Preview of Integrating Accessibility into Agile | Pavani Gonuguntla | STARWEST 2023

Many times accessibility activities occur late in a project’s release when it takes longer to figure out problems and costs more to fix them. Typically all you can do at this point is patch the problems rather than fix them properly. CGI Federal approaches accessibility with an agile mindset, integrating it throughout the iterative design, user story creation, development, and testing efforts. During this session, Pavani Gonuguntla and Stephen Omojuyigbe will focus on case studies and recommended best practices from where they worked with management and cross-functional teams to get buy-in for the process changes required to ensure that accessibility is treated the same as any other area (QA/functional testing, performance, etc.). Pavani and Stephen will also discuss the necessary support activities, like training, job aids, and other resources for each project team role, as well as, our techniques to set the expectation that accessibility is everyone’s responsibility. Agile process documents were also updated to include accessibility guidelines/requirements in the DoR and DoD. Also, team members learned how to play an active part in building a solution that is accessible to all people. Join them as they share best practices to ensure that accessibility is baked into agile development and not a bolted-on afterthought.