"Accessibility isn't a design problem with a checklist solution. It never was. The specs were written, the components annotated, the guidelines documented. And then engineering shipped something broken anyway. The design was right. The code wasn't."
"The full-stack engineer has become the default hire. One person, one salary, covering the database, the API, the back-end logic, and the front-end interface. Efficient on paper. Straightforward to justify in a headcount meeting. And quietly catastrophic for the quality of what gets built."
"Front-end isn't a layer. It's a specialism. Semantic HTML, document structure, keyboard interaction, ARIA, the relationship between visual design and accessible implementation - these aren't things you absorb by proximity or pick up in an afternoon."
The European Accessibility Act emphasizes that accessibility is not merely a design issue solvable by checklists. Despite documentation and compliance efforts, many teams still produce inaccessible products due to a lack of qualified front-end engineers. Designers may understand accessibility principles, but engineering often fails to implement them correctly. The trend of hiring full-stack engineers, who cover multiple roles, undermines the quality of front-end development. True accessibility requires dedicated specialists who focus on semantic HTML, document structure, and user interaction, rather than generalists who may lack the necessary depth of knowledge.
Read at Chris Gibbons
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