Accessibility-First Development¶

Binding Methodology

Accessibility is not a retrofit. It is not a "nice to have." Since June 28, 2025, the European Accessibility Act makes it law. GE builds accessible from line 1, tested at every stage, and verified before deployment. No exceptions.

Philosophy¶

Accessibility is not about compliance. It is about building products that work for everyone.

15-20% of the global population has some form of disability. That is not a niche. That is one in five of your users. Building inaccessible software does not save time — it excludes people and creates legal liability.

GE does not "add accessibility later." GE builds accessible from the first component, the first page, the first interaction. Accessibility is a property of the code, not a layer applied on top.

The Law: European Accessibility Act¶

The European Accessibility Act (EAA) took effect on June 28, 2025. Enforcement is active across all 27 EU member states.

Who Must Comply¶

Any organization offering covered products or services to EU consumers. This includes non-EU businesses operating in the EU market. Micro-enterprises (fewer than 10 employees, under 2 million euros turnover) are exempt for services only.

What Is Covered¶

E-commerce websites and applications
Banking and financial services
Telecommunications services
Transport ticketing and check-in
Digital services and media players
Operating systems and hardware

GE builds SaaS for SMEs. Every client project falls under the EAA.

Penalties¶

Penalties vary by member state but can reach:

Up to 100,000 euros or 4% of annual revenue
Public notices of non-compliance
Restricted market access
Corrective orders with daily fines
Legal action from affected individuals

Technical Standard¶

The EAA references EN 301 549, which currently requires WCAG 2.1 AA conformance. The standard is being updated to include WCAG 2.2. GE targets WCAG 2.2 AA to future-proof compliance.

WCAG 2.2 AA: The Standard¶

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 is the W3C recommendation published October 2023. It builds on WCAG 2.1 with nine new success criteria.

The Four Principles (POUR)¶

All WCAG success criteria fall under four principles:

Principle	Meaning	Question
Perceivable	Users can perceive the content	Can everyone see, hear, or read it?
Operable	Users can interact with the interface	Can everyone navigate and use it?
Understandable	Users can understand the content and UI	Can everyone comprehend it?
Robust	Content works with assistive technologies	Does it work with screen readers, switches, etc.?

Key Requirements at AA Level¶

Perceivable:

Alt text for all non-decorative images
Captions for video and audio content
Minimum 4.5:1 contrast ratio for normal text
Minimum 3:1 contrast ratio for large text and UI components
Content readable when resized to 200%
No information conveyed by color alone

Operable:

All functionality available via keyboard
No keyboard traps
Visible focus indicators (minimum 2px, 3:1 contrast)
Skip navigation links
Click targets minimum 24x24 CSS pixels (WCAG 2.2)
No content that flashes more than 3 times per second

Understandable:

Page language declared in HTML
Consistent navigation across pages
Input errors identified and described in text
Labels and instructions for form inputs
Error suggestions provided when known

Robust:

Valid HTML without parsing errors
ARIA attributes used correctly
Status messages announced to screen readers
Custom components expose correct roles and states

GE's Competitive Advantage¶

GE has 60 AI agents that generate code. These agents can be trained to generate accessible code by default.

When a developer agent creates a form, it creates an accessible form. When a design agent specifies a component, it specifies an accessible component. When a test agent writes test cases, it includes accessibility test cases.

This is not a manual process. It is embedded in the agent identities and the code generation patterns they use. Accessibility is not an afterthought — it is the default output.

The result: GE-built software is accessible from the first commit, without a separate accessibility remediation phase, without additional cost to the client, and without the quality compromises that come from retrofitting accessibility after the fact.

Business Case¶

Beyond legal compliance, accessibility is good business:

Benefit	Impact
Market reach	15-20% of population has a disability
SEO improvement	Semantic HTML and structured content improve rankings
Usability	Accessible interfaces are easier for everyone
Legal risk reduction	Avoid fines and litigation
Brand reputation	Inclusive companies attract customers and talent
Mobile-first alignment	Touch targets, readability, and keyboard support help mobile users

Accessibility improvements benefit all users, not just users with disabilities. Captions help users in noisy environments. Keyboard navigation helps power users. High contrast helps users in bright sunlight.

Ownership¶

Agent	Role	Scope
Julian	Compliance lead — EAA and WCAG conformance	All projects
Alexander	Design system owner — accessible components	Design phase
Floris	Frontend architecture — semantic HTML patterns	Implementation
Floor	Frontend implementation — component accessibility	Implementation
Antje	Test lead — accessibility test cases in TDD	Testing phase
Marta/Iwona	Code review — accessibility in merge gate	Review phase

Accessibility is Not Optional¶

Some teams treat accessibility as a progressive enhancement. "We will add it in the next sprint." "It is in the backlog." At GE, there is no backlog for accessibility.

An inaccessible feature is an incomplete feature. It does not ship. It does not pass review. It goes back to the implementing agent.

This is not perfectionism. This is the law. And more importantly, it is the right thing to do.