Stop treating accessibility like a special request.

There is a fundamental difference between Accommodation and Access, and understanding it is the key to moving from a “compliance” mindset to a “culture” mindset.

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The Accommodation Model:

❌ Is reactive – it requires the employee to disclose and “prove” their need.

❌ It often feels like a burden or an exception to the rule.

🧠 The mindset: “What do we have to change for you?”

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The Access Model:

✅ It’s proactively baked into the design of the company.

✅ It assumes disability is always present in the room.

✅ It removes barriers before someone even has to ask.

🧠 The mindset: “How do we design this so everyone can participate?”

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Think of it this way: An accommodation is providing a single captioned transcript because an employee requested it. Access is ensuring every video you produce has high-quality captions by default.

When you focus on Access, you reduce the burden of disclosure on your disabled employees. You design environments and processes that work for more people by default. You create a more efficient, less bureaucratic, and more dignified workplace for everyone.

Don’t wait for the request—design without barriers.