: if they understand the criteria, far fewer issues ever reach an auditor, and the ones that do are cheaper to resolve.
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In design
Free. A comment on a frame, a corrected component, a line in a spec.
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In development
A few hours of engineering. Still cheap — but more than catching it upstream.
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After release
Up to 30× the original cost. Re-engineered flows, regression testing, legal exposure.
Teams that considered accessibility from the design stage saw a 67% drop in compliance issues found during testing.
Study published by Deque University
There is a legal floor underneath all of this too. Section 508 and the ADA in the United States, and the European Accessibility Act across the EU, all make the same point: a product designed for the maximum possible number of users cannot quietly leave disabled people out.
Why it stops at AA
This handbook covers Level A and AA only, and that is a deliberate call rather than a gap. AA is the globally accepted level of compliance — it is the basis of accessibility law almost everywhere, and meeting it serves the vast majority of people living with disabilities.
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United States
Section 508 (revised 2018) aligns with WCAG 2.0 Level AA.
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European Union
The European Accessibility Act requires WCAG 2.1 Level AA.
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Canada
The Accessible Canada Act references WCAG 2.1 Level AA.
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UK & Australia
Both mandate WCAG 2.0/2.1 Level AA for public sector bodies.
The hurdles of AAA
AAA makes a product usable by almost everyone, including people living with multiple severe disabilities. The cost of getting there is real:
- Substantial investment in research and testing with people with disabilities.
- Some criteria constrain the visual design in ways that conflict with brand requirements.
- Specialised peripherals and testing conditions are needed.
- Most regulators have made AAA optional for exactly these reasons.
The ROI curve
- Level A — low cost, high impact. Most users with non-severe impairments can use the product.
- Level AA — higher investment, but return stays stable. Users with severe disabilities gain access. The sweet spot for most organisations.
- Level AAA — complexity climbs fast, and some criteria mean compromising the design for users without disabilities. Return can drop below zero.
A is the floor. AA is what the law asks for and what most people need. AAA is admirable and, for most teams, not feasible within real budgets and timelines — so AA is the right target, and that is what this handbook covers in full.
What makes it one of a kind?
- A searchable, filterable database of all 55 designer-relevant guidelines — sort by compliance level (A/AA), disability type, responsible team, or UI component
- Designer-first curation, focusing on what "needs to be done" rather than just reference statements
- Downloadable PDF map, giving teams an offline, shareable version of guidelines in easy to understand language
- Renamed a few guidelines to ensure they reflect the actual guidelines — e.g. 2.1.4 No clash with shortcuts, which in the original WCAG documents has been described as Character Key Shortcuts
- Cards and lists UI, offering quick access, scannability and filtering without navigating long text blocks
- Interlinking of related guidelines to ensure clarity and dependency
- Quoted reliable guidance-to-engineering links, directing engineers to external code snippets by experts like Jan Jaap de Groot and Paul van Workum from Abra — Jan Jaap de Groot is the head of MATF
- Responsive across every form factor, so the resource can be read from any device
- Explains different levels of compliance and why most experts stop at AA level
- Discusses which team is responsible for maintaining and satisfying a particular criteria of WCAG 2.2
Impact Potential
- Helps designers work on accessibility by simplifying the understanding, thereby avoiding complexity aversion
- Referable at the point of inspiration — makes it an ideal accessibility guide to keep handy during an intense design process
- Allows designers to focus on the accessibility outcomes in their control
- Gives upstream teams a concrete way to capture the 67% reduction in compliance issues that comes from engaging early
How you get access
- Buy the handbook on Gumroad. Use an email address you can actually read mail at.
- You'll get a welcome email from access@doublea11y.com confirming you're in. The handbook lives online and stays up to date — there's nothing to download and no licence key to keep.
- Whenever you want to read it, go to the sign-in page and enter that same email address. We send you a fresh 8-character code from the same address, and you stay signed in on that device for seven days.
There's no password to lose and nothing to share around by accident. Both emails come from access@doublea11y.com — add it to your contacts, or check your spam or promotions folder, if nothing arrives within a minute or two. Still stuck? Write to hello@doublea11y.com.