For the last few years, I have spent endless hours writing and editing a book, Design for All Learners, on accessibility and inclusion in learning and development. This has been an incredibly rewarding process that came with a huge responsibility: ensuring that the book itself was accessible and inclusive. When I started, I thought I had a solid plan for how I would approach the book, from organizing to working through the publishing process.

I was fortunate to work with a team of people dedicated to developing and publishing this book—contributors, editors, marketing staff, graphic designers, and more. The publisher assured me that their team was on-board with making sure what we produced was as accessible and inclusive as possible, and they meant it. There were also external players to consider such as book distribution channels like Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

We were all diligent in our efforts throughout the process. For example, I collaborated with the book cover designer to ensure that we did not use all caps in the title and that we used good color contrast, font choice, and inclusive imagery. I provided feedback to ensure visuals used throughout the book were accessible and inclusive. I made sure the editors had the appropriate alternative (alt) text and image descriptions. This included establishing a plan for how to use image captions and describe images in the text in conjunction with the alt text used in the e-book. Charts were updated to avoid using color as the only differentiator; an illustration of a wheelchair was modified to be more realistic; colorblindness simulations were triple-checked. We documented everything to pass on to the next person in the process, and each time I took care to explain what we were trying to do and why.

Although everyone on the team happily supported these changes, we still ran into challenges along the way. There were breakdowns on some efforts due to existing processes, and we often needed to take extra time to make sure everyone understood what solutions were possible and what we might not accomplish due to current constraints. Yet, even when it was difficult, we were determined to ensure that this book was a true representation of our commitment to accessibility and inclusion. This meant working together to problem solve and create an amazing book that is its own example of Design for All.

As illustrated by my book writing and editing experience, ensuring accessibility is difficult when it’s not operationalized throughout the organization, end-to-end. It’s not realistic for one person, or even an entire project team, to chase down and address every accessibility issue. And, fixing a problem after the fact is much more difficult and expensive than improving things from the beginning. An organization that is mature in its accessibility and inclusion efforts recognizes that everyone plays a role through their own work. This means planning ahead and providing support to be successful.